Anio, which falls into the Tiber a short distance above Rome. The water
is there seen to be much more pure than that of the Tiber, and after it
falls into the muddy Tiber its clear water can be distinguished for a
long distance. Several of the aqueducts, as the Appia and the Virgo, are
springs, that fell into that river; but part of the water was intercepted
and brought into Rome, each in its own distinct _specus_. This was the
case with the Anio Vetus, at a much higher level above Tivoli, but below
Subiaco. The river itself may be considered to belong to the system of
the Aqueducts, and the series of magnificent cascades by which it falls
from its high level, are partly artificial, are connected with them,
and illustrate their history. Those in Tivoli (1545, 1546, 1547, 1548),
the engineers had great difficulty in avoiding. The one near Vico-Varo
(1544), above Tivoli, is near the point from which the aqueduct was
taken, which is near the valley called Arsoli (1549). It can be seen in
the valley of the Arches, two miles above Tivoli, at the foot of one
of the piers of the Marcian Arcade (1054), and the one seems to have
followed the other all the way into Rome. It passes along with it over
the Ponte di S. Antonio, which is one of the finest bridges on the whole
line of the Aqueducts, eight miles below Tivoli, across the valley and
mountain stream called S. Antonio (1530). This aqueduct can generally be
distinguished by being half-underground, or very near the surface. It was
repaired or restored by Augustus and Trajan[222], and most of the remains
now visible are of their time, and both the _specus_ and the _castella_
can generally be known by being faced with _opus reticulatum_, so much
used at that time. There is a fine reservoir or _castellum_ for it near
Tivoli, with very peculiar work of this description, and extremely
picturesque (950). Another is against a bank, and half underground, near
the Torre Fiscale, three miles from Rome, and close to the foot of the
Claudian Arcade (896, 1028, 1029). Remains of others may still be seen
at the foot of the Wall of Rome in several places, they were distinctly
visible in 1870, when these photographs were taken; but have been almost
obliterated since in the _restoration_ (?) of the wall by the municipal
architect. One is near the Porta Metronia (983), and another at the
Porta Latina (985). Remains of other _piscinæ_ are visible near the
Amphitheatrum Castrense, on the rock at the foot of the wall (868, 969,
970); at this point one branch of it seems to have been brought into
Rome along the line of the Via Appia Nova, which runs near the spot, and
entered Rome just beyond, by the Porta Asinaria. It can also be seen
at the foot of a wall by the side of the Via Labicana, near the Porta
Maggiore, and readily distinguished by the usual reticulated work (1337).
One branch enters Rome at the foot of the Marcian Arcade, close to the
Porta Maggiore (59), and the _specus_ was visible at that gate, until it
was concealed by a brick wall by the modern builders. It passes through
the City Wall there, and is visible on the other side in the inner road,
in the wall of the garden still under the level of the Marcian Arcade
(1876). Here it forked off, one branch went to the left, along the line
of the wall of the garden, to a great reservoir for it at an angle close
to the junction of two roads, one called the Via Labicana the other the
Via di Porta Maggiore, coming from the church of S. Maria Maggiore. At
this spot there is a very large and fine reservoir in several chambers at
a considerable depth, corresponding to the level of the Anio Vetus; 538
is a view of it, and 700* is a section of it. From this great reservoir
two small _specus_ in this part appear to have gone into the _specus_ of
the Appia in the Cœlian, under the Arches of Nero, and are visible going
into the bank on which this fine arcade stands (854).
Another important branch turns to the north upon the high bank of the
Kings, on which the Wall of Aurelian was afterwards built. There are
remains of _castella_ for it near the Porta S. Lorenzo (869), and further
to the south near the Porta Nomentana (871), after passing the Prætorian
Camp. It had previously gone under the Porta Chiusa, which was shewn
in the excavation of 1868, and in the photograph 1057. The _specus_
runs under the wall of the Camp all round. It is still visible on the
north side, faced with the reticulated work under the fine brickwork of
Tiberius (870). There was an opening into it at the north-east corner
of the camp, into which a dog or a boy might be sent (981, 982), until
it was closed in the recent _restoration_. Remains of it may still be
seen at the foot of the wall in several places by experienced eyes. The
general plan of this aqueduct is shewn in Nos. 1970*, 1971*, 1976*,
1977*, and 1967*.
