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1 
| Every task assigned by the Emperor demands an earnest sense of responsibility, and whether by a watchful concern which is mine by nature or by loyalty which is sincere and attentive, I am roused not merely to the competent performance of an entrusted task, but even to feel devotion towards it. It happens now that Nerva Augustus, an Emperor whose attitude towards the state is one of special devotion or, perhaps better, of special love, has imposed upon me the duties of water commissioner, a post which relates to matters not only generally useful, but necessary for the health, even the security, of the City, an office which has always been administered by the foremost men of our commonwealth. First and most important of my duties, I think, is to acquaint myself thoroughly with the business I have undertaken, a procedure which I have followed in all prior stages of my career. |
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2
I should have thought that no man's performance of duty could be more firmly grounded, nor that there could be any other means of deciding between what to attempt and what to avoid. Nor do I believe that there is anything more disgraceful in a man who bears another's trust than to perform the delegated duties according to instructions received from his own assistants. This will happen of necessity whenever a man in charge suffers from lack of experience and has recourse to the practical skills of his underlings; these lesser persons have roles which are crucial, indeed, but only as attendants, the tools, as it were, in the hands of the director.
( It is for this reason that I continue the habit I have observed through a good many offices, collecting as I was able facts and data relevant to the general subject, arranging them in an orderly manner and, so, to speak, into a systematic body. This booklet, then, is one to which I shall be able to turn as if to a reference manual for administrative purposes. ( In other books, which I composed after practical experience, I aimed at being helpful to those who came after me; this booklet, too, may perhaps prove useful to a successor, but since it has been written at the outset of my administration, its first good will be directed towards my own instruction and guidance. |
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3
| So that I may not seem to have left out anything relevant to the subject as a whole, I shall first set down the names of the waters which flow into the City. Then I shall state by whose agency, under what consuls, and in what year after Rome's founding each of these waters was brought in; next from what places and through what distance each is carried; how much of the course is by subterranean channel, how much on substructures, how much on arches. ( Thereafter I shall give the elevation of each water, an explanation of pipe sizes, what supply each appeared to have and how much it distributed, what distributions were made possible, how much each aqueduct furnishes outside the City in relation to its available supply and how much to each ward within the City, how many delivery-tanks there are (both public and private), and from these how much water is allotted to public works, how much to munera (for so ... are called), how much to streetside basins; how much is reserved in the name of Caesar, and how much is granted by the emperor's favor for uses of private citizens. Finally I shall rehearse the legal right which governs the drawing of water and the maintenance of the aqueducts, along with penalties which enforce those rights, as established by statute, senatorial resolution and administrative policies of the emperors. |
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4
| For 4years from the founding of the City, the Romans were satisfied with the use of whatever water they drew from the Tiber, from wells, or from springs. To this day springs are revered for their sanctity, and their water is thought to bring health to sick bodies. One thinks of the ancient springs of the Camenae, of the ..., and of Juturna. There are now, however, nine aqueducts from which water converges into Rome. These are named Appia, Anio Vetus, Marcia, Tepula, Julia, Virgo, Alsietina (which is also called Augusta), Claudia, and Anio Novus. |
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5
| In the consulship of Marcus Valerius Maximus and Publius Decius Mus 3B.C.E., thirty years after the beginning of the Samnite War, the Aqua Appia was brought into the City by the censor Appius Claudius (later called "the Blind"). In that year the same man also had charge of constructing the Appian Road from Porta Capena as far as the city of Capua. ( Appius' colleague in the censorship was Gaius Plautius, called Venox for having discovered the veins of this water. ( But Plautius resigned from the censorship before the eighteen months' term had elapsed, deceived by Appius who pretended he would do likewise, and so the name of the aqueduct fell to the credit of Appius alone. Indeed, Appius is reported to have extended his censorship by many subterfuges, until he could complete both the road and the aqueduct.
( The starting-point of Appia is on the property of Lucullus, 7paces along a side-road which leaves the Praenestine Road to the left between the seventh and eighth milestones. From the source to Salinae, a place near Porta Trigemina, the conduit has a length of 11,1paces, of which 11,1paces are underground channel, and paces of substructure and arches are above ground near Porta Capena.
Near Spes Vetus, on the boundary between the Horti Torquatiani and a neighboring park, Appia is joined by a branch called Augusta (added by Augustus as a supplement to this supply): the water-men have called the place where they meet "the Twins." This branch is drawn from a spring near the sixth milestone on the Praenestine Road, 9paces along a side-road to the left (quite near, in fact, to the Collatian Road). From the source to "the Twins" its underground channel is 6,3paces in length. Distribution begins at the foot of the Clivus Publicius near Porta Trigemina, the place called Salinae. |
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6
Forty years after Appia was introduced, in the 481st year from the founding of the City, Manius Curius Dentatus, who held the censorship with Lucius Papirius Cursor, contracted to bring into the City the Anio aqueduct (now called Anio Vetus). He did so with his personal share of booty captured from Pyrrhus. This was in the second consulship of Spurius Carvilius and Lucius Papirius 2B.C.E.. ( Two years later the question of completing the aqueduct was deliberated in the Senate, ... praetor. ( Then by senatorial resolution Curius, who had let the original contract, and Fulvius Flaccus were appointed as a special two-man board to bring in the water. ( Within five days of his appointment Curius died; thus the honor of bringing it fell to Fulvius.
The starting-point of Anio Vetus is above Tibur, on the Valerian Road at the twentieth milestone, outside the ... Gate, where it delivers part of its water to supply the Tiburtines. The conduit has a length, owing to the process of levelling, of 43,000 paces: of which 42,7paces are underground channel, and 2paces substructure above ground. |
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7
One hundred twenty-seven years later, that is in the 608th year from the founding of the City, in the consulship of Servius Sulpicius Galba and Lucius Aurelius Cotta 1B.C.E., the conduits of Appia and Anio had fallen into disrepair through long use and their waters were being fraudulently diverted by private individuals. To Quintus Marcius, who held at that time the office of urban praetor, the Senate assigned the task of rebuilding those conduits and reclaiming their water for public purposes. ( And since the growth of the City seemed to require a more abundant supply of water, to him as well the Senate gave the instruction to take charge of bringing into the City other waters so far as he could. ( Marcius accordingly repaired the earlier conduits and in a channel of its own he brought into the City a third water, which is named Marcia after the man who initiated the project. ( We read in Fenestella that the sum of 180,000,000 sesterces was voted to Marcius for these works, and since the term of his praetorship was not sufficient for completing the task, it was extended for a second year. At that time the Decemviri, while they were consulting the Sibylline Books for other reasons, are said to have discovered that it was not right for the Marcia, or rather the Anio (for tradition more consistently mentions the latter), to be brought to the Capitol. The matter was debated in the Senate, in the consulship of Appius Claudius and Quintus Caecilius 1B.C.E., with Marcus Lepidus as spokesman for the Board of Decemviri. And three years later, in the consulship of Gaius Laelius and Quintus Servilius 1B.C.E., the same matter was raised once again by Lucius Lentulus. But on both occasions the influence of Marcius Rex prevailed, and thus it was that water was brought to the Capitol.
The starting-point of Marcia is near the 36th milestone on the Valerian Road, three miles along a side-road to the right as one travels from Rome; it can also be reached from the Sublacensian Road, first constructed under Emperor Nero, near the 38th milestone, within 200 paces to the left. The spring water ... forms a tranquil pool, deep green in color. From this source to the City the conduit has a total length of 61,71/2 paces: 54,21/2 paces of underground channel, 7,4paces above ground. Of the latter, there are 4paces on arches in several places where it crosses valleys at some distance from the City; nearer the City, from the seventh milestone, 5paces on substructures, the remaining 6,4paces on arches. |
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8
| Gnaeus Servilius Caepio and Lucius Cassius Longinus, called Ravilla, were censors in the 627th year from the founding of the City, in the consulship of Marcus Plautius Hypsaeus and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus 1B.C.E.. In this capacity they arranged for bringing the water called Tepula from the property of Lucullus (which some persons consider to be Tusculan territory) to Rome and to the Capitol. ( Tepula's starting-point is near the tenth milestone on the Latin Road, along a side-road two miles to the right. It once was conducted from that point to the City in a channel of its own. |
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9
Later, when the Emperor Caesar Augustus was consul for the second time, with Lucius Volcacius B.C.E., in the 719th year from the founding of the City, Marcus Agrippa, holding an exceptional aedileship after having been consul for the first time, gathered the separate supply of another water near the tenth milestone on the Latin Road, along a side-road two miles to the right, and he blocked off the channel of Tepula. ( To this newly added water the name Julia was given, after the man who had conceived of the project, but Julia's delivery was so arranged that the name of Tepula remained.
( The conduit of Julia has a total length of 15,4paces: 8,4paces of underground channel, 7,000 paces above ground. All of the latter are near the City, from the seventh milestone: 5paces on substructures, the remaining 6,4paces on arches.
( Past the source of Julia flows the brook called Crabra. This water Agrippa left untouched, whether because he had condemned it for poor quality or because he believed it should be left to the landholders of Tusculum (for it is the Crabra water which all villas in that neighborhood receive in turn, the apportionment made by scheduled days and in fixed quantities). Members of our water staff, however, have not shown the same restraint. They have instead regularly claimed a part of the Crabra to supplement Julia--not to increase Julia's official supply, but to compensate for what they were diverting by unauthorized deliveries for personal profit. Crabra has, therefore, been separated and, at the emperor's order, restored entirely to the Tusculans. They draw it now, not perhaps without astonishment and unaware of the circumstances to which they owe the unusual abundance. Julia, on the other hand, now that the surreptitious taps have been removed, has maintained its supply despite a remarkable drought.
