The archæology of Rome, Part 8 : $b The aqueductsParker, John Henry
History
The archæology of Rome, Part 8 : $b The aqueducts
Parker, John Henry
Rome -- Antiquities
[77] ‘The three aqueducts’ in this passage may mean either the Anio
Vetus, the Marcia, and the Claudia, all of which come from the
neighbourhood of Subiaco, and follow the same line on the bank of the
river Anio, and the cliffs above it as far as Tivoli, but diverge
considerably between Tivoli and the Piscinæ; or it may mean that the
Tepula and the Julia coming from near Marino, and the Marcia coming from
Tivoli, meet at this point—both are true. The _piscinæ_ of the Claudia,
the Anio Novus, the Marcia, the Tepula, the Julia, are all within
half-a-mile of each other.
[78] Dr. F. Gori says that the lake of S. Lucia, in the territory of
Arsoli, near Subiaco, is _not_ the source of the Aqua Marcia, but of the
Aqua Claudia only, and that the sources of the Aqua Marcia are nearer to
Subiaco, and are called by the people _Acque Serene_. He also considers
that the branch of the Aqua Augusta added to the Marcian by Augustus, now
called _Le Rosoline_, comes from near the village of Agosta, and that the
spring, now called _La Fonte_ (_Fons novus Antoninianus_), added to the
Marcian by Antoninus Caracalla, is under the same village of Agosta. One
of the inscriptions on the Porta S. Lorenzo records this. See Delle varie
Sorgenti dell’ Acqua Marcia, &c., pp. 56, 57.
[79] The new company had at first proposed to draw their chief supply
of water from the small lake called the Lago di S. Lucia, which is
nearer to Rome, and which they had been misinformed was the Aqua Marcia.
Dr. Fabio Gori, from his great local knowledge and his archæological
researches, was able to shew that this was a mistake, and wrote to that
effect a letter in the Roman newspaper called the _Osservatore Romano_.
This letter at first gave great offence, and a very warm controversy was
carried on for some time on that subject. Eventually, however, a new
engineer of the company thought it better to examine the ground himself,
and the result was to establish that Gori’s views were perfectly correct.
He then became a warm advocate for the company, which he thinks entitled
to great praise for the admirable manner in which its works in the valley
of the Anio have been carried out as far as Tivoli. Their works almost
equal those of the time of the Empire, and are carried out on the same
principles; but from Tivoli to Rome the water is carried in metal pipes,
and not in a stone _specus_ as it is above Tivoli. This enables the
company to carry it in a more direct line.
[80] See the Appendix to this Section.
[81] A great deal too much importance has been attached to this Cyclopean
Masonry, _Opus Cyclopæum_. See the Chapter on the Construction of Walls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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