III. MARCIA, MADE IN THE YEAR OF ROME, 608, B.C. 145.[223]
This aqueduct was made in the year B.C. 145, and has its source a few
miles below Subiaco; the springs are collected in a small lake called
Aqua Serena (1537), the water from which flows into the river Anio; but a
portion of it was intercepted for this aqueduct, and is now again taken
from the same spot and brought into Rome. It has always been celebrated
for its extreme coldness and great purity. The old _specus_ or viaduct
was found in 1870 in this lake, having long been concealed by being under
water; but by drawing off some of the water it was brought to light, and
the engineer of the new company decided on carrying his new _specus_
up to this point. The previous plan had been to draw the water from
another lake nearer to Rome, which is nearly equally good water, but not
the real Aqua Marcia so much prized, and this is now again brought into
Rome. The source of the old aqueduct is celebrated for its extremely
picturesque character, as well as for the fine construction of the arcade
of large square stones, and the scientific arrangement of the reservoirs
(_castella aquarum_) and filtering-places (_piscinæ_). The sources in
the Aqua Serena are shewn in Nos. 1538, 1539. Another source for an
additional supply was on the lake of the Mole d’Agosta, 1543.
In the earlier part of its course the _specus_ is underground; but on
arriving at the valley called the Valley of the Arches, about two miles
above Tivoli, it emerges upon the fine arches which give the name to
the valley, and is here carried across the river Anio. These arches
are in two series, and are among the most picturesque objects in the
neighbourhood of Rome; the effect is improved by a medieval tower built
upon the first pier of the bridge. This is shewn in Nos. 1053, 1054.
It then appears again on the other side of Tivoli, on the road called the
Promenade of Garciano, which is on the edge of the hill looking towards
Rome, and above the winding road up the hill; S. Peter’s is visible from
this point. On this platform there are a number of fine remains of the
_specus_ and of the _castella_ of the Aqueducts, some of the finest of
which are of the Marcia. The Plan and Section of a very fine Reservoir
and Piscina here is given in No. 535*.
Another very fine one has a wall on the edge of the cliff of the
character called Cyclopean (Nos. 1513 and 1528). Chambers of this
remarkable early reservoir are shewn in Nos. 1520 and 1521.
A considerable part of this aqueduct was rebuilt by Augustus[224] (B.C.
11), and again about a century afterwards by Trajan[225], and of the
_specus_ of that time we have examples in 1524 and 1525, shewing a very
peculiar kind of the ornamental construction called _Opus Reticulatum_.
Another reservoir of this time is shewn in 1526, and an earlier one
belonging to the original construction of the kind called _Opus
Incertum_, which probably belongs to the earlier period, is shewn in 1527.
From Tivoli the Aqueducts again pass underground for some miles,
gradually winding down the hill from the high level to that of Rome on
the Campagna, at about seven miles distance. They were carried upon
bridges, some of which are very fine and picturesque, across the gorges
of the hills and the mountain streams. At the place where they arrive at
the lower ground, there are large reservoirs and filtering-places for
them, and the locality is called from them the Piscinæ.
From thence they are carried on the fine and celebrated arcades across
the Campagna, presenting some of the finest pictures in the neighbourhood
of Rome.
At the Piscinæ, the Tepula and Julia, from the Alban Hills near Marino,
were added to the Marcia, and carried on the same arcade. The greater
part of them was destroyed, and used for building materials by the
engineers of the Aqua Felice in the sixteenth century; but there are some
very remarkable and picturesque remains of the arcade at intervals, the
more interesting because so little is left of it. One fine piece remains
at a locality called Sette Bassi and Roma Vecchia, five miles from Rome
(1435), where a small portion of each of the three Aqueducts on an arcade
can be seen in Nos. 1006 and 536, and the Piscinæ near to it, 534, 1434,
1438.