In the same year Agrippa reconstructed the conduits of Appia, Anio, and Marcia, which were in very poor condition, and with unique personal initiative he provided the City with a large number of public fountains. |
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10
After an interval of thirteen years since he had brought Julia, and after he had been consul for a third time, in the consulship of Gaius Sentius and Quintus Lucretius B.C.E., this same Agrippa developed another source on the property of Lucullus and brought Virgo into Rome. ( The date on which this water first came forth in the City is recorded as the 9th of June. ( It was called Virgo, because a young girl indicated certain water veins to the soldiers who were hunting for water, and the diggers who were to pursue them summoned up an enormous quantity of water. ( A painting which represents this origin is displayed in a small shrine set up near the source.
The starting-point of Virgo is near the eighth milestone on the Collatian Road; and because this is a marshy area, there is an enclosure with concrete to contain the water which issues forth in this spot. The supply is augmented by a number of additional tributaries. The length is 14,paces: 12,8paces of underground channel, 12paces above ground. Of the latter, 5paces are on substructures at various points, 700 paces on arches. Subterranean channels of the tributaries total 1,405 paces. |
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11
I do not clearly understand what motivated Augustus, an emperor whose energies were most conspicuously devoted to matters of public interest, to bring in the Aqua Alsietina (which is also called Augusta). It has no commendable quality; indeed, it is so thoroughly unwholesome that it is nowhere delivered for use by the populace. It may be that when Augustus set about building his Naumachia he brought in this water in a conduit of its own to avoid drawing upon more wholesome supplies; what then became surplus for the Naumachia he granted to adjacent properties and for purposes of private irrigation. ( Yet in the ward across the Tiber it is customary to draw from Alsietina as an emergency reserve for the public fountains, whenever bridges are being rebuilt and water is cut off from this side of the river.
( The water comes from Lake Alsietinus, the intake being located 6,500 paces along a side-road to the right which leaves the Claudian Road at the fifteenth milestone. ( Its conduit has a total length of 22,1paces: 21,8paces of underground channel, 3paces on arches. |
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12
| As a supplement to Marcia, when needed in periods of drought, Augustus conveyed another water of the same excellent quality by an underground channel leading to the channel of Marcia. This is called Augusta from the name of its donor. ( Its source is beyond Marcia's spring; its conduit, up to the junction with Marcia, measures 800 paces. |
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13
| Later still, Gaius Caesar, the successor of Tiberius, began two new aqueducts, since the seven already in existence now seemed inadequate for public needs and private pleasures. He did so in the second year of his reign, which was in the consulship of Marcus Aquila Julianus and Publius Nonius Asprenas C.E., the 789th year from the founding of the City. ( This undertaking Claudius brought to a most spectacular completion, with ceremonies of dedication held on the 1st of August in the consulship of Faustus Sulla and Salvius Otho C.E., the 803rd year from the founding of the City. ( One of these waters, drawn from springs called Caerulus and Curtius, was named Claudia. The other came to be called Anio Novus ("the New Anio") as a convenient distinction, because there were now two Anio aqueducts flowing to the City. To the earlier Anio the byname Vetus ("the Old") was appended. |
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14
Claudia's starting-point lies just under 300 paces along a side-road to the left which leaves the Sublacensian Road near the 38th milestone. There are two very copious and beautiful springs, Caerulus (the name denoting its blueish color) and Curtius. ( Claudia also receives the spring called Albudinus, which is of such excellent quality that, whenever Marcia too needs supplementing, this water serves the purpose so well that it can be added without affecting Marcia's quality in the slightest degree. ( The spring of Augusta, because it was plain that Marcia's own source was adequate, was diverted into Claudia; but it was not forgotten that Augusta was intended as a reserve for Marcia, so Augusta's water was to serve Claudia only when the conduit of Marcia could not carry it.
( Claudia's conduit has a total length of 46,406 paces: 36,2paces of underground channel, and 10,1paces above ground. Of the latter, 30paces are on arches at various points in the upper part of its course; nearer the City, from the seventh milestone, there are 609 paces on substructures, and 6,4paces on arches. |
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15
Anio Novus begins in the Simbruine district, near the 42nd milestone on the Sublacensian Road. Water is taken from the Anio River, along which are cultivated fields with rich soil; the banks are thus rather loose, and so this water runs muddy and turbid even without the adverse effect of rainstorms. ( For this reason a settling-tank was put in at the intake, where the water might settle and clarify itself between the river and the aqueduct channel. ( Even so, whenever storms occur, the water reaches the City is in a discolored condition. ( Tributary to Anio Novus is the Herculean Brook, the source of which is near the 38th milestone on the same road, in the vicinity of Claudia's springs but on the opposite side of the river and the road. This source is by nature very clear, but by admixture it loses the charm of its purity.
The conduit of Anio Novus has a total length of 58,700 paces: 49,300 paces of underground channel, 9400 paces above ground. Of the latter, 2300 paces are on substructures or arches at various points in the upper part of its course; nearer the City, from the seventh milestone, there are 609 paces on substructures, 64paces on arches. These are very high arches, rising at certain points to feet. |
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16
With these grand structures, so numerous and indispensable, carrying so many waters, who indeed would compare the idle Pyramids or other useless, although renowned, works of the Greeks? |
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| It has seemed to me not inappropriate to set forth both the overall length of each aqueduct's conduit as well as the lengths of its parts according to types of construction. ( A foremost duty of this office lies in responsibility for their upkeep, and the man at the head ought to know which matters require greater expenditures. ( In accordance with my official concern, I feel that it is not enough to have made a personal inspection of details. I also had diagrams made of the aqueducts, that from these might be seen where there are valleys and of what size, where rivers are crossed, and where channels contoured along the mountainsides require greater and constant attention for maintenance and repair. ( The usefulness of these diagrams is such that without delay we can have an area of interest in plain view, so to speak, and we can consider the problem as though we were standing on the spot. |
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| Each of the aqueducts reaches the City at a different level. ( Thus the water of some is available for higher places, while that of others cannot be raised to more elevated sites (for even the hills have gradually grown higher with rubble in consequence of frequent fires). ( There are five aqueducts whose level ensures that their water will reach every part of the City, but some of these are delivered under greater head, others under less. ( Highest of all is Anio Novus, next is Claudia, Julia takes third place, Tepula fourth, and last comes Marcia. At its source Marcia is equal in level even to Claudia, but the men of former days engineered its delivery at a lower altitude, either because the technique of levelling had not yet been precisely developed, or because they sank the aqueducts deliberately beneath the ground to avoid an easy opportunity for hostile interruption (there were still in those times frequent wars waged with the Italians). But now, whenever a conduit is beyond repair because of its age, in certain places, to save length, the circuitous underground route is abandoned and substructures and arches are used to cross valleys. Anio Vetus takes sixth place. Like the five just mentioned, it too would supply higher places in the City if it had been raised on substructures and arches wherever required by the nature of valleys and lowlying terrain. Next in level comes Virgo, then Appia. Both of these were brought in from points near the City and could not be raised to such high elevations. Lowest of all is Alsietina, which supplies the ward across the Tiber and extremely low areas. |
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| Six of these waters are received in covered settling-tanks located this side of the seventh milestone on the Latin Road. Here they take a breath, as it were, after racing through their channels and here they deposit their sediment. ( Their quantity also is calculated from gauges set up here. ( At one and the same spot emerge Julia, Marcia, and Tepula. (The latter of these had once run in Julia's channel, but--as I explained above--it was cut off and Tepula now receives its supply at Julia's tank and from this point only it has a conduit of its own and a separate identity.) These three are carried upon the same arches from the settling-tanks onward: ( topmost is Julia's channel, next below is Tepula's, and then Marcia's. At the elevation of the Viminal Hill they run for a short distance beneath ground level, as far as Porta Viminalis, where they emerge again. Earlier, however, a portion of Julia is diverted at Spes Vetus, taken for delivery-tanks on the Caelian Hill. Marcia, too, at a point behind the Horti Pallantiani, pours a portion of its water into the so-called Herculean Channel. This conduit traverses the Caelian, although it furnishes nothing for use on that hill because it is too low in level, and it ends above Porta Capena. |
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| Anio Novus and Claudia are carried from their settling-tanks on a second, loftier, arcade, Anio being the higher of the two. ( These arches end behind the Horti Pallantiani and from that point their waters are distributed in pipes for the use of the City. ( Near Spes Vetus, however, Claudia first transfers a part of its supply to the so-called Neronian Arches. ( These follow a line across the Caelian Hill and come to an end alongside the Temple of the Deified Claudius. The quantity which they receive they furnish partly to the Caelian itself, partly to the Palatine and Aventine, and to the ward beyond the Tiber. |
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21
Anio Vetus also has a settling-tank, located this side of the fourth milestone on a service-road which runs between the arches, from the Latin Road to the Labican Road. ( Then, within the second milestone, it delivers part of its supply into the so-called Octavian Conduit. This extends to the area along the New Road near the Horti Asiniani from where it is distributed through that district. ( The main conduit of Anio Vetus passes near Spes Vetus, comes inside the Porta Esquilina, and is distributed through the City in deep channels. |
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| Neither Virgo nor Appia nor Alsietina has a receiving basin or settling-tank. ( Virgo's arches begin below the Horti Luculliani; they end in the Campus Martius alongside the front of the Saepta. ( Appia's channel passes beneath the Caelian Hill and the Aventine and it emerges, as I said, at the foot of the Clivus Publicius. ( The conduit of Alsietina ends behind the Naumachia, the object for which it was apparently constructed. |
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23
Since I have dealt with the persons involved in the introduction of each aqueduct, the dates of construction, along with the location of their starting-points, the lengths of their channels and the sequence of their levels, it seems to me not inappropriate to add further details. I mean now to show how great is the supply which satisfies not only the necessary uses and reserves (both public and private) but those which give pleasure as well, through how many delivery-tanks and to what wards the water is distributed, how much outside the City, how much within the City itself; how much is delivered to streetside basins, how much to munera, how much to public works, how much reserved in Caesar's name, how much granted for private purposes. ( But before I discuss the names of the 5-pipe, the 100-pipe, and those of other pipes by which measurements are determined, I think it methodical to point out the origin of these pipes, their authoritative status, and what each name means. I shall set forth the rule according to which their sizes are reckoned methodically, and then I shall show by what logic I found discrepancies and what steps I took to correct them. |
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24
| Water pipes have been calibrated to measurement either in digits or in inches. Digits are employed in Campania and in most parts of Italy, but inches are still accepted as standard in Apulia. ( A digit, by convention, is one-sixteenth part of a foot, while an inch is one-twelfth. ( Just as there is a distinction between the inch and the digit, there are also two kinds of digits. ( One is called square, the other round. The square digit is larger than the round by three-fourteenths of its own size; the round digit is smaller than the square by three-elevenths of its size (because, of course, the corners are taken away). |
