We claim the honour of having discovered the use of these imposing
ruins, whose summit is climbed by many visitors to enjoy the fine view
over the Campagna. It was built by the best of the Roman emperors as a
large reservoir for the supply of water to the Palatine Hill, acting
as the Trevi Fountain does at present. We have traced the specus of
the aqueduct to it; and the top is covered with _opus signinum_, the
peculiar cement used by the Romans whenever they conducted water.
The brickwork shows signs of careful construction; the courses of
cement carefully laid between the bricks being of the same thickness
as the bricks themselves, seven of which measure a foot. The Nymphæum
probably took its name from the female statues which decorated it,
handing down the custom of the ancient Romans in peopling the springs
with nymphs.
It is thus mentioned by Marcellinus (xv. vii. 3):--"The Emperor Marcus
built the Nymphæum, an edifice of great magnificence, near the
well-known Septemzodium," which was built by Septimius Severus at the
corner of the Palatine, where slight traces of it remain; it having
been destroyed by Pope Sixtus V.
The spot now forms a pleasant terrace, from which a splendid prospect
of the southern part of ancient Rome, the Campagna, and the distant
Alban Hills may be enjoyed. In fact, a vast study is spread, like a
map, before the visitor.