The noble house of the Marcians; from whence came
That Ancus Marcius, Numa’s daughter’s son,
Who, after great Hostilius, here was king:
Of the same house Publius and Quintus were,
That our best water brought by conduits hither;
And Censorinus, darling of the people,
And nobly named so, being censor twice,
Was his great ancestor.”
There is a slight anachronism here. Coriolanus lived in B.C. 489, and the
Marcian aqueduct was constructed in B.C. 145, more than three hundred
years after his death. Marcius Censorinus also, who was twice Censor (the
only Roman who filled that office twice), lived B.C. 294.
In the thirteenth century, the church of S. Bibiana is incidentally
mentioned as being near the arcade of the Marcian aqueduct[83]. In some
excavations made in the year 1871, a portion of the Marcian arcade, built
of the usual large squared stones, was shewn, passing under some high
ground to the north of the Porta Maggiore, within the wall of Aurelian,
in a direction to join the bank on which that wall is built, and passing
between the Minerva Medica and the wall in that part. This is very near
the church of S. Bibiana.
IV. TEPULA.
The sources of the Tepula and the Julia are in the valleys on either side
of the promontory on which the modern town of Marino stands, the ancient
Castrimœnium (under the village of Rocca di Papa). That of the Julia is
on the south side, and almost close under the crater now the Alban Lake.
The Tepula rises near the bottom of the valley which comes down from the
hills in the neighbourhood of Grottaferrata, and along which the Via
Latina passes. This lies somewhat nearer to Rome than the source of the
Julia; but the Julia joined it before it had advanced far, and thus the
expression of Frontinus, “Marcus Agrippa intercepted the Tepula[84],” is
explained. The waters, therefore, flow into the same series of reservoirs
and cisterns which received the Marcian after they enter Rome.
Under the account of the Julia, the _Aqua Crabra_ is mentioned. This is
the little stream into which the water of the Julia and Tepula falls;
which is united at the foot of the hill on which the town of Marino
stands, to another stream called the Marrana, and the united water is now
generally called by the latter name only[85]. Frontinus mentions several
reasons why it was not made use of for supplying the city with water; but
it was brought into Rome in the twelfth century as a small mill-stream.
Frontinus also says that the Tepula had its source at ten miles from Rome
on the Via Latina, with two more miles to the right on a cross-road[86].
Ten miles on the Via Latina brings us near to Tusculum, at the tenth
mile is the Casino de Ciampino, from which starts a cross-road to the
right; and at two miles from that point we arrive at the springs called
Fontanaccio, before reaching Grotta Ferrata, but close under that
village. It follows that the source of the Tepula was at this place, now
called Fontanaccio. The spring comes out under a cliff of the rock of
lava near the road, and has a modern washing-cistern in front of it; but
behind this the ancient work can be seen, with openings into a reservoir
in the cliff. This is probably contemporaneous with the time that the
conduit of the Tepula was made. The supply of water is small, but of good
quality.
As the Aqua Tepula supplied only the Regiones in the northern part of the
city, it seems to have passed into the _castellum_, the remains of which
may still be seen in the city wall near the Porta S. Lorenzo, evidently
built upon an old _agger_ before the Aurelian wall was erected[87]. It,
however, has been a house as well, the lower part only being used as
the reservoir for the water, and the upper part, which is large and
important, for chambers. The front of this house, or _castellum aquæ_,
still forms part of the city wall. It has been much disfigured, and the
old drains walled up during the _restorations_ (!) of 1869.
On the level of the first floor, in which is part of the reservoir,
is a row of corbels to carry a wooden gallery or _hourd_, probably an
external passage for the use of the Aquarii, behind which the _specus_
runs at the same level. Immediately above the line of the corbels which
carried the floor of the gallery or balcony, is a row of large arches;
but these are merely the arches of construction found in most walls of
the period. At the south end of this line of corbels, which mark the
extent of the _castellum_ in that direction, there is an angle, and the
wall recedes a few feet. In this angle is the _specus_, corresponding in
form and dimensions with that of the Aqua Tepula in other parts; it can
be seen entering into the reservoir behind the line of corbels. Within
the wall are the usual marks of a reservoir of water: the tartar deposit
remains visible in the corners of the chambers cut through by the wall
of Aurelian, or by the engineers of the Acqua Felice, whose _specus_
runs behind it on the bank within the wall which formed the front of
the house. The _specus_ of the Acqua Felice is here at rather a higher
level than the Marcian arcade, with the three _specus_ upon it, although
at the “Sette Bassi,” five miles from Rome, and near the _piscinæ_, it
is at a lower level. On the bank just above the level of the ground are
the water-drains (hidden by the restorers in 1869) for carrying off the
superfluous water into a large subterranean drain which runs under the
gateway, and which is still in use for purposes of irrigation.