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25
| Later, a pipe called the 5-pipe (quinaria) came into use in the City to the exclusion of all former sizes. Its origin was based neither on the inch nor on either of the two kinds of digit. Some think that Agrippa was responsible for its introduction, others that this was done by the lead-workers under the influence of the architect Vitruvius. ( Those who credit Agrippa with its currency derive its name from the suggestion that into one such pipe were combined five of the slender ancient pipes (we might say little tubes) used for distributing the supply of water which in those times was not copious. Those who ascribe the 5-pipe to Vitruvius and the lead-workers suppose that its origin lay in producing a cylindrical pipe from a sheet of lead five digits in width. ( The latter explanation is inexact, because in forming a cylindrical shape the inner surface is contracted while the outer surface is extended. ( Most probable is the explanation that the name of the 5-pipe came from its diameter of five quarter-digits, according to a system which remains consistent in pipes of increasing size up as far as the 20-pipe: the diameter of each increases in size by the addition of one quarter-digit. For example, the 6-pipe has a diameter of six quarter-digits, the 7-pipe has seven, and so on by uniform increment up to a 20-pipe. |
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| The size of any pipe is determined either by its diameter, or its circumference, or the measure of its cross-section; from any one of these factors its capacity is evident. ( That we may more conveniently distinguish between the inch, the square digit, the round digit, and the 5-pipe itself, we need to treat "the quinaria" (5-pipe equivalent) as a unit of capacity, for its size is most accurate and its standard best established. ( The inch pipe has a diameter of l l/3 digits; its capacity is a little more than l l/8 quinariae, the fraction being l/8 plus 3/2plus 2/3 of another l/28( A square digit converted to circular shape has a diameter of l 5/digits; its capacity is 5/6 of a quinaria. A round digit has a diameter of 1 digit; its capacity is 23/of a quinaria. |
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| Now the pipes based on the 5-pipe are increased in size in two ways. ( One is by multiplying the 5-pipes themselves, that is by including the equivalent of several 5-pipes into one opening, with the size of that opening increasing according to the addition of more 5-pipe equivalents. ( This approach is more or less limited to instances where a number of quinariae have been granted: to avoid tapping the conduit too often, a single pipe is used to lead the water into a delivery-tank, and from here individual persons draw off their respective shares. |
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28
| The second way does not involve an increase in pipe size related to a necessary number of 5-pipes. Instead, the increase is in the diameter of the pipe itself, a change which alters both its name and its capacity. Take, for example, the 5-pipe: add a sixth quarter-digit to its diameter, and one has a 6-pipe, ( but the capacity is not increased by an entire 5-pipe equivalent (it has only 1 7/quinariae). ( By adding quarter-digits to the diameter in the same manner, as already explained, one gets larger pipes, a 7-pipe, an 8-pipe, and so on up to the 20-pipe. |
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29
| Beyond the 20-pipe the gauging is based on the number of square digits which are contained in the cross-section, that is the opening, of each pipe. From this same number the pipes also take their names. ( Thus that pipe with an area of square digits is called the 25-pipe; likewise the 30-pipe, and so on by increase in square digits, up to the 120-pipe. |
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| The 20-pipe is on the borderline between the two methods, and in its case the two sorts of gauging nearly coincide. ( According to the method applied to smaller pipes, its diameter is quarter-digits (the equivalent of 5 digits); according to the method applied to larger pipes, it has an area just a small bit less than square digits. |
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| The gauging of all pipes from the 5-pipe to the 120-pipe is followed in the ways I have explained, and within the appropriate scheme the system is consistent. ( It also conforms to the pipe sizes set down in and legalized by the records of the emperor. ( Choose, then, mathematical accuracy or imperial authority: on the grounds of either the recorded pipe sizes admit of no uncertainty. ( Now in most instances members of the water staff have adhered to the unambiguous system, but in four of these pipes they have made deviations, namely the 12-, 20-, 100-, and 120-pipes. |
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32
| In the case of the 12-pipe, to be sure, the error is not great, nor is this size in common use. ( To its diameter they added a fraction of a digit (1/16), to its capacity accordingly a small fraction of a quinaria. ( But in the other three pipes a greater discrepancy is detected. ( The 20-pipe they make smaller by half a digit in diameter, which reduces its capacity by 3 l/quinariae; and they make widespread use of this pipe for deliveries. On the other hand, they have enlarged, rather than diminished, the 100-pipe and the 120-pipe, sizes they use regularly for receiving water. To the diameter of the 100-pipe they add 17/of a digit, which increases the capacity by 17/quinariae. To the diameter of the 120-pipe they add 3 5/8 digits, which increases the capacity by 1/6 quinariae. |
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33
| When the water-men subtract on the one hand from the 20-pipe (by which as a rule they make deliveries) and add on the other hand to the 100- and 120-pipes (by which they always receive), there are improperly diverted quinariae in the case of the 100-pipe and quinariae in that of the 120-pipe. ( While this state of affairs is confirmed by calculation, it is otherwise perfectly and completely obvious.( From the 20-pipe, to which Caesar assigns quinariae, they deliver no more than 1and from the 100-pipe which they have enlarged it is equally certain that they deliver only up to the official number, it being in this case smaller. Of this there is no doubt, for when his records show grants totalling 1/2 quinariae from a 100-pipe (or quinariae from a 120-pipe), Caesar makes no further distribution, the official assumption being that the pipe, as it were, has run dry. |
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34
| To put the matter simply, there are pipes, ( all of which--excepting only these four which the water-men have modified--follow the systematic pattern of sizes and are in agreement with the recorded capacities. ( Everything, as a matter of fact, embraced by measurement must conform to exact, inflexible, and self-evident rules, for only thus will a particular scheme accord with general truths. ( Compare, for instance, the fixed relationship which exists between a quart and a peck, or that between a bushel and either quart or peck. In exactly the same manner the multiplication of quinariae in larger pipes must proceed according to the rule. When, however, the facts disclose a smaller quantity in the pipe used for delivery but a surplus in the receipts, it is plain that we are dealing not with error, but with fraud. |
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35
| We remember that water coming from a higher place and reaching the delivery-tank within a short distance does not merely correspond to the expected quantity but rather exceeds it; coming from a lower place, that is with lesser head, and over a greater distance, it is diminished in quantity by the slowness of the channel. Accordingly the water must be "burdened" or "relieved" in respect to delivery. |
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36
| But the setting of the pipe has also an effect. Placed at right angles and levelled horizontally, it maintains the defined quantity. Positioned alongside the flow of water and sloping downward, it receives more; turned backwards towards the flow of water and sloping upward, its flow is slower and a small quantity. ( There is also a special bronze fitting, called a calix, which is inserted into either the channel or the delivery-tank, and it is to this that the lead pipes are attached. ( The calix is to have a minimum length of digits, its opening (that is, its capacity) determined by the amount of water officially granted. The device seems to have been invented because the hardness of bronze is more difficult to bend, so the aperture cannot be expanded or contracted at whim. |
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37
| I have listed below the standard sizes of all pipes, although only of them are in common use. These figures reflect the methodical system of which I have spoken, and I have corrected those four pipes which the water-men modified. ( All pipes to be put into use in future should conform to these exact specifications. If the anomalous sizes remain in place, their actual capacity should be reckoned in quinariae. ( Pipes not used are so noted in their respective cases. |
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| 38
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39
| The 5-pipe (quinaria): diameter 1 1/4 digits, circumference 3 89/digits; capacity 1Â quinaria. |
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40
| The 6-pipe: diameter 1 1/2 digits, circumference 4 103/1digits; capacity 1 113/1 . |
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41
| The 7-pipe: diameter 1 3/4 digits, circumference 5 1/2 digits; capacity 1 23/quinariae. Not in use. |
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42
| The 8-pipe: diameter 2 digits, circumference 6 41/1digits; capacity 2 161/2quinariae. |
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43
| The 10-pipe: diameter 2 1/2 digits, circumference 7 247/2digits; capacity 4 quinariae. |
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44
The 12-pipe: diameter 3 digits, circumference 9 41/digits; capacity 5 109/1quinariae. Not in use. ( The water-men's 12-pipe had a diameter of 3 1/digits, with a capacity of 6 quinariae. |
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45
| The 15-pipe: diameter 3 3/4 digits, circumference 113/1digits; capacity 9 quinariae. |
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46
The 20-pipe: diameter 5 digits, circumference 41/digits; capacity 7/quinariae. ( The water-men's 20-pipe had a diameter of 4 1/2 digits, with a capacity of quinariae. |
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47
| The 25-pipe: diameter 5 185/2digits, circumference 35/digits; capacity 35/quinariae. Not in use. |
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48
| The 30-pipe: diameter 6 17/digits, circumference 5/digits; capacity 125/2quinariae. |
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49
| The 35-pipe: diameter 6 97/1digits, circumference 281/2digits; capacity 49/quinariae. Not in use. |
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50
| The 40-pipe: diameter 7 13/digits, circumference 61/1digits; capacity 7/quinariae. |
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51
| The 45-pipe: diameter 7 41/digits, circumference 113/1digits; capacity 47/quinariae. Not in use. |
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52
| The 50-pipe: diameter 7 281/2digits, circumference 7/digits; capacity 209/2quinariae. |
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53
| The 55-pipe: diameter 8 65/1digits, circumference 85/2digits; capacity 115/1quinariae. Not in use. |
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54
| The 60-pipe: diameter 8 71/digits, circumference 133/2digits; capacity 251/2quinariae. |
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55
| The 65-pipe: diameter 9 3/digits, circumference 7/digits; capacity 17/quinariae. Not in use. |
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56
| The 70-pipe: diameter 9 7/digits, circumference 2/3 digits; capacity 5/2quinariae. |
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57
| The 75-pipe: diameter 9 37/digits, circumference 17/digits; capacity 13/1quinariae. Not in use. |
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58
| The 80-pipe: diameter 13/1digits, circumference 205/2digits; capacity 1/6 quinariae. |
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59
| The 85-pipe: diameter 115/2digits, circumference 11/digits; capacity 17/quinariae. Not in use. |
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60
| The 90-pipe: diameter 101/1digits, circumference 61/digits; capacity 89/2quinariae. |
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61
| The 95-pipe: diameter 287/2digits, circumference 161/2digits; capacity 55/1quinariae. Not in use. |
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62
The 100-pipe: diameter 9/digits, circumference 11/digits; capacity 65/1quinariae. ( The water-men's 100-pipe had a diameter of digits, with a capacity of 23/1quinariae. |
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63
The 120-pipe: diameter 17/digits, circumference 5/6 digits; capacity 3/4 quinariae. ( The water-men's 120-pipe had a diameter of digits, with a capacity of 111/quinariae--the equivalent of two 100-pipes. |
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64
Having discussed what was necessary in regard to pipes used for distribution, I shall now set forth what quantity of water each aqueduct was thought to have up to the time of my appointment, and how much each delivered, in both cases drawing these data from the imperial records. Then I shall reveal the quantity which I myself discovered by scrupulous investigation, undertaken in support of the public interest displayed by the most conscientious Emperor Nerva.