This arcade is seen again at the Torre Fiscale, a medieval tower built
upon the aqueducts at one of the points of junction, and at one of the
angles, which they made at every half mile. Here the more lofty arcade of
the Claudia and Anio Novus is carried over that of the Marcia, Tepula,
and Julia; while the Anio Vetus runs underground at the foot of it, and
the Felice is built up against it; so that at this point seven aqueducts
cross each other, and have a tall medieval tower built on the top of
them[226]. The Torre Fiscale, with this remarkable junction, is shewn in
Nos. 528, 529, 530, 531, 532. A plan and section of it are given in 689*.
There is another angle and crossing at the Porta Furba, half-a-mile
nearer to Rome, which makes another very picturesque point of view (shewn
in Nos. 551, 552). A small portion of it remains built into a gardener’s
cottage at another angle, about a mile from Rome, and a fine large
reservoir near to it. The ground then rises, and the arcade is buried
for some distance; the upper part of the arches of brick, as rebuilt by
Trajan, are then visible by the side of the old road that runs close
to the northern side of the great Claudian arcade, on the line of the
Marcian, which was parallel to the Claudian for some miles into Rome.
It then occurs again very conspicuously at the last angle, close to
the Porta Maggiore, where the Claudia was again carried over it, and
afterwards incorporated in the City Wall of Aurelian. Here the last pier
of the arcade remains with the three _specus_ of the Marcia, Tepula, and
Julia passing through the wall at a right angle (31, 59). Inside the wall
a part of the first arch remains with the _specus_ upon it (60); on the
other side of the road, the pier of the same arch remains built into the
wall of the garden; and a little further on in the garden or vineyard,
a gardener’s house is made out of another reservoir or _castellum aquæ_
(538; section, 700*).
It then passes again underground parallel to the city wall for a short
distance, and near the Minerva Medica it runs into the bank on which that
great wall is carried. A portion of this underground arcade was brought
to light in some excavations in 1871, but is now covered up again (2320).
After passing underground in the bank on which the wall stands for some
distance, it emerges near the Porta Tiburtina, now called Porta di S.
Lorenzo (see a plan and section of this in No. 1938*). As the ground here
is lower it is on an arcade, one arch of which is made into the gate (21,
1870), and a portion of the _specus_ is very distinctly visible on the
southern side of the gate, with an opening into it by which persons can
go inside of it (shewn in Nos. 69, 572*, and 1487).
After passing the Porta Tiburtina, it went on upon the bank or outer
_mœnia_ of Rome to the Prætorian Camp, and there was a large reservoir
for it near the Porta Chiusa, remains of which were visible in the
excavations of 1868, with the wall of Rome built across it (shewn in
1059). From this reservoir the three aqueducts, Marcia, Tepula, and
Julia, were carried along the side of the old road to the inner gate in
the great _agger_ of Servius Tullius on the Viminal, where the railway
station has now been made, and where the three Roman princes carried on
excavations in 1869, in which they found the upper _specus_; that of the
Julia, which was left open for a time, passing between the _cippi_ or
boundary-stones, with inscriptions upon them, recording that _the three
aqueducts_ passed there between them.
Another division of the Marcia went along the same line as the Arches of
Nero to the Cœlian, and along that hill as far as the great reservoir
over the arch of Dolabella; then turning to the left or south, it came to
an end above or over the Porta Capena[227]. These words may mean—either,
in the reservoir on the cliff of the Cœlian Hill just _above_ the
gate, rebuilt in the time of Trajan, of which the remains are shewn in
1147*;—or, in the reservoir in the valley close to the west side of that
gate (also rebuilt in the time of Trajan, and now a gardener’s house, as
before mentioned). In that case it must have passed over the gate, and
the _specus_ that is cut in the wall of the western tower belonged to it
(710*).
