along its own _specus_, and therefore it would not be probably possible
to find an interpretation more suitable as far as this case is concerned.
The conduit of the water of the Anio Vetus had “emerged,” as the other
aqueducts emerge, near the Porta S. Lorenzo, from the higher ground
between the Porta Maggiore and that gate: it must consequently have
been carried on a substructure from that point on the outer bank of the
original fortifications of Rome, that is, on the high bank on which the
aqueducts were carried, and on which the wall of Aurelian was afterwards
built, to the inner bank, on lower ground faced with the tufa wall of
Servius Tullius. The names of the gates are matters of dispute, and are
quite immaterial; the levels of the ground decide the question[47].
In another place, Frontinus says[48] that several streams of water, and
first the Marcia, were carried to the Aventine from the _specus_ (_a
spe-cu_), that is from the old _specus_ he had before mentioned on the
Cœlian, and obviously from the west end of the Cœlian. The Temple of Spes
of Canina and others at the Porta Maggiore, is at least a mile from the
Aventine. The only way of giving an intelligible meaning of the passage
is that the author refers to the old _specus_ he had before mentioned, as
leading along the Cœlian to the Porta Capena. In the excavations made in
1868 and 1869, on the line of the wall of Servius Tullius from the Cœlian
to the Aventine, the conduits of three _specus_ were found, two of which
must have passed over the arch of the Porta Capena, in order to cross the
Via Appia, there a deep foss-way. Two conduits were seen in each of the
pits that were dug at intervals along the line, and at the junction with
the Piscina Publica under the Aventine they were all three perfect; the
lowest one is there cut in the tufa rock under the wall, the other two
are on the wall, and partly cut out of it.
Piranesi has preserved a sketch of the _specus_ of the aqueduct, which he
supposed to be the Anio Vetus upon its substructure; but he gives no clue
as to the exact spot whence that sketch was taken[49]. In its character
the masonry is very similar to that of the Marcian, but there are minor
differences sufficient to shew that it belongs to an earlier age.
Those who have paid attention to the manner in which ancient books have
been transmitted to modern times before the invention of printing,
and who are familiar with the use of records and of other medieval
manuscripts or transcripts, well know how full of abbreviations they
are, and how difficult it often is for the editor to fill up these
abbreviations, if he does not happen to know the word intended. The name
of _specus_ for the conduit of an aqueduct was essentially a technical
word. The first transcribers of the text of Frontinus were not Romans,
and did not know the term: hence they filled up the abbreviation _spē_,
or perhaps originally _spc̄_, with _spem_ or _spei_, instead of _specum_
or _specûs_. The same thing may have occurred in the text of Lampridius
(as mentioned in a note on a preceding page).
The Abbot of the monastery on Monte Cassino (now a public school and
public library) has kindly given me tracings of all the passages in
that manuscript in which this abbreviation occurs, and I have had them
reproduced by photography and phototype on the page annexed. Opposite
to this the same passages are given in the Italic characters, and a few
words that are necessary to complete the sense in Roman characters. This
is followed by an English translation of these passages, and by some
extracts from Livy and other authors in explanation.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE FROM THE MANUSCRIPT AT MONTE CASSINO[50].]
FRONTINUS DE AQUÆDUCTIBUS.
EXTRACTS REFERRING TO THE ABBREVIATION SPE̅S̅ FOR SPECUS.
I. _iungitur ei ad s .. em ueterem[51] in confinio ortorum torquatianorum_
et ... novum ramus Augustae, hac tres ... ad Viminalem usque
portam deveniunt. I. 5.
II. _ibi rursus emer_
_gunt prius tamen pars julie ad spē ... veterem excepta, castelli celii_
_montis diffunditur._ I. 19.
III. _partem tamen sui claudia prius_
_in arcus que vocantur neroniani ad spē ueterem transfert_ hi directe per
Caelium montem juxta templum divi Claudii terminantur. I. 20.
IV. _rectus vero ductus secundum_
_spē veniens intra portam exquelinam in altos rivos per urbem diducitur._
I. 21.
V. _ad gemellos tamen que locus infra spē ueterem_, ubi jungitur
cum ramo Augustae. II. 64.
VI. _sed postquam nero im_
_perator claudiam opere arcuato ascus[52] (?) excepta usque ad templum_
_divi claudii perduxit_, ut inde distribuetur. II. 76.
VII. _quibus nunc plures aque et imprimis_
_marcia reddita amplo opere a spē in auentinum usque perducitur._ II. 87.