( The records showed a grand total of 12,7quinariae for the available supply, and the total of deliveries was 14,0quinariae: delivery, in other words, exceeded the amount available by 1,2quinariae. (I found these figures quite remarkably astonishing. Because I felt that a chief responsibility of my office lay in monitoring the reliability and abundance of the water supply, I lost no time in devoting myself to a probing audit in an attempt to discover how the expenditures, as it were, could exceed the balance in the treasury. ( As a first task I set about measuring the intakes of the conduits, and I discovered thereby that the available supply was considerably larger (by some 10,000 quinariae) than that stated in the records. I shall now explain in reference to each of the aqueducts. |
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65
| Appia's supply is recorded as 8quinariae. ( A measurement could not be taken at the intake, because there it consists of two channels. ( But at "the Twins," a spot inside Spes Vetus where it joins with the branch called Augusta, I found the water had a depth of 5 feet and a width of 1 3/4 feet. This gives an area of 8 3/4 square feet, the equivalent of 100-pipes plus one 40-pipe, or (expressed in terms of the 5-pipe) 18quinariae--more than it has in the records by 9quinariae. ( It delivered 704 quinariae: this is less than it is credited in the records by 1quinariae, and less still than the measurement at "the Twins" by 1,2quinariae. Now some is lost because of defects in the conduit. Because it is deeply buried, leaks are not readily apparent; that they exist, however, is plain from the fact that water of good quality is encountered in a number of parts of the City. We also detected some illicit pipes within the City. Outside the City, on the other hand, because of its low level ... it suffers no loss. |
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66
| The supply of Anio Vetus is recorded as 15quinariae. ( At the intake I found 43quinariae (excluding the amount which is drawn off into the separate conduit of the Tiburtines)--more than the records show by 28quinariae. ( Prior to its settling-tank it delivered 2quinariae. ( The amount measured by gauges in place at the settling-tank is 23quinariae. Thus between intake and tank there is a loss of 17quinariae. After the settling-tank it delivered 3408 quinariae--an amount larger than that I quoted as available according to the records by quinariae, less than that I noted as taken into the conduit beyond the settling-tank by 10quinariae. Total loss, then (adding that lost between intake and settling-tank with that after the tank), is 27quinariae. I would have suspected an error in my measurement, had I not discovered where these amounts were being diverted. |
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67
Marcia's supply is credited in the records with 21quinariae. ( Measuring at the intake I found 46quinariae--more than the records showed by 25quinariae. ( Delivered before it reached the settling-tank were quinariae; and quinariaewere transferred to supplement Tepula, plus another 1quinariaeto Anio. ( Total deliveries prior to the settling-tank amounted to 3quinariae. The quantity reckoned from gauges in place at the settling-tank, together with that carried around the tank and taken up in the same channel on arches, is 29quinariae. Deliveries prior to the tank and the quantity taken up on arches total 32quinariae--more than the figure set down in the records for the supply by 11quinariae, but less than the figure reached by measurement at the intake by 13quinariae. Delivered after the settling-tank were 18quinariae--less than the amount I quoted from the records as that available by 2quinariae, less than that taken from the tank on arches by 1quinariae. Total loss, then (adding that lost between intake and settling-tank with that after the tank), is 24quinariae. As in the case of the other aqueducts, we detected in a number of places that this amount was being diverted. That the supply of available water is not diminished is clear, moreover, from the fact that there is at Marcia's source an overflow of more than 300 quinariae (besides that measurement we had calculated from the capacity of the conduit). |
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68
Tepula's supply is credited in the records with 400 quinariae. ( This aqueduct has no springs; it once consisted of some veins of water, but these were cut off when Julia was built. ( Its starting-point, then, must be taken to be at Julia's settling-tank. ( Here it receives its first 1quinariae from Julia, with quinariae taken immediately thereafer from Marcia, and a further 1quinariae from Anio Novus near the Horti Epaphroditiani. These together comprise 4quinariae--more than the recorded figure by quinariae. All 4quinariae, however, appear in the delivery. |
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69
Julia's supply is credited in the records with 6quinariae. ( At the intake a measurement could not be taken, because it consists of a number of tributaries. But near the sixth milestone from the City the entire amount is received into a settling-tank where its quantity, according to plainly visible gauges, is 1206 quinariae--more than the recorded figure by 5quinariae. ( Besides this, near the City, behind the Horti Pallantiani, it receives 1quinariae from Claudia. ( Julia receives, then, a total of 13quinariae. Of this amount, it transfers 1quinariae to Tepula and delivers in its own name 803 quinariae. Deliveries thus total 9quinariae--more than it has according to the records by 3quinariae, but less than we noted its quantity to be at the tank by 2quinariae. This last figure corresponds precisely to the amount which we detected as unlawfully taken by persons who had no imperial grants. |
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| Virgo's supply is credited in the records with 6quinariae. ( Its measurement could not be taken at the source, because it consists of a number of tributaries and water enters the channel with too gentle a current. ( Towards the City, however, near the seventh milestone, in a property which now belongs to Ceionius Commodus, the water has a swifter flow. Here I took a measurement which shows 2504 quinariae--more than the recorded figure by 18quinariae. Confirmation of our finding is quickly to hand: Virgo delivers the entire quantity which we calculated by measurement, that is, 2504 quinariae. |
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71
| Alsietina's supply is not included in the records, nor can an exact figure be determined under present conditions, because the water from Lake Alsietinus is supplemented, in the vicinity of Careiae, from Lake Sabatinus as arranged by the water-men. ( Alsietina delivers 3quinariae. |
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72
| Claudia, more copious than the others, is most liable to depredation. ( According to the records, its supply is no more than 28quinariae, although I found at the source 4607 quinariae--more than the records show by 17quinariae. ( Our measurement is, however, all the more reliable because at the settling-tank near the seventh milestone from the City, where the gauges leave matters in no doubt, we found 33quinariae. This is more than the records show by 4quinariae, although prior to the settling-tank it makes deliveries according to official grants and we detected a good deal being stolen; the quantity at the tank is less, therefore, than it ought to be by 12quinariae. ( Also in respect to delivery there is clearly fraud, for the delivery figures agree neither with the amount of supply recorded, nor with the measurements we made at the intake, nor yet with the readings taken at the settling-tank. Only 17quinariae are delivered--less than the figure given in the records by 1quinariae, also less than that shown by measurements at the intake by 28quinariae, and less also than the reading at the tank by 15quinariae. This, one suspects, is the reason why Claudia's water, although it was brought to the City in a channel of its own and in a pure state, was mixed in the City with that of Anio Novus: intermingling the two would obscure for each of them both the amount available and the amount delivered. But if anyone thinks that I exaggerate the measurements at Claudia's sources, let him be advised that the Curtius and Caerulus springs more than suffice to supply their conduit with the 4607 quinariae which I have indicated, so that there is besides an overflow of 1600 quinariae. I do not deny that this surplus does not rightly belong to these springs, for it comes from the Augusta. That spring was developed as a supplement for Marcia, but when its water is not required we have added it to the springs of Claudia, although not even Claudia's conduit can carry all the water. |
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73
| Anio Novus was set down in the records as having 32quinariae. ( Measuring at the intake I found 47quinariae--more than the records showed for its supply by 14quinariae. ( That I do not mistakenly arrive at a number larger than the quantity available I can prove in no way more clearly than by observing that the greater part of this water is accounted for as delivered in the records themselves. ( Deliveries come to 4200 quinariae, although elsewhere in the same records the supply is stated to be no more than 32quinariae. Furthermore, we detected the theft of not only 5quinariae (the difference between our measurements and the figure for delivery) but of a far larger quantity. It is, therefore, clear that the supply exceeds even that we established by measurement: the reason is that the rather rapid current of the water, taken from a broad and swift-flowing river, increases the quantity by its very velocity. |
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74
| I have no doubt that some will be surprised that the supply of water reckoned by measurements was found to be far greater than that stated in the imperial records. ( The explanation is error on the part of those who initially made the calculations for each aqueduct: their performance fell somewhat short of competence. ( I am unwilling to believe that they deviated so far from the truth out of fear of summer droughts, for I took my own measurements in the month of July and I further ascertained that the amounts of each (as set forth above) remained constant through the remainder of the summer. ( But whatever the real reason may have been, it is at least disclosed that 10,000 quinariae have been intercepted, while emperors limit their total grants of water to the quantity set forth in the records. |
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75
| Closely related is another disagreement: a certain quantity is received at the intakes of the conduits; the quantity at the settling-tanks is considerably reduced, while that remaining for official distribution is smallest of all. ( The explanation is fraud on the part of the water-men, whom we have detected drawing waters from public conduits for use by private persons. ( But a number of landholders along the aqueducts' courses also tap directly into the channels, with the result that public conduits are interrupted for the benefit of private individuals. |
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76