V. JULIA.
Frontinus states that the source of the Julia was at twelve miles on the
Via Latina, with two more miles added on a cross-road to the right[88].
The twelfth mile is at Frascati; from thence, by a cross-road to the
right, we arrive at the bridge of the Squaricarelli, and at the copious
springs called the Fontanile, exactly two miles from the starting-point
at Frascati. This must, therefore, be the source of the Aqua Julia.
The swampy ground in which the source of the Angelosa or Aqua Julia is
found, is full of springs, like the Lucullan fields, from which flow the
Appia and the Virgo, and from it run also the streams called di Monte
Fiore and la Marrana di Marino.
This ground is on a high level on the Monte Fiore e dell Aglio (the Mons
Algidus of the ancients), or “The hill of flowers or of garlic;” and
the springs come from the gardens of the modern Villa Aldobrandini, at
Frascati. Canina cleared out the ancient _specus_, which had a curved
vault, almost oval (_a capanna_).
This source of the Julia is on the left-hand side of the road from Grotta
Ferrata to Marino, about a mile above the former, and nearly the same
distance below the latter. The water gushes out from the foot of the
rock and passes under the road to a _lavacrum_, or washing-place, at a
lower level on the opposite side of the road, and then falls into the
Aqua Crabra, which passes at the foot of the cliff many feet lower down.
A part of the water of the Julia, before it goes into the _lavacrum_, is
carried to the right in a _specus_ to Grotta Ferrata. This is ancient,
but has been restored to use, so that it looks modern. Below Grotta
Ferrata, the _specus_ has been destroyed in many parts; but remains of it
may be seen close to the ancient fortified villages called Pagus Lemonius
(on the maps Castellaccio, a small castle). It is ten miles on a branch
of the ancient Via Latina, and between the present roads to Frascati
and Grotta Ferrata. In a part of the fortifications of this village is
a _castellum aquæ_, or reservoir of the Julia, and near it part of the
_specus_, on an arcade on the brow of the hill. This _specus_ is built
of rough stone, and faced with a rude early kind of _Opus Reticulatum_,
more rude indeed than might have been expected at its date (B.C. 34), and
not nearly such good work as the Muro Torto, but more like the Emporium.
The reservoir is of the same character, but part of the _specus_ in the
fortifications is carried on brick arches which agree with that date; the
brickwork is not of the time of Nero, to whom it has been attributed.
A _specus_ of rough stone follows the line of the hill to the Marrana,
after the junction of that stream with the Aqua Crabra, close to the
point where the water from that stream enters a tunnel of the Aqua
Julia. After it emerges from this tunnel, it arrives at the _castellum_
or _piscina_ in which the water of the Julia was received before it was
carried on the Marcian arcade. This _piscina_ is about two miles nearer
to Rome, close to the point of junction between the roads to Frascati and
Marino, through Grotta Ferrata, and near to the other _piscinæ_.
Frontinus says that the AQUA CRABRA flowed past the head of the Julia,
but was excluded from it by Agrippa[89]. We find this stream coming
from that part of the hill on which the village called Rocca di Papa is
situated, passing near the head of the Julia at Fontanile, now Angelosa,
and sometimes mixing with the springs there. It has one of its sources in
the grounds of the Villa Torlonia, at Frascati. All these three streams
now fall into the river Anio.
Near Rocca di Papa an arcade, or bridge of ten arches, of silex or flint,
covered with brick, passes over the Aqua Crabra to carry some aqueduct,
probably a part of the Julia. This arcade is called Arcioni, [‘the
arches.’]