_Translation of the Extracts from the Treatise of Frontinus on the
Aqueducts, containing all the passages in which the abbreviation Spē
occurs._
I. [The Augustan branch] is joined to it [the Aqua Appia] at the old
_Specus_ [or old Spes (?), temple of Hope], in the border of the
Torquatian gardens[53]. I. 5.
II. [The three, Marcia, Tepula, Julia] there emerge again; first,
however, part (of the water) intercepted from the Julia is poured at
the old _Specus_ (or at the old temple of Spes[54]), and so into the
reservoirs on the Cœlian Hill, near the temple of the divine Claudius. I.
19.
III. First, however, the Claudia transfers part of its [water] into the
old Specus [or at the temple of Spes], on the arches called Neronian[55].
I. 20.
IV. But the direct conduit [of the Marcia, &c.], passing by the old
Specus (?) of the Appia (at a higher level, or following the old
Hope?)[56], coming within the Porta Esquilina, [the water] is drawn off
in the high streams through the City. I. 21.
V. [The Aqua Appia], however, at the _Gemelli_[57], which place is below
the old _Specus_ [or below the old temple of Hope (?)], is joined with
the Augustan branch. II. 64.
VI. But after the Emperor Nero had carried the Claudian (water), which
he diverted, on arched work to the temple of Claudius [or the Claudium],
at the _specus_[58] (or at the Temple of Hope?), that it might be
distributed thence. II. 76.
VII. By which many waters, especially the Marcia, being supplied in great
abundance, are conducted from the _specus_[59] (or from the temple of
Hope?) on to the Aventine. II. 87.
_Passages in which the Temple of Spes occurs in Livy._
“At the time when this disaster happened, Caius Horatius and
Titus Menenius were in the Consulship. Menenius was immediately
sent against the Etruscans, elated with their victory. He
also was worsted in battle, and the enemy took possession
of the Janiculum; nor would the City, which besides the war
was distressed also by scarcity, have escaped a siege (the
Etruscans _having passed the Tiber_), had not the Consul
Horatius been recalled from the country of the Volscians. So
near indeed did the enemy approach to the walls, that first the
engagement was at _the temple of Spes_, in which little was
gained on either side; again at the Porta Collina, in which
the Romans gained some small advantage, and this, though far
from decisive, yet by restoring to the soldiers their former
courage, qualified them the better to contend with the enemy in
future[60].”
“At Rome a dreadful fire raged during two nights and one day;
everything between the Salinæ (or salt wharf) and the Porta
Carmentalis was levelled to the ground, as were the Æquimælian
and the Jugarian streets. The fire catching the _temples_ of
Fortuna, of mater Matuta and _of Spes_, on the outside of the
gate, and spreading to a vast extent, consumed a great number
of buildings, both religious and private[61].”
“After this, in pursuance of a decree of the Senate, and an
order of the people, an assembly of election was held by the
city prætor, in which were created five commissioners for
repairing the walls and towers, and two sets of triumvirs: one
to search for the effects belonging to the temples, to register
the offerings; the other to repair the _temples_ of Fortuna and
mater Matuta within the Porta Carmentalis, and likewise _that
of Spes_ on the outside of the gate, which had been consumed by
fire the year before[62].”
“He agreed with contractors for building a theatre near the
Temple of Apollo, and for embellishing the Temple of Jupiter in
the Capitol, and the columns around it; he also removed from
those columns the statues that stood incommodiously before
them, and took down the shields and military ensigns of all
sorts which were hung upon them. Marcus Fulvius made contracts
for more numerous and more useful works—a haven on the Tiber,
and piers for a bridge across it, on which piers Publius Scipio
Africanus and Lucius Mummius, censors, many years after, caused
the arches to be erected; a court of justice behind the new
bankers’ houses, and a fish-market, surrounded with shops for
private sales; also a forum and porticus, on the outside of the
Porta Trigemina; another porticus behind the dockyard, and one
at the _Temple of_ Hercules; also a temple of Apollo Medicus,
behind that _of Spes_, near the bank of the Tiber[63].”
It will be observed that all these passages apply to the well-known
Temple of Spes near the bank of the Tiber, of which there are
considerable remains now in the church of S. Nicolas in Carcere, and do
not apply to a Temple of Spes at the Porta Maggiore.
The word _specus_ is used by Vitruvius in the sense of a covered
water-course:—
“But if there should be mounds in the middle between the
walls and the fountain-head, it must be so contrived that the
water-channel (_specus_) be dug under the earth, and poised on
the top[64].”