| On misdemeanors of this sort, nothing more need be said nor can I say it better than did Caelius Rufus in a speech entitled "Concerning Waters." ( Would that there were some way other than by taking action even at the cost of personal offenses to prove that all such things are now habitually practiced with comparable impunity: we find fields illicitly irrigated, shops, garrets even, finally all establishments of unwholesome pleasure furnished with constantly flowing public water. ( The delivery of certain waters in place of others, under false names, is a category of wrongdoing that seemed to require correction, even though this belongs among transgressions less serious than the rest. ( Such has, indeed, been a general practice in the vicinity of the Caelian and Aventine. These hills, before Claudia was brought in, received water from Marcia and Julia. Later on, the emperor Nero built an arcade to carry Claudia from Spes Vetus to a distributory point near the Temple of the Deified Claudius. The existing supplies were not augmented thereby, but were entirely replaced. He added no new delivery-tanks, using instead the ones already there; and the old designations remained although the water itself was that of a different supply. |
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77
| Enough has now been said about the available quantity of each aqueduct, about what may perhaps be likened to an important new acquisition of water, and about the frauds and misdemeanors observed in this connection. ( It remains to speak of delivery, the data for which we found summarily lumped together and even recorded under false names. We must classify these data according to the names of the aqueducts as matters stand in reality, and according to the wards of the City. ( I know that these calculations may seem not only tedious but baffling. ( Yet I shall present them as briefly as possible, that nothing may be lacking in this collection of administrative reference materials. Those who are satisfied with knowing a single total may pass over these trifling details. |
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78
| In the distribution of 14,0quinariae, there are 7quinariae which represent transfers from one aqueduct to another; these have the appearance of being delivered twice, but are in fact reckoned but once in the computation. ( Of the grand total, 40quinariae are delivered outside the City (17quinariae in the name of Caesar, 23quinariae to private parties). ( The remaining 99quinariae were distributed to 2delivery-tanks within the City. Of this number, 1707 1/2 quinariae were delivered in Caesar's name, 38quinariae to private parties, and 4401 quinariae for public uses. In the latter category the subtotals are: 2quinariae to ... camps, 2301 quinariae to public works, 3quinariae to munera, 13quinariae to 5streetside basins. ( But these same categories of distribution must now be applied to each of the aqueducts, with reference made to the wards of the City. |
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79
| Of the 14,0quinariae, then, which we set down as the total distribution from all the aqueducts, only 5 quinariae are granted in Appia's name outside the City (because the channel level is so extremely low). ( Appia's remaining 6quinariae were apportioned among delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards 111and 1in Caesar's name 1quinariae, to private parties 1quinariae, for public uses 3quinariae (these latter are: 4 quinariae to 1 camp, 1quinariae to public works, 2 quinariae to 1 munus, 2quinariae to basins). |
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80
| Out of Anio Vetus there were delivered outside the City 1quinariae in Caesar's name and 403 quinariae to private parties. ( The remaining 1508 1/2 quinariae were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards 1and 1in Caesar's name 1/2 quinariae, to private parties 4quinariae, for public uses 5quinariae (these latter are: quinariae to 1 camp, 1quinariae to public works, quinariae to 9 munera, 2quinariae to basins). |
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81
| Out of Marcia there were delivered outside the City in Caesar's name 2l/2 quinariae. ( The remaining 14quinariae were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards and 1in Caesar's name 1quinariae, to private parties 5quinariae, for public uses ... (these latter are: 1/2 quinariae to 4 camps, quinariae to public works, quinariae to munera, 2quinariae to 1basins). |
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82
| Out of Tepula there were delivered outside the City quinariae in Caesar's name and quinariae to private parties. ( The remaining 3quinariae were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards and in Caesar's name quinariae, to private parties 2quinariae, for public uses quinariae (these latter are: quinariae to 1 camp, 7 quinariae to 3 public works, quinariae to basins). |
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83
| Out of Julia there flowed outside the City quinariae in Caesar's name and 1quinariae to private parties. ( The remaining 5quinariae were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards and 1in Caesar's name quinariae, to private parties ..., for public uses 3quinariae (these latter are: quinariae to ... camps, 1quinariae to ... public works, quinariae to ... munera, quinariae to basins). |
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84
| In Virgo's name there were discharged 200 quinariae outside the City. ( The remaining 2304 quinariae were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving wards and 1in Caesar's name 509 quinariae, to private parties 3quinariae, for public uses 11quinariae (these latter are: quinariae to 2 munera, quinariae to basins, 13quinariae to public works, ( of which the Euripus named for Virgo by itself receives 4quinariae). |
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85
Alsietina delivers 3quinariae, the entire consumption being outside the City: in Caesar's name 3quinariae, to private parties 1quinariae. |
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86
| Outside the City deliveries were made from the separate channels of Claudia and Anio Novus; within the City the two waters were intermingled. ( Claudia furnished outside the City 2quinariae in Caesar's name and 4quinariae to private parties; Anio Novus furnished 7quinariae in Caesar's name. ( The remaining 34quinariae of the two were apportioned to delivery-tanks within the City, serving all fourteen wards of the City: in Caesar's name 8quinariae, to private parties 15quinariae, for public uses 10quinariae (these latter are: 1quinariae to 9 camps, 3quinariae to public works, quinariae to munera, 4quinariae to 2basins). |
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87
| Up to the time of Emperor Nerva, the supply of water was distributed in this quantity, according to the calculation of what was available. ( But now, thanks to the energetic interest of this most conscientious ruler, the water fraudulently diverted by the water-men or illicitly drawn off because of inattentiveness has increased the supply available, much as if entirely new sources had been developed. ( The overall abundance has in fact been nearly doubled, and its delivery has been arranged with such careful apportionment that water from several aqueducts is to be furnished in wards which once were served by single waters. An example is seen in the case of the Caelian and Aventine, to which Claudia alone was brought on the Neronian Arches; thus whenever some major repair occurred, it happened regularly that these thickly populated hills were deprived of water. ( These areas now receive their supply from several waters, most notably by the restoration of Marcia, brought by means of a large-scale project all the way from Spes Vetus to the Aventine. Indeed in every part of the City new street basins and a good many of the older ones are fitted with two pipes in constant flow, from separate aqueducts; this as a precaution to ensure uninterrupted service from at least one adequate supply should either of the two be cut off accidentally. |
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88
| Thus from day to day Rome, queen and mistress of the world, perceives the watchful care of her Emperor Nerva, and the wholesome environment of this same eternal City will be perceived all the more by an increased number of delivery-tanks, public works, munera, and basins. ( No smaller is the benefit for private parties which results from an increase in the number of grants made by the same emperor's favor. Those who once ran risks by drawing water illicitly are now untroubled because they enjoy it by right of official grants. ( Not even overflow waters are without useful purpose. There is now an entirely fresh guise of cleanliness and a cleaner air; gone are causes of unhealthy climate which often gave our City a poor reputation in former times. ( I am aware that this booklet should incorporate data which reflect the new pattern of delivery, but these we shall append along with those for the additional supply: one can understand, of course, that new figures are not to be set down until the various projects are completed. |
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89
| As evidence of that conscientious duty which our emperor displays to his citizens by painstaking concern for details, should it go unremarked that he feels such an increase in the water supply is somehow inadequate as a contribution to our needs and pleasures unless he should also improve upon its purity and palatability? ( It is worth while to review particular instances in which, by taking measures to deal with defects of individual waters, he has enhanced the useful qualities of them all. ( For when has our citizenry not had turbid and muddy water in consequence of even very moderate rainstorms? ( It is not because all the waters have this characteristic at their sources. Nor is it because those fed by springs ought to suffer this adverse effect (Marcia and Claudia, especially), for their good quality at the intake is impaired either not at all or only slightly by rainfall, provided that shafts along the conduit are built up and covered over. |
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90
| Water from the two Anio aqueducts remains less clear, for in both cases it is drawn from a river which often runs muddy even in good weather. The Anio River, although flowing from a lake whose waters are very pure, by the very swiftness of its current carries off dirt from crumbling banks, and by this it is polluted before its water enters the aqueduct channels. ( It is subject to this adverse effect by storms not only during winter and spring, but also in summer--the season when a more refreshing purity in our water is required. |
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91
| One of these two, the Anio Vetus, keeps its muddy condition to itself, being lower in level than most of the others. ( But Anio Novus contaminated the rest; since its level is highest of all and it is especially copious, it is called upon to remedy shortages in other aqueducts. ( Worse, because of incompetence on the part of the water-men who diverted it into the other channels more often than was needed for making good the deficiencies, Anio Novus polluted even those supplies that were adequate. This fault is clearest of all in the case of Claudia: the water carried for so many miles in its own conduit in the end was intermingled at Rome with that of Anio Novus, and Claudia thus lost--up to the present time, at least--its superior identity. ( Worse yet, so far was the water of Anio Novus from being a help to the aqueducts into which it was turned that some of these were then called upon for unworthy purposes through the thoughtlessness of those who arranged for distributions. No less a water than Marcia, so very delightful for both its coldness and its clarity, I detected being delivered to baths, to fullers, even for purposes of which it is distasteful to speak. |