There are some remains of another reservoir within the wall of Rome, on
the bank between this and the Porta di S. Lorenzo, which seems to have
belonged to the Julia: the _specus_ of the Marcia, with that of the
Tepula and remains of that of the Julia over it, are visible on an arcade
a little beyond, close to the gate. The lower part of a fine brick wall
with bold buttresses, of the usual character of a _piscina_ or _castellum
aquæ_, are visible, and this faces the present Wall of Rome, almost
touching it, so that this has been built since the _piscina_, but that
not being exactly in the same line it could not be used. The _piscina_ of
the Tepula being on the outer side of the bank or _mœnia_ came into the
line of defence of Aurelian, and was used as part of his wall; that of
the Julia, being on the inner side of the bank, was too much within the
line to be used.
The Castellum Aquæ Juliæ, or chief reservoir of the Julian Aqueduct, is
usually, but erroneously, said to have been the one situated on high
ground near the church of S. Maria Maggiore, where the picturesque ruins
stand, usually called the “Trophies of Marius,” because those trophies
were hung under two of the arches there, until they were removed to the
Capitol. A lofty arcade carrying a _specus_ at a high level passes across
the valley, from the reservoir near the Porta S. Lorenzo to this point.
This arcade is of the first century, built of the fine brickwork usual at
that period, and agrees with the time of Frontinus; but the only aqueduct
that was high enough to have carried water to that spot was the Anio
Novus.
This great reservoir was rebuilt by Alexander Severus, and called a
Nymphæum, being given as such on one of his coins. This name is rather a
vague one; but it is evident, from some excavations made in 1871, that
there were extensive _thermæ_ of the Emperors of the third century near
this place.
From this lofty reservoir the distributing channels may be seen branching
off in different directions, one going to the Thermæ of Titus, towards
the reservoir called the Sette Sale, another going in a different
direction.
This Nymphæum (?) is on lower ground than the outer wall, though still
on ground so high that the only water that could reach it was that of
the Claudia and Anio Novus, of which part of the arcade remains between
it and the reservoir on the high bank. From that point the ground
descends gradually and gently along the line of the _agger_ of Servius
Tullius either way, and still more towards the interior of the city. The
aqueduct, therefore, could not pass underground and then _emerge_ in this
part. The Porta Esquilina of the inner wall was on the same level, or
nearly so. The Porta Tiburtina of the inner wall was near the _thermæ_ of
Diocletian, with a gradual and gentle descent to it along the line of the
_agger_. The only possible explanation of the text of Frontinus is that
the same names of the gates in the inner wall were applied to those in
the outer wall on the same roads.
A piece of leaden pipe, with an inscription upon it, was found at the
Porta S. Lorenzo, which gives the names of Dolabella and Silanus as
Consuls; this fixes the date at A.D. 10, and shews that the Marcian water
was conveyed in leaden pipes at that point in the time of Augustus. The
stone _specus_ was carried over the gate, as we see by the remains of it
in the wall, and the inscription upon it recording repairs by Augustus.
The one upon the leaden pipe is given by Gruter[90].
Another leaden pipe was found by Panvinius on the site of the Prætorian
Camp, with an inscription, given by Gruter[91], which records that it
conveyed the Marcian water to that point.
Three aqueducts are mentioned in other inscriptions found during the
excavations near the railway station in 1869[92]; the _three_ aqueducts
intended can hardly be other than the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia.
The upper one only was excavated; but if the noble Roman princes who
conducted this excavation had dug a little deeper, they would probably
have found the other two _under_ the one that they had discovered. These
three _specus_ must have been carried along and in the _agger_ of Servius
Tullius.
To reach that part of it on the side of which these _cippi_ are found,
they probably went along the side of the road that passed on the south
side of the Prætorian Camp, on which was the gate called Porta Chiusa.
Close to this gate remains of a large reservoir were found in the
researches of 1869 on the bank, with the Wall of Rome carried right
across it; but this part of the wall is medieval, built of old materials,
and it is probable that, originally, the front wall of this reservoir
was included as part of the wall of the city, in the same manner as that
of the Tepula near the Porta S. Lorenzo. This reservoir, with the Porta
Chiusa by the side of it, and the road from it to the _agger_, at the
place where the _cippi_ were found, is now in the garden of the Baron
Grazioli.