The general plan of the Aqua Marcia near its source is shewn in 1972*,
and the line of its course in 1981*, 1982*; the bridge for it in 1983*.
In the early part of its course, above Tivoli, the new aqueduct for this
water, called the Aqua Marcia Pia, is carried on a stone _specus_ upon
an arcade, after the same fashion as the old one (a portion of this new
arcade is shewn in No. 1553).
IV. THE TEPULA, and V. THE JULIA, being carried on the same arcade as the
Marcia for the seven miles into Rome, have left remains visible in some
places, especially at the Gates of Rome, the Porta Maggiore (31), and the
Porta Tiburtina (21, 572*); in other places, they have generally been
destroyed. Near the Sette Bassi, there is a portion of the _specus_ of
the Julia visible just at the surface of the ground, the other two being
then subterranean, as the level is rather higher in this part than usual.
This portion has been examined by Signor Moraldi, at a junction whence a
branch was carried to supply a reservoir at the great villa called Sette
Bassi, and there are remains of the loch in the channel to turn off the
water, shewing the same arrangement as in a modern canal. (A plan and
section of this is given in 696*.) The _specus_ near this point, built
of concrete faced with brick, is also shewn in 1006. The _specus_ of the
Marcia is always of squared stone, so that one is readily distinguished
from the other. There are remains of a _castellum aquæ_ or reservoir for
the Tepula, near the Porta Tiburtina, or Porta Viminalis of Frontinus,
now called Porta di S. Lorenzo. This is shewn in the Plan of that Gate,
Nos. 1111* and 1238*, and a view of it in No. 25. It is a remarkable
building of brick of the first century, and has on a level with the
_specus_ a series of small corbels projecting from it, evidently intended
to carry a _hourd_, or wooden balcony as a passage for the Aquarii,
and perhaps for defence also. It is incorporated in the great Wall of
Aurelian. It projects slightly from the line of that wall, and the end of
the _specus_, with its triangular head, is visible in the angle.
V. JULIA.
Between this building and the gate, but within the wall, though on the
bank on which it stands, are slight remains of another _castellum aquæ_,
supposed to have been for the Julia (Nos. 26, 869, 1873), which has its
external face in the direction of the wall, and must have been concealed
by it when that was built. This is also of the first century, as is shewn
by the brickwork, and it seems to have been a _castellum aquæ_ by the
disproportional size of the buttresses used to support the weight of the
water, one of the invariable marks of such a structure. The other mark is
the peculiar cement with which the wall is lined, called _Opus Signinum_
in Latin, _Coccio Pesto_ in Italian, which is made of broken pottery, and
is the hardest cement that is known; it is often impossible to break it,
even after it has been exposed to the weather for centuries.
A plan and section of the ground between the two gates, called by
Frontinus Esquilina (S. Lorenzo) and Viminalis (Maggiore), shew the
difference of level, and the three aqueducts passing underground in the
middle between the two gates, and carried on arches at both ends near the
gates (see No. 1938*).
The plan of the ground at the sources of the Tepula and Julia is given in
1980*.
VI. THE VIRGO (NOW CALLED AQUA DI TREVI) WAS MADE IN THE YEAR OF ROME
732, B.C. 21.
This aqueduct has its sources in the meadows of Lucullus, on the banks
of the river Anio, on the old Via Collatia, eight miles from Rome,
about a mile further than the Aqua Appia, not at the same level, but
comparatively near the surface. There are several springs, each of which
has its own separate reservoir just below the surface of the ground;
in some of them the vault is scarcely perceived. These are also called
conduit-heads (864, 863, 862). From each of these small reservoirs a
conduit runs into the central reservoir (860, 861), which is considerably
larger, circular in form, surrounded by a wall, lined with the cement
called _coccio pesto_, and one part of this central reservoir under the
road now remains. This is near Salone, with its medieval tower. (See the
Plan, 1155*.)