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92
| A decision, therefore, was made to separate all the waters, and then to arrange for them to be distributed individually. Marcia, as an obvious starting-point, would thus be reserved entirely for drinking. The others would be assigned to appropriate uses, each according to its particular qualities. And so Anio Vetus, for a number of reasons (one being the further downstream a water is received the less wholesome it is), would be delivered for irrigation of large estates and for meaner functions of the City itself. |
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93
| But our Emperor was not satisfied with having restored the quantity and quality of the other waters, for he recognized that it was possible to remedy the defects of even Anio Novus. ( He thus has ordered that its water no longer be drawn from the river but be taken instead at a spot where it is extremely clear, directly from the lake which lies above Nero's villa at Sublaqueum. ( The Anio River rises beyond Treba Augusta and its water is still in a very cold and fresh condition when it reaches this point. This is because the upper course lies among rocky mountains, and in the vicinity of that hamlet there are but few bits of cultivated land along its banks; or because the depths of the lakes into which it has been collected encourage the settling of impurities, while it is shaded as well by the denseness of the bordering forests. ( Water from the new intake will be of outstanding excellence, such to equal that of Marcia in every point of quality and even to surpass it in abundance; it will replace that which comes now unpleasant and muddy from the lower catchment. The opening lines of an appropriate inscription will proclaim the man responsible for this signal improvement to be Emperor Caesar Nerva Augustus. |
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94
| Next we are to indicate what is the legal basis upon which water is to be drawn and its supply is to be safeguarded; the former concerns the limiting of private parties to the quantity of their official grants, the latter the maintenance of the conduits themselves. ( Investigating more distantly into those regulations established with regard to individual persons, I discover that some matters were handled differently in the times of our ancestors. ( In their days, all water was delivered for public uses, and it was stipulated as follows: "No private person is to draw water other than that which falls from a basin to the ground" (these are the exact words of the regulation), meaning that overflow from the basins which we now call "lapsed water." ( Even this water was not granted for use other than by baths or fullers' establishments, and it was subject to a fee, the amount of which was legally fixed, to be paid into the public treasury. Some water was granted for delivery into the homes of leading men of the state, with the consent of the others. |
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95
| But to which public officials belonged the right to grant water or to sell it, there is no consistency in the statutes themselves. ( At some times I find that permission was given by aediles, at other times by censors. But apparently whenever there were censors in office, as a rule they dealt with such requests; when there were no censors, the similar power fell upon the aediles. ( From this it is plain how much more our predecessors cared for benefits to the community than for private pleasures, since even that water drawn by private parties was related to public usefulness. |
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96
| The maintenance of the individual aqueducts, I find, was customarily awarded by contract. The contractors were required to have a fixed number of slave workmen here and there along the conduits outside the City and a fixed number within the City; the requirement even included that they register in the public records the names of those whom they were to employ and in what localities they were to be assigned. Responsibility for final inspection of the contractors' work lay with censors, sometimes with aediles; occasionally this duty even fell upon quaestors, as we see in a senatorial resolution passed in the consulship of Gaius Licinius and Quintus Fabius 1B.C.E.. |
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97
| The special care taken that no one should venture to damage the conduits or to draw water which had not been granted can be shown by one out of many possible examples. The Circus Maximus was not watered, even on the days when games were held there, without the express permission of aediles or censors; ( and we read in the writings of Ateius Capito that this regulation remained in effect even after the institution of water commissioners under Augustus. ( Indeed, properties which had been irrigated with public water against the law were confiscated. ( For a contractor, too, a fine was imposed, even if it was established that someone had broken the law without his knowledge. In the same regulations this clause was added: "No one with wrongful deceit is to defile with excrement water which issues for public use. If any person should so defile it, the fine is to be 10,000 sesterces." For this reason curule aediles were instructed to appoint two men for each district, out of those who lived there or owned property in that district; these men were to have judicial authority over water which issued for public use. |
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98
| Marcus Agrippa, after his aedileship (a post he held exceptionally, having already been consul), assumed responsibility for the works and benefactions he had himself provided and became thereby, so to speak, the first permanent water commissioner. ( Now that there was an adequate supply, Agrippa apportioned this water to public works, to streetside basins, and as grants to private persons. ( He had also a personal work crew for maintaining the conduits as well as delivery-tanks and basins. |
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99
| When Augustus inherited this crew from Agrippa, he transferred its ownership to the state. ( After Agrippa's death B.C.E., in the consulship of Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus B.C.E., resolutions were passed in the Senate and a statute was promulgated to deal with the matter of routine administration, for hitherto this had been handled in only a semi-official way and there had been no specific legal basis. ( Augustus also, by an edict, established what right those persons should enjoy who had water according to Agrippa's records, for the entire scheme of distribution had been left to the emperor's own pleasure. ( He also established the pipe-sizes of which I have spoken; and to be responsible for a comprehensive and rigorous administration he appointed Messala Corvinus as a chief commissioner, to be assisted by Postumius Sulpicius, an ex-praetor, and Lucius Cominius, a junior senator. Trappings were conferred upon these men, as if they were magistrates, and concerning their office there was passed the following senatorial resolution. |
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100
| WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT OF FURNISHING WITH PERSONNEL AND SUPPLIES THE COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC WATERS WHO HAD BEEN NAMED BY CAESAR AUGUSTUS WITH THE CONSENT OF THE SENATE, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING ON THE SUBJECT, THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: IT IS APPROVED BY THIS BODY THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF PUBLIC WATERS, WHEN THEY ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY BY REASON OF THEIR OFFICIAL DUTIES, SHALL HAVE TWO LICTORS, THREE PUBLIC SLAVES, ONE ARCHITECT, AS WELL AS THE SAME NUMBER OF CLERKS, COPYISTS, ASSISTANTS, AND CRIERS AS HAVE THOSE WHO DISTRIBUTE GRAIN TO THE PLEBS; ( BUT WHEN THEY DO BUSINESS WITHIN THE CITY BY REASON OF THE SAME OFFICIAL DUTIES, THEY SHALL HAVE THE USE OF ALL THE SAME ATTENDANTS EXCEPTIING THE LICTORS; ( AND, FURTHER, THAT THE WATER COMMISSIONERS SHALL PUT ON RECORD IN THE STATE TREASURY WITHIN TEN DAYS FROM THE PASSAGE OF THIS SENATORIAL RESOLUTION A LIST OF THOSE ATTENDANTS ALLOWED FOR THEIR USE BY THE TERMS OF THIS SENATORIAL RESOLUTION; AND THE PRAETORS OF THE TREASURY SHALL GRANT AND DISBURSE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS TO THOSE WHO ARE SO REPORTED PAYMENT AND REMUNERATION TO THE EXTENT THAT THOSE IN CHARGE OF DISTRIBUTING GRAIN ARE ACCUSTOMED TO GIVE AND AUTHORIZE FOR THEIR PERSONNEL; AND THEY SHALL BE ALLOWED TO RECEIVE THESE MONIES WITHOUT RISK OF PUNISHMENT TO THEMSELVES; ( AND, FURTHER, THAT THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS, EITHER BOTH TOGETHER OR SINGLY AS THEY SEE FIT, CALLING UPON THE PRAETORS IN CHARGE OF THE TREASURY, SHALL ARRANGE BY CONTRACT TO SUPPLY TABLETS, PAPER, AND WHATEVER ELSE THE COMMISSIONERS MAY FIND NECESSARY FOR THEIR ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS. AND, FURTHERMORE, INASMUCH AS THE COMMISSIONERS OF ROADS AND THOSE IN CHARGE OF GRAIN PERFORM THEIR PUBLIC SERVICE FOR A FOURTH PART OF THE YEAR, IT IS APPROVED THAT THE WATER COMMISSIONERS BE EXCUSED FROM JUDICIAL DUTIES EITHER PRIVATE OR PUBLIC. |
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101
| Although the state treasury continues to this day to disburse monies for these attendants and assistants, they seem nevertheless to have ceased to have any relationship to the commissioners, who through idleness and laziness have not been performing the duties of their office. ( The Senate had granted lictors to accompany commissioners when they left the City, provided that they did so on official business. ( But when I myself make tours to inspect the channels, my own trustworthiness and the authority granted by the ruler will stand in place of such lictors. |
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102
Since I have brought the matter to the introduction of the commissioners, it is not out of place to insert at this point a list of those who have served as chief commissioners from Messala to myself.
( Messala's successor, in the consulate of Plancus and Silius C.E., was Ateius Capito.
( Capito's, in the consulate of Gaius Asinius Pollio and Gaius Antistius Vetus C.E., was Tarius Rufus.
( Tarius', in the consulate of Servius Cornelius Cethegus and Lucius Visellius Varro C.E., was Marcus Cocceius Nerva, grandfather of the Deified Nerva and a legal scholar of high repute.
His successor, in the consulate of Fabius Persicus and Lucius Vitellius C.E., was Gaius Octavius Laenas.
Laenas', in the consulate of Aquila Julianus and Nonius Asprenas C.E., was Marcus Porcius Cato.
His successor, during that same year, when Servius Asinius Celer and Sextus Nonius Quintilianus were suffect consuls, was ...
... Aulus Didius Gallus.