VI. AQUA VIRGO (B.C. 21).
This Aqueduct was made by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to supply water to his
Thermæ, on the south side of the Pantheon, which was the hall of entrance
to them.
Frontinus writes:—
“The same (M. Agrippa) when he had been consul for the third
time, and when C. Sentius and Quintus Lucretius were consuls,
that is, thirteen years after he had brought down the Julia, he
brought the ‘VIRGO’ also, the water of which was collected in
the Lucullan fields[93].
“The Virgo begins on the Via Collatia, at the eighth milestone,
in some marshy places: a cemented wall [_signino[94]
circumjecto_] being placed round it, to retain the bubbling
waters; the source was increased by many other additional
supplies. It comes for a length of 14 miles and 105 paces.
Out of this,—by a subterranean stream 12 miles, 865 paces;
above ground for 1 mile, 240 paces, of which it runs on a
substructure in several places for a distance altogether of 540
paces; on arched work 700 paces. The channels of the additional
supplies of the subterranean stream make 1 mile, 405 paces[95].”
The Virgo has no reservoir, i.e. Piscina ... “The arches of
the Virgo have their commencement beneath the Lucilian (or
Lucullan?) gardens. They end in the Campus Martius, along the
front of the Septa[96].”
The Virgo was the seventh in height as to level (c. 18).
The road now called Via Collatia, or Collatina, where the Aqua Virgo has
its origin, is between the present roads to Tivoli and Palestrina; it
turns off to the left or north of the highway now called Via Prænestina,
just beyond the ruins called Torre de’ Scavi or de’ Schiavi, about three
miles from the city. But this is an alteration; the old road from Rome to
this point in a foss-way may be traced _behind_ the tower in the meadows,
with the subterranean aqueduct running under and in the southern bank of
it, as traced by the respirators or ventilating shafts. There are remains
of very ancient tombs at intervals all along the line of this old road,
which goes straight towards a postern-gate midway between the Porta
Maggiore and the Porta di S. Lorenzo. This must be the Via Collatia of
Frontinus.
Close to this road, at eight miles from Rome, near the ruins of Collatia,
there are several springs in marshy ground, from which the water is
collected in a series of reservoirs, just below the level of the ground,
the vaults over them being sometimes above ground; from these small
reservoirs separate short conduits run to the same point, the great
central _castellum aquæ_, part of which is a cave in a rock, with a
larger semicircular basin built out in front of it, over which passes the
cross-road from the Via Collatia to Salone.
The line of the _specus_ can be distinctly traced from this reservoir
near its source to the city by the respirators over the wells. The
smaller _castella_, or cisterns, at the sources are also still in use.
About four miles from Rome, on the road now called Via Collatia, or
Collatina, a portion of the Aqueduct was rebuilt under Benedict XIV. in
1753, as stated on an inscription upon it. It is here carried across a
shallow valley, on an _agger_ built of rough concrete faced with brick,
for about a quarter of a mile. At the further end is a conduit-head,
or a modern _castellum aquæ_. This is a small oblong building with a
semicircular head erected under Pius VI. in 1788, by Joseph Vai; and the
conduit was continued by him for the length of 175 feet, also stated in
an inscription upon it[97].
From this point there is a branch to the south for a short distance, with
two respirators visible in the field; but this, though appearing like an
additional source, is only a branch leading to an old fountain of a villa.
The main line comes from the north along the bank of the Via Collatia, as
shewn by the respirators, at regular intervals of about a hundred yards.
These are mostly round masses of concrete with round heads; but some are
dwarf pyramids, one of which, numbered “40,” has been rebuilt in 1866.
The surplus water is carried into a brook which runs by it, and receives
its chief supply from it.