And at a later period by Hirtius:—
“Alexandria is almost wholly undermined with water-courses,
and has a _specus_ extending to the Nile, by which water is
conveyed into private houses[65].”
III. THE AQUA MARCIA (B.C. 145).
“127 years afterwards, that is, from the building of Rome 608
years, when Servius Sulpicius Galba and Aurelius Cotta were
consuls, as the aqueducts or conduits (_ductus_) of the Appian
and Anio were much decayed by age, (and also intercepted
fraudulently for private purposes,) the business of repairing
and reclaiming the said aqueducts was entrusted by the senate
to Marcius, who was then acting as Prætor. And because the
increase of the population of the city seemed to demand a more
ample supply of water, instructions were given to him by the
senate that he should carefully examine how far there were
other streams which he might be able to bring into the city[66].
“He therefore restored the two old conduits, and introduced a
third, _which he caused to be erected with ‘squared stones,’
and larger aqueducts, and carried through them the water which
he had obtained for the public service_[67]. Hence it received
the name of the ‘Marcian’ from himself, as the author of it.
“The Aqua Marcia has its origin on the Via Valeria at the
thirty-sixth milestone, three miles off in the _diverticulum_
(or cross-road), on the right-hand to those going from Rome. On
the road to Sublacum, now called Subiaco (_Via Sublacensis_)
also (which was paved for the first time under the Emperor
Nero), at the thirty-eighth milestone, for the space of two
hundred paces on the left-hand side the water lies like a pond,
bubbling up in innumerable springs from beneath the stony
hollows, and is very green in colour.
“The length of the course from its head to the city is 61
miles, 710 paces;—by an underground channel 54 miles, 247½
paces, on structure above ground 7 miles, 463 paces. Out of
this, in many parts away from the city, in the upper part of
the valleys, it is carried on arched substructure for 473
paces; nearer the city, from the seventh milestone, on a
substructure for 528 paces. In the rest of the work it is
carried on an arcade for 6 miles, 472 paces[68].”
“The Marcian ranks fifth in height, and is at its head even in
level with the Claudian[69].”
“In the year of the building of the city, 719 (i.e. B.C. 44),
Agrippa repaired the three aqueducts—the Appian, the Anio
Vetus, and Marcian—and took care to supply the city with many
fountains[70].”
“[Temp. Nervæ, (A.D. 96)] the Marcian having been enlarged
was carried across from the Cœlian [i.e. its _specus_] to the
Aventine[71].”
IV. THE AQUA TEPULA (B.C. 126).
“In the year 627,” writes Frontinus, “after the building of
the city, when Plautius Hypsæus and Fulvius Flaccus were
consuls, the censors, Cneius Servilius Cæpio and Lucius Cassius
Longinus, took care to bring into Rome and the Capitol the
stream called the Tepulan, from the Lucullan Fields (which some
call the Tusculan[72]).
“The Tepula has its source on the Via Latina at the tenth
milestone, two miles off on the right of those going from Rome.
Thence it was brought by a separate channel into the city[73].”
V. THE AQUA JULIA (B.C. 34).
“Afterwards Marcus Agrippa collected the natural waters of
another stream, at 12 miles from the city on the Via Latina,
(2 miles off on the right of those going from Rome,) and so
intercepted the stream of the Tepula. To the newly-acquired
water the name of Julia was given, from the finder of it;
nevertheless the distribution was so divided that the name of
Tepula was retained[74].
“The course of the Julia runs for the length of 15 miles, 426½
yards. In work above ground 7 miles; out of this in parts
nearest to the city from the seventh milestone (it is carried)
on a substructure for 528 yards; the rest on arched work for 6
miles, 472 yards[75].”
III., IV., V. THE AQUÆ MARCIA, TEPULA, AND JULIA.
“Of these [Aquæ], six within the seventh mile, on the Via
Latina, are taken up into covered _piscinæ_, where, as though
breathing again after their course, they deposit mud. The
Julia, the Marcia, and the Tepula, are joined there; of these,
the Tepula, (which had been intercepted, and joined to the
stream of the Julia,) now receives from the reservoir of the
same Julia its proper quantity, and flows out in its own
channel, and under its own name.
“These three are carried from the reservoirs on the same
arcade.
“The highest of them is the Julia, lower the Tepula, then the
Marcia. These come down towards the Viminal, running together
beneath the ground, on the same level as the Collis Viminalis,
as far as the gate. There they again emerge.