Gallus', in the consulate of Quintus Veranius and Pompeius Longus C.E., was Gnaeus Domitius Afer.
Afer's, in the consulate of Nero Claudius Caesar (for the fourth time) and Cossus, the son of Cossus C.E., was Lucius Piso.
Piso's, in the consulate of Verginius Rufus and Memmius Regulus C.E., was Petronius Turpilianus.
(1 Turpilianus', in the consulate of Crassus Frugi and Laecanius Bassus C.E., was Publius Marius.
(1 Marius', in the consulate of Luccius Telesinus and Suetonius Paulinus C.E., was Fonteius Agrippa.
(1 Agrippa's, in the consulate of Silius and Galerius Trochus C.E., was Vibius Crispus.
(1 Crispus', in the consulate of Vespasian (for the third time) and Cocceius Nerva C.E., was Pompeius Silvanus.
(1Silvanus', in the consulate of Domitian (for the second time) and Valerius Messalinus C.E., was Tampius Flavianus.
(1Flavianus', in the consulate of Vespasian (for the fifth time) and Titus (for the third time) C.E., was Acilius Aviola.
(1After whom, in the consulate of Emperor Nerva (for the third time) and Verginius Rufus (for the third time)C.E., the office was transferred to me. |
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103
| I shall now continue with matters which require watchful care of the water commissioner, including the statute and senatorial resolutions which contain directions for the performance of his duties. ( Concerning the right to draw water in the case of private parties there are two points to be noted. No one is to draw water without the written authorization of Caesar (that is, no one is to draw public water unless it has been granted); and no one is to draw more than he has received by grant. ( For in this way we shall bring it about that the quantity we spoke of as being newly added may be distributed to new fountains and put to use for new grants from the emperor. ( On both points, indeed, the commissioner will need to be specially watchful to counter various and shifting forms of fraud. The channels outside the City must be inspected with painstaking attention and at frequent intervals, to check the accuracy of granted deliveries; and the same must be done at delivery-tanks and in public fountains to ensure that water flows without interruption both day and night. The commissioner's instruction in this regard is that of a senatorial resolution, the text of which follows. |
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104
WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT OF THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC FOUNTAINS ESTABLISHED BY MARCUS AGRIPPA, BOTH IN THE CITY AND WITHIN THE BUILT-UP AREA ADJACENT TO THE CITY, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING CONCERNING THE SUBJECT, THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: IT IS APPROVED THAT THERE BE NEITHER INCREASE NOR DECREASE IN THAT NUMBER OF PUBLIC FOUNTAINS WHICH ARE NOW IN EXISTENCE, AS REPORTED BY THOSE PERSONS WHO WERE COMMISSIONED BY THE SENATE WITH THE TASK OF INSPECTING THE PUBLIC WATERS AND OF RETURNING AN INVENTORY OF THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC FOUNTAINS; ( AND, FURTHERMORE, IT IS APPROVED THAT THE WATER COMMISSIONERS WHOM CAESAR AUGUSTUS HAS APPOINTED WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE SENATE ARE TO DEVOTE THEIR ATTENTION THAT PUBLIC FOUNTAINS POUR FORTH WATER FOR USE OF THE POPULACE WITH ALL POSSIBLE REGULARITY BOTH IN DAY-TIME AND AT NIGHT.
( In this senatorial resolution I believe it should be noted that the Senate forbade either increase or decrease in the number of public fountains. ( This was done, I think, because the quantity of water coming into the City in those times (before Claudia and Anio Novus were brought in) seemed inadequate for more widespread delivery. |
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105
| Anyone who wishes to draw water for private use must follow a procedure of making official application and delivering in person to the commissioner a written authorization from the emperor. The commissioner must thereupon give timely consideration to the grant issued by Caesar and forward it in writing to the appropriate imperial deputy (a freedman of Caesar). ( Tiberius Claudius seems first to have created this post of imperial deputy, after he brought in Anio Novus and Claudia. ( The contents of the imperial document ought also to be made known to foremen of the work-crews, that they may not use ignorance as a plea to excuse negligence or fraud on their own part. ( The imperial deputy, calling upon the levellers, is to provide for stamping a calix of the size specified in the grant, with precise attention to the quantity as represented by the measurements we have spoken of earlier, and he is to be aware of the setting, so that it is not left to the decision of the levellers to approve a calix sometimes larger in aperture, sometimes smaller, in relation to the influence of the parties involved. Neither is it to be left completely to option as to the size of lead pipe which is directly attached: this must conform to the size stamped on the calix for a distance of fifty feet, as stipulated in the following senatorial resolution. |
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106
WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT THAT CERTAIN PRIVATE PARTIES DRAW WATER DIRECTLY FROM PUBLIC CHANNELS, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING ON THIS SUBJECT, CONCERNING THE SUBJECT THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: IT IS NOT TO BE ALLOWED FOR ANY PRIVATE PARTY TO DRAW WATER FROM PUBLIC CHANNELS, AND ALL PERSONS TO WHOM HAS BEEN GRANTED THE RIGHT TOO DRAW WATER ARE TO DRAW IT FROM DELIVERY-TANKS; AND THE WATER COMMISSIONERS ARE TO DETERMINE AT WHAT LOCATIONS WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE CITY PRIVATE PARTIES MAY SUITABLY CONSTRUCT SUCH DELIVERY-TANKS, FROM WHICH THEY ARE TO DRAW WATER WHICH, WITH APPROVAL OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS, THEY, IN COMMON WITH OTHER PARTIES, HAVE RECEIVED FROM A PRIMARY DELIVERY-TANK, ( AND NO ONE OF THOSE TO WHOM PUBLIC WATER IS GRANTED IS TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO ATTACH A PIPE LARGER THAN FIVE-QUARTER DIGITS IN DIAMETER WITHIN A SPACE OF FIFTY FEET FROM THAT DELIVERY-TANK FROM WHICH THEY ARE TO DRAW THE WATER.
( In this senatorial resolution it is worthy of note that permission is for water to be drawn only from a delivery-tank, so that neither the channels nor public pipes may be damaged by numerous tappings. |
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107
| The right to draw granted water passes neither to an heir, nor to a buyer, nor to any new proprietor of the property. ( In former times a special right was permitted to bathing establishments used by the populace, whereby water once granted should remain theirs forever. ( This we learn from old senatorial resolutions, one of which I have given below. (Nowadays a grant of any water is renewed whenever the occupant changes.) |
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108
| WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO DETERMINE BY WHAT RIGHT THOSE PERSONS TO WHOM WAERS HAD BEEN ALLOTTED MIGHT DRAW SUCH WATERS WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE CITY, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING ON THE SUBJECT, CONCERNING THE SUBJECT THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: THAT THE ALLOTMENT OF WATERS, EXCEPTING THOSE GRANTED FOR USE OF BATHING ESTABLISHMENTS OR IN CONSEQUENCE OF A SERVITUDE FOR HAULING UP WATER, SHALL REMAIN IN FORCE ONLY SO LONG AS THE SAME PROPRIETORS CONTINUE TO OCCUPY THE PROPERTY FOR WHICH THEY HAVE RECEIVED THE WATER. |
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109
| As soon as the right to any water becomes vacant, this fact is reported and entered in the records, which are examined in order that from vacant water-rights grants may be made to applicants. ( It was customary for the water-staff to cut off such waters immediately, so that between grants they might sell water either to the occupants of the property or indeed to other parties. ( But a more considerate policy has appealed to our emperor: so that properties may not suddenly be deprived entirely of water, he bestows a grace-period of thirty days, within which the interested parties <may make whatever arrangements are needed>. ( I find no formal procedure in place with regard to water granted to property held by a syndicate. Yet it is the customary practice, just as if it were legally prescribed, that the entire quantity allotted to a property shall continue to flow so long as there survives any one of those who received the grant in common, and the grant is to be renewed only when every one of those to whom the grant was issued has ceased to occupy the premises. It goes without saying that granted water is not to be drawn for use elsewhere than on the property for which it was granted, or from a delivery-tank other than that designated in the written authorization of the emperor; but this is also forbidden by imperial regulations. |
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110
| Also subject to grants are those waters which are called "lapsed" (that is, overflow from delivery-tanks or emissions from pipes), ( although such grants are customarily given very sparingly by the rulers. Yet these offer opportunity for fraud on the part of the water-men; and how much care should be devoted to preventing such fraud will be clear from a section of the imperial regulations which I quote below. |
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111
| I WISH NO ONE TO DRAW "LAPSED" WATER EXCEPT THOSE WHO HAVE GRANTS TO DO SO ISSUED BY MYSELF OR BY FORMER EMPERORS. ( FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF OVERFLOW FROM THE DELIVERY-TANKS IS NEEDED, THIS BEING NOT ONLY CONDUCIVE TO THE WHOLESOMENESS OF OUR CITY BUT ALSO USEFUL FOR FLUSHING THE SEWERS. |
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112
| Now that I have set forth those things which relate to regulating the use of water by private parties, it is not out of place to touch, by way of example, upon some of the practices used to circumvent these most wholesome enactments, ones that I have detected in the routine performance of my duty. ( Certain calices larger than the size granted I found in place in a number of delivery-tanks, and some of these had not even been stamped. ( Now whenever a stamped calix exceeds the legitimate measurement, the fact is proof of favoritism on the part of the imperial deputy who stamped it; ( but when it has no stamp at all, the blame plainly rests on all involved--the recipient most of all, but also the foreman. In some instances, although calices of legitimate measurement had been stamped, pipes of larger gauge were attached to them immediately; in consequence, the water is not restrained for the legitimate distance, but is forced instead through a short narrow passage and readily fills the larger adjoining pipe. For this reason, competent supervision will further require that, whenever a calix is stamped, the adjoining pipes should also be stamped for the distance which we said was stipulated in the senatorial resolution. Only when he knows that pipes are not to be set in place unless they are stamped will the foreman be deprived of any opportunity for making excuse. |
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113
| Also, as to setting the calices in place, it should be the practice to arrange them in a straight line, not to place one party's calixlower and another's higher. ( The lower one takes in more, while the higher one draws less because the flow of water is carried off by the lower one. ( In the pipes of some parties there were no calices set in place at all. ( Such pipes are called "uncontrolled," and at the whim of a water-man they are expanded or contracted. |