The _specus_ or conduit of the Aqua Virgo passes along the line of the
old road in a direct line west, towards the Porta Maggiore, until within
about half a mile from that gate; then it makes a great detour to the
north, passing under the modern Via Tiburtina, and eventually enters Rome
through the Pincian Hill a little to the north of the Spanish steps,
and there is a reservoir for it at the end of a short street called
the Via del Bottino. It then goes to the present fountain of _Trevi_,
passing at the back of the houses in the Via del Nazareno, where it may
be seen in several of the courtyards. In one of these, on the left hand
of the street, is an inscription recording its repair by Claudius[98];
in another, on the right, is an ancient lavatory below the level of the
street. A branch passes under the Via dei Condotti carried in leaden
pipes, enclosed in a brick _specus_; this branch is the one that led
to the Thermæ of Alexander Severus, which were situated to the north
of the Pantheon. The main line supplied those of Agrippa, for which
this aqueduct was made. The Aqua Virgo chiefly supplies the fountains
and houses in the Campus Martius, or lower city, and the main stream
terminated originally in front of the Septa[99], considerably to the
south-west of that fountain. In some excavations made in the summer
of 1871, a portion of it was found in the Piazza di S. Ignazio. This
original termination was at the north end of the Septa, very near the
Pantheon.
This aqueduct was restored by Pope Hadrian I., A.D. 772-795, after it
had been damaged by the Goths. It was afterwards repaired by several
subsequent pontiffs, especially by Boniface IX., A.D. 1389, and by
Nicholas V. in the fifteenth century. It now supplies the fountains in
the Piazza Colonna, erected in 1574; at the Pantheon, restored in 1711;
several others of the seventeenth century; and that of the _Trevi_,
erected by Benedict XIV. in 1730.
Near the source of the Virgo passes an abundant stream, also called
Marrana; but this has mineral properties, and was therefore carefully
avoided in forming the aqueduct for the Virgo. Pliny says[100] that
there was a stream which was abhorred by the Virgo, and for that reason
the water was called the Virgin. This stream was called by him _Rivus
Herculaneus_, some say for its salubrious qualities, because Hercules
was the god of health; others because it was a strong stream. There is
little doubt that this is the stream here described. The same name of
Herculanean is given by Frontinus to the stream now called Marrana[101]
in two places, because it was also a strong stream.
VII. THE ALSIETINA (A.D. 10), AFTERWARDS MADE THE AQUA PAOLA.
Frontinus says of this water, “What could have induced
Augustus, that most careful of emperors, to bring in the water
of the ALSIETINA (which is called Augusta) I do not well know;
for it is not pleasant to the taste, and therefore of no use
for the people. It may be, however, that when the work of
the Naumachia approached completion, in order not to divert
the more wholesome water, he introduced this for the special
purpose, and gave the surplus to the adjacent gardens and
territories.
“It is the custom, however, in the Transtiberine Regio, when
the bridges require mending, and there is no water forthcoming
from the city side, to make use of this for supplying the
public springs, as a matter of necessity.
“It begins in the Alsietine lake on the Via Claudia, at the
fourteenth milestone, about six miles and a-half off on the
right hand. Its course is in length 22 miles, 172 paces, and
over arched work 358 paces[102].”
“It is the lowest of all as regards the level, supplying only
the Transtiberine Regio, and the places adjacent[103].”
“The manner of beginning the Alsietine aqueduct is not
described in the commentaries, nor can it now be found with
certainty; it begins from the Alsietine lake, and then about
the _Cariæ_ receives water from the Sabatine lake also, as the
Aquarii regulate. The Alsietine gives 392 quinariæ[104].”
The lake formerly called “Lacus Alsietina,” now called Lago di
Martignano, is situated on the hills on the western side of Rome, between
the Via Aurelia and the Via Claudia, (not far from the old carriage-road
from Florence to Rome). It is about 679 ft. above the level of the sea;
and as Rome is only 204 ft. at the Porta Maggiore, the lake is 475 ft.
above the level of Rome at that high point. There is another small lake
about a quarter of a mile from, and a little above the level of, the
Alsietina, called Strachia Capra, which has recently been drained by
a tunnel in imitation of the _emissario_ from the lake of Albano. The
water in the Lacus Alsietina has also been very much lowered in the same
manner[105]. In consequence of this reducing of the level of the water,
the _specus_ of the aqueducts are now brought to view, being on the bank
and above the present level of the water, so that they can distinctly be
seen and entered into[106].