From this large central reservoir the surplus water is carried off by
short conduits into the country ditches, and so into the river Anio.
The main _specus_ into Rome begins at the central reservoir, and runs
generally underground along the line of the old Via Collatina, now called
Lunghezza. The course of the aqueduct can be clearly traced by the small
pyramidal or conical structures over the wells at regular intervals,
called Respirators (660*), or which might have been called Ventilators,
as they give air to the _specus_ below. It runs in the high bank of the
old road for two or three miles, behind the ruin called Torre d’ Scavi,
supposed to be the Thermæ of the Gordiani, in a direct line towards the
Porta Maggiore; but about half-a-mile before arriving there, it turns
sharp to the north along the bank of the great _foss_ or valley, and
being underground is traced by the Respirators. Further to the north,
beyond S. Agnes, at some little distance, the old line can be traced in
the catacomb of S. Priscilla on the Via Salaria, where the _specus_ is
visible, half filled up with the deposit of clay (1109*, 1466). In the
road on the bank on which the Wall of Aurelian is built, near the Porta
Salaria, it can be traced by the low arcade at the foot of the wall
which is built upon it (5).
But when the line was altered, it was carried still further to the north,
and it enters Rome under the garden of the French Academy (the Villa
Medici); it here is marked by two _cippi_ (2088, 2089), with inscriptions
upon them, and under the garden is a large reservoir very deep, level
with the ground in the great foss on the outside, and with the Campus
Martius inside the walls. It was then divided into two branches, one
of which went along the Via de Condotti, the other along the Via del
Nazzareno (83, 1108*) to the Fountain of Trevi, rebuilt in A.D. 1735
(1356); originally, it went to the north end of the Septa, near the
Pantheon. Some remains of this were shewn in 1871 in the Piazza di S.
Ignazio (2326). The _specus_ can be seen, with an inscription upon it
recording repairs by the Emperor Claudius (82), in the yard behind a
house near the Palazzo del Buffalo.
The plan of the ground at the sources of the Aqua Virgo (or de Trevi), is
given in 1968*, and Sections of it in 1979*.
VII. THE ALSEATINA.
This aqueduct was made by Augustus in the year of Rome 763, A.D. 10,
to bring water for his great Naumachia, or sham naval battles in the
Trastevere; the water was not good for drinking[228]. It was brought from
the lake called Alseatina, in the hills on the western side of Rome. It
is altogether distinct from the great series of aqueducts on the eastern
side. The source can be seen in the bank of the lake, and the _specus_ or
subterranean conduit can now be entered, the water of the lake having
recently been drained, and reduced to a much lower level.
To these was added from another lake about three miles distant from the
Alseatina, another branch called the Sabatina. The two conduits were
united after a few miles near the old city of Cariæ, at a _castellum
aquæ_ or reservoir, now made into a house, and called the Osteria Nuova.
The Alseatina was at the lowest level of all the aqueducts, and it is now
very difficult to see any remains of it, except the _specus_ in the lake
at its source.
Trajan afterwards adopted the Aqua Sabatina, but omitted the Alseatina,
and carried the Sabatina at the highest level instead of the lowest (see
Aqua Sabatina, Aqueduct X.) Pope Paul V., who restored these aqueducts
to use, went back to the Alseatina lake, and his _specus_ can be seen
there on a different side of the lake to that of Augustus; both are now
left dry. There is, near the junction at the Osteria Nuova, a remarkable
flight of steps for the use of the _aquarii_, or the men who had charge
of the aqueducts. It passes through the upper _specus_, and goes down to
the lower one (No. 2959*). The respirators of these two lines can be seen
and traced; they are of a different size and form. The two can be seen
close together at the Osteria Nuova (No. 2960*). The _specus_ is also
seen in No. 2961*.