“First, however, a part of the Julia is, at the _Spes Vetus_,
taken out and distributed in the _castella_ on the Cœlian Hill;
but the Marcia, after the Pallantian Gardens, throws off part
of its water into a stream called the Herculanean. This conduit
through the Cœlian, being of no use for the houses on the hill
because at too low a level, comes to an end above the Porta
Capena[76].”
THE PISCINÆ.
To this point, Frontinus tells us, the three aqueducts tend[77], while
from this they are carried on the same arcade into Rome. The ruins
of these remain visible. Some of them are situated a little way off
the south side of the Via Latina, others on the east side of the Via
Appia Nova. Of these, two belonging to the Claudia and Anio Novus are
subterranean, and are now only to be distinguished as mounds of earth,
looking like tumuli. Others are above ground, near that part of the Via
Latina [now the road to Frascati and Tusculum], and close to the _Torre
di mezza via_, or half-way house from Rome to Frascati, just beyond the
sixth milestone of the modern road. Others are at or near the Villa of
the time of Hadrian, called _Sette Bassi_ (which is supposed to be a
corruption of Septimius Bassus), near the same point. All of these are
between seven and eight miles from the City; they are the chief landmarks
in tracing the course of the three aqueducts now to be explained, and
each of the three comes from its own separate source. The Marcia, the
lowest on the arcade, has its origin at the greatest distance from Rome.
The Tepula and Julia have their sources comparatively close to the city.
The Marcia takes its rise from the Simbrivine Hills, as far removed
beyond Tibur to the east as Tibur is from the city, while the latter two
find their way from springs in the volcanic region around the lake of
Albano.
III. MARCIA.
The source of the Marcia is plainly visible, the exact description of
Frontinus pointing to the spot without leaving room for doubt. In one of
the numerous little valleys which run down on the north side of the River
Anio, feeding this stream with their rivulets, the Marcian has its rise.
The lake of S. Lucia[78] in that valley is so called from a small village
situated some distance up the slope; along the bottom of this valley the
Via Valeria passes. This lake is usually, but erroneously, considered as
the source of the Aqua Marcia.
The exact position of the source is about two miles from the village of
Marano, but on the other side of the river, on the right of the valley to
one looking towards the mountains, and there are still at times pools of
water forming here from the springs which emanate from the overhanging
hills. The water now falls into two or three rivulets, which run at the
bottom of the valley into the river Anio.
The aqueduct, however, when it reached the high road from Rome to
Subiaco, along the north bank of the Anio, turned abruptly to the west,
followed the course of the road back towards the city, chiefly passing
the further or hill side of it, but winding somewhat according to the
nature of the ground. After following the road for some seven or eight
miles, it crossed the river (close to the monastery of S. Cosimato) and
then pursued for some six or seven miles the southern or right bank of
the river Anio. Here, at a spot scarcely more than a mile from Tivoli
(_Tibur_), the course of the aqueduct left the line of the river, and
wound its way in a south-westerly direction towards the _piscinæ_ before
referred to; at times on a substructure, and in a few places, where the
valleys were deep, on arches, but for by far the greater distance beneath
the surface.
The line of the Marcia can be clearly traced along its whole length. The
principal source, called Acqua Serena, is a beautiful spring gushing out
from the mountain under the present carriage-road, about seven miles and
a-half before arriving at Subiaco, clear as crystal and very abundant; it
forms a small lake in the valley, and fully realizes the description of
Martial. The old _specus_, which had long been concealed by being a foot
or two under water and overgrown with weeds, was brought to light in 1869
by the engineer of the Aqua Marcia Pia, in making his new works for the
restoration of this beautiful water to use in Rome. He drained the lake
a little, and by that means made the _specus_ visible[79]: this _specus_
is then carried to the cliff of the valley of the Anio (into which the
water from the small lake falls), and then follows the course of the
valley and the river, until it comes to the monastery of S. Cosimato, a
mile from Vico-Varo: here it crosses the river on an arcade of brick.
It there leaves the present road, and then is carried in the cliff on
the other side of the river until it arrives within two miles of Tivoli,
where it again crosses the river (here a deep ravine) on a fine arcade
parallel to that of the Anio Novus, and at a very short distance from it.
There are very fine and picturesque ruins of both these arcades in the
valley called the Valley of the Arches. It then continued in the cliff
by the side of the present road, which is on a ledge of the rock or hill
overlooking the Anio, as far as the old town of Tibur and the Cascades,
behind the present town of Tivoli: to avoid these it follows a serpentine
course, winding round the end of the hill, and has a fine reservoir about
half a mile beyond the town, on the side towards Rome, below the level of
the Promenade of Carciano, by the side of which are considerable remains
of a large reservoir or _piscina_, with the _specus_ running into it and
from it. This large building is divided down the middle by an arcade,
into two nearly equal parts. Some of it is faced with _Opus Reticulatum_
of a peculiar pattern. On the exterior, there are remains of niches and
fountains, a villa of some importance having been built at this spot
to take advantage of the abundant supply of excellent water[80]. The
_specus_ then runs near the cliff below the level of the road to another
extensive reservoir and _piscina_ about a mile further on. There are
considerable remains of a large building erected on a steep slope just
under the cliff, with no upper wall, as the cliff itself supplied its
place; but there is on the lower side a fine wall of considerable extent
and height, built of large square or oblong stones of the construction
called Cyclopean Masonry[81], in this instance differing little from that
of the Walls of the Kings in Rome, except that the stones are rather
larger, the building-material being not tufa, but a kind of calcareous
stone of the country, dug on the spot. This wall has been supposed to be
a portion of the fortifications of the ancient city of Tibur, but for
this there does not appear to be the slightest evidence or probability.
It is simply the natural construction of the material at hand, and
therefore the cheapest wall that could be built for the purpose. No
cement is used, because none was required; these large blocks of stone
require none, and some chippings are used to fill up interstices, as
usual when no cement is used. Again the wall turns the corner at both
ends; it is not part of a large wall but is complete in itself, as the
facing of one side of the reservoir and filtering-place, the interior
of which is built of the usual concrete of rough stone and mortar, and
lined with cement of the kind which holds water, _Opus Signinum_, used
for all the aqueducts. The end is faced with _Opus Reticulatum_, and
there are remains of niches against the wall at intervals. It was also
more ornamented, because it was intended to be the one seen chiefly;
the other side, being near the edge of a precipice, would only appear
from a distance, and the large stones were therefore more effective in
that situation. There is no reason to doubt that the whole was built
together at the time that the Marcian Aqueduct was made, and it was
probably restored by Augustus. It may be doubtful whether some caves in
the cliff, which formed part of the reservoir, were natural or were cut,
and the stone dug out from them. It is altogether a very picturesque and
interesting structure. There may be a question also whether there was not
a branch from this reservoir to the Villa of Hadrian at the foot of the
hill, perhaps a mile lower down.
The _specus_ of the Marcia is visible at the Ponte di S. Antonio over
that of the Anio Vetus; and again, but alone, at the Ponte di S. Pietro,
and it passes the Ponte Lupo with the Anio Novus, Claudia and Anio Vetus.
It then continues, chiefly underground, to the great _piscinæ_ before
mentioned, and thence on the arcade into Rome.
After reaching the City, the branch mentioned by Frontinus, c. 87, as
being carried across the valley from the Cœlian to the Aventine in the
time of Nerva, seems to be the one found during the excavation in 1868,
passing over the Porta Capena at a higher level than the Appia, but
still at a much lower level than the lofty arcade of Trajan, of which
only the bases of the series of piers crossing the valley now remain.
The aqueducts following this line had all to cross the Via Appia, here a
foss-way, on the arch of the Porta Capena. This southern branch of the
Aqua Marcia is probably the one that can be traced along the side of the
cliff of the Pseudo-Aventine, after it had been repaired and brought
again into use, for it must be remembered that at one time, as Frontinus
says, it ended at the Porta Capena.
The conduit and arcade were rebuilt by Augustus, as recorded on the
inscription on his arch at the Porta S. Lorenzo, and in the sixth decree
of the Senate, on the subject of the aqueducts. This branch arcade of
Augustus is there expressly named as distinct from the others, all
needing repairs at the time of this edict. The consuls are charged to see
to “the repairs, at the expense of the city, of the streams, conduits,
and arches, of the Julia, Marcia, Tepula, Anio; also of those streams and
arcades which Augustus Cæsar had rebuilt.”
A branch of the Marcian aqueduct was carried along the _agger_ into
the Prætorian Camp. Some leaden pipes were found there in 1742, with
an inscription upon them, recording that they were of the time of the
Emperor Macrinus (A.D. 217). This probably indicates either a renewal
of the pipes, or an additional supply of water. The garrison in that
camp was twelve thousand men, and a large supply of water must have been
required for their use[82].
The excellent qualities of the Marcian water are mentioned by several
of the classical authors, and were celebrated for a long period; they
were known in England in the time of Shakespeare, as appears from the
following passage in CORIOLANUS, _Act_ ii. _Sc._ 3—