VIII. THE CLAUDIA, AND IX. THE ANIO NOVUS, A.D. 38-52.
These two aqueducts were made together, or were so closely connected that
we cannot separate their history, although they were not the same water;
the Anio Novus came from some miles higher up the river Anio than the
Claudia. The latter was, like the previous aqueducts, taken from springs,
that were intercepted before they fell into the river Anio; but the Anio
Novus was part of the river itself, in which a gigantic loch was made
by building a great wall across it, about a hundred yards in front of
a natural waterfall, and forcing the water to flow over it, forming a
magnificent cascade, and at the same time causing some of the water to
flow through the _specus_ which was cut in the cliff by the side of the
river, at a rather lower level than the top of the wall. The sources of
the Claudia are below this cascade, those of the Anio Novus are above it.
The line of each of these aqueducts is distinct in all the early part of
its course; but after they come down to the valley of the Campagna of
Rome, at the Piscinæ, the two are carried on the same fine lofty arcade
into Rome.
These were the highest, and passed over the Marcian arcade with the
three aqueducts upon it. They form the finest feature in the landscape
on the eastern side of Rome. The sources are above Subiaco, and in what
is considered by artists as some of the most picturesque scenery in the
world. The photographs illustrating this are very numerous, the subjects
being some of the best that can be imagined for this purpose. The history
of these two most important aqueducts can now be better seen in this
series of photographs than in any other manner, and better understood
than by any written description of them, after the outline of their
history is once given.
They were begun in the year of Rome 789, A.D. 38, under the Emperor Caius
Cæsar, or Caligula; carried on and completed by his successor, Claudius,
in the year of Rome 803, A.D. 52. They were therefore fourteen years in
construction, according to Frontinus[229]; but Nero was then married to
Octavia, he was the actual governor of Rome, and he carried on the great
work upon what are called the Arches of Nero, along the Cœlian Hill, as
far as the arch of Dolabella, where a large reservoir for this water was
built. This work was afterwards carried on by his successors in three
branches, one to the Colosseum, a second to the Palatine, and over it
to the Capitol, and a third to the Aventine. Frontinus himself, who has
left us his admirable treatise on the subject, had the direction of these
works for many years; he was Curator Aquarum under the Emperors Nerva
and Trajan, and some of the greatest works were done in his time,—at his
suggestion, and according to his plans.
Some of the sources of the Claudia were in the lake of S. Lucia, below
Subiaco, between that and Vico Varo (see 1536). In its course through the
hills the _specus_ is almost entirely underground, and cannot be shewn
in photographs; but the line of its course is shewn in the map of the
aqueducts from Rome to Subiaco, reduced by photography in Nos. 1967* to
1984*, especially in Nos. 1976*, 1978*, 1979*, 1981*. It crosses mountain
streams on the bridges called Ponte Lupo (1532) and Ponte di S. Antonio
(1530); and an inscription relating to it, of _A.D._ 88, is given in No.
1976*.
When it reaches the level ground of the Campagna, nearly on the same
level as the hills of Rome, the _piscina_ for it is subterranean, and
only the summit of this is visible, looking like a _tumulus_ only (688);
but from this the _specus_ is seen to emerge, at first only just above
ground, but gradually getting higher (or the soil, in fact, is getting
lower), until it is carried on the grand series of arches or arcades
across the country, which remain nearly perfect for some miles, as far as
the Sette Bassi and Roma Vecchia. In 1002, a long line of this arcade is
shewn with the Claudian _specus_ upon it, and the Anio Novus over that
in many places; the two can readily be distinguished, by the Claudian
being built of large blocks of stone (with the edges chamfered off),
and the Anio Novus being faced generally with brick, occasionally with
_opus reticulatum_. Nearer to Rome, this fine arcade has been very much
damaged, or carried off altogether as building material by the farmers,
and by the engineers of Pope Sixtus V. to build the Aqua Felice; but some
portions of the old arcade remain, and are shewn in No. 1006, where the
distinction between the two _specus_ comes out very clearly. In 1005, two
of the brick arches with which it had been strengthened by Trajan are
shewn, the stone-work having all been carried away.