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114
| There exists yet another intolerable method of cheating used by the water-men. When a water right has been transferred to a new proprietor, they create a new aperture in the delivery-tank; but they leave the old one in place to draw out water which they sell. ( This, I should have thought, is another practice demanding special correction on the part of the commissioner, ( for it involves not only the custody of the water-supply itself but also the maintenance of the delivery-tank, which is damaged by such frequent and needless taps. |
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115
| Also to be abolished is the profit-making scheme of the water-men which is called "puncturing." ( Pipes in the City extend long distances and in many directions concealed beneath the pavement. ( I discovered that these were furnishing water in privately owned branch pipes to all the commercial establishments located along their path, and that they had been tapped for that purpose here and there by the man known as "the puncturer." The effect was that only a small quantity of water arrived for public uses. ( How much of the quantity lost has now been reclaimed I estimate from the fact that a considerable volume of lead has been collected by the removal of that kind of branch pipes. |
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116
| Still before us is the topic of maintenance of the conduits. But before I speak of this, a few comments should be set forth on the working-crew established for that purpose. ( There are in fact two such crews, one belonging to the state, the other to Caesar. ( The public crew is the older, left (as we said) by Agrippa to Augustus and by him turned over to state ownership; it is comprised of about 2men. ( The number of Caesar's crew is 460; it was created by Claudius when he brought his aqueducts into the City. |
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117
| Each of the crews is divided into several categories of workers: foremen, men in charge of delivery-tanks, inspectors, stone workers, plasterers, and other workmen. ( Of these some are to be outside the City to deal with projects which do not involve major construction but which nevertheless seem in need of prompt attention. ( Men stationed within the City at delivery-tanks and munera will pursue a variety of routine tasks, especially in case of sudden emergencies, so that a reserve of plentiful water from several wards may be turned into the ward where difficulty threatens. ( It was customary for members of each of these large crews to be withdrawn for use in private construction, through favoritism or negligence on the part of those in charge. I determined to recall them all to some orderly management, and I organized these public servants that I myself should prescribe a day in advance what each crew was to do and by having a record kept of their daily accomplishments. |
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118
| Monies for the public crew are paid from the state treasury, an expense which is offset by revenue collected from properties associated with the water system: ( these consist of lands or buildings situated near the conduits, delivery-tanks, munera, or basins. ( This income, close to 250,000 sesterces, had been lost to its intended purpose and credited to some other account (most recently, indeed, turned into the coffers of Domitian); but the Deified Nerva with a due sense of right restored it to the populace, and I have given painstaking attention to bringing it under fixed rules, that it might be entirely clear which places were subject to this tax. ( Caesar's crew receives monies from the imperial treasury, from which payments are also made for all lead and for all expenses relating to the conduits and delivery-tanks and basins. |
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119
| Since we have set forth that which seemed pertinent to the working-crew, we shall now turn (as I promised) to maintenance of the conduits: this is a matter worthy of the most earnest attention, for it serves as a particularly impressive symbol of the greatness of the Roman Empire. ( Many, sometimes large-scale, tasks are constantly arising, which should have prompt attention before extensive remedy may be required; much of the time, however, tasks of maintenance are to be deferred through wisdom and restraint, for one should not always put trust in those who urge work of construction or extension. ( For this reason the commissioner ought not only to avail himself of the knowledge of specialists, but he ought also to be equipped with some practical experience of his own. He ought not only to consult the engineers in his own office, but also to call upon the reliable judgment and expertise of numerous others, that he may in the end determine which tasks are to be undertaken without delay and which are to be postponed, and, again, which are to be carried out by independent contractors and which by workmen of the domestic staff. |
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1
Maintenance tasks arise for the following reasons: damage occurs from wear and tear, from wrongful behavior on the part of landholders, from violent storms, from faulty workmanship (which happens rather often in the case of recent works). |
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121
| Wear due to age or damage from weather plagues for the most part those parts where conduits are carried upon arches or contoured to mountainsides and, of the arches, parts where the aqueducts cross over rivers. ( Repairs on these stretches ought therefore to be accomplished with diligence and dispatch. ( Subterranean portions, protected from exposure to extremes of cold or heat, are less liable to suffer harm. ( Damages are either of the sort that can be remedied without interrupting the flow; or else they are of the kind that cannot be corrected without diverting the water, as, for example, those which occur within the channel itself. |
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122
| There are two causes of damage within the channel. One is that the passageway for water becomes constricted by deposits which build up eventually into a solid crust. The other cause is injury to the concrete lining: this produces leaks, which lead inevitably to deterioration in the sides of the channels and in the substructures. ( Sometimes even the piers built of tufa give way under their great load. ( Repairs which involve the interiors of channels should not be scheduled for summer, to avoid interruption in the season when demand for water is especially high. The time for such repairs is in spring or fall; and they should be carried out with maximum speed, with all preparations of course made in advance, so that the channels may be out of service for as few days as possible. A moment's thought reveals that repairs such as this should be done on one aqueduct at a time: if several were cut off simultaneously, the metropolitan area would be without water. |
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123
| Repairs to be carried out without interrupting the flow of water are primarily those involving the use of concrete, work with which should be done in appropriate seasons and the product should be of durable quality. ( The suitable time for working with concrete is from the 1st of April to the 1st of November; but it is best, nonetheless, to leave off temporarily during the hottest part of summer, because moderate weather is needed for adequate absorbency of moisture and for cohesive solidity (intense sunlight causes premature setting no less than does frost). ( No material requires closer attention than that which is required to withstand the action of water; a reliable quality must therefore be demanded in such work, in accord with the rule which all know but few observe. |
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124
No-one, it seems to me, would question that the conduits closest to the City (those from the sixth milestone, where the construction is of ashlar masonry) require the most careful upkeep: these are structures of the greatest magnitude and each of them carries several channels. ( If it were necessary to interrupt these arcades, the City would be deprived of the greater part of its water supply. (Yet there are remedies to be applied to this difficulty: a temporary structure is erected up to the level where there is damage, and a continuous channel is formed with leaden troughs along the distance of the interrupted conduit.
( Furthermore, inasmuch as most of the conduits had been laid out through the property of private persons and it was foreseen that there might in future be difficulty in gathering necessary materials unless this process was somehow accommodated by a legal formality; in order, too, that contractors might not be prohibited by landholders from having access to channels which needed repairs, there was enacted the following senatorial resolution. |
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125
| WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT OF REPAIRING THE CHANNELS, TUNNELS AND ARCHES WHICH CONVEY THE WATER OF JULIA, MARCIA, APPIA, TEPULA AND ANIO, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING ON THE SUBJECT, CONCERNING THE SUBJECT THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: THAT WHEN THE REPAIRS ARE MADE TO THE CHANNELS, TUNNELS AND ARCHES, WHICH CAESAR AUGUSTUS PROMISED THE SENATE THAT HE WOULD REPAIR FROM HIS PRIVATE FUNDS, THE EARTH, MUD, STONE, POTSHERDS, SAND, WOOD, AND WHATEVER ELSE IS REQUIRED FOR THE PURPOSE SHALL BE GRANTED, TAKEN, REMOVED, CARRIED OUT FROM THE PROPERTY OF PRIVATE PERSONS, EACH OF THESE MATERIALS BEING TAKEN, REMOVED, CARRIED OUT FROM A LOCATION AS CONVENIENT AS POSSIBLE AND WITHOUT INJURY TO PRIVATE PERSONS, THE VALUE OF THE SAME HAVING BEEN DETERMINED BY APPRAISAL OF SOME HONORABLE PERSON; AND THAT THROUGH THE PROPERTY OF PRIVATE PERSONS WITHOUT INJURY TO THOSE PARTIES RIGHTS OF WALKING AND DRIVING BE PERMITTED AND GRANTED AS OFTEN AS NEEDED FOR TRANSPORTING ALL THE SAID MATERIALS IN CONNECTION WITH REPAIRS OF THE SAID STRUCTURES. |
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126
| Not infrequently, however, damages are occasioned by wrongful behavior on the part of landholders, who cause injury to the channels in a variety of ways. ( For one thing, they occupy with buildings or trees the spaces alongside the aqueducts which are to be left vacant in accordance with a senatorial resolution. ( Trees are more harmful, for their roots dislodge the vaulted coverings and sides of the conduits. ( For another thing, they lay out neighborhood roads and country paths over the aqueduct structures themselves. Finally, they deny access for maintenance. Against all these offenses provision was made in the following senatorial resolution. |
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127
| WHEREAS THE CONSULS QUINTUS AELIUS TUBERO AND PAULUS FABIUS MAXIMUS BROUGHT FORTH THE SUBJECT THAT THE RIGHTS OF WAY FOR AQUEDUCTS COMING INTO THE CITY ARE BEING OCCUPIED BY MONUMENTS AND BUILDINGS AND ARE BEING PLANTED UP WITH TREES, AND INQUIRED OF THE SENATE AS TO WHAT ACTION MIGHT BE PLEASING, CONCERNING THE SUBJECT THE SENATORS RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: INASMUCH AS FOR REPAIRS TO CHANNELS AND TUNNELS <OBSTRUCTIONS MUST BE REMOVED> BY WHICH PUBLIC STRUCTURES ARE DAMAGED, IT IS APPROVED THAT THERE BE A CLEARING OF FIFTEEN FEET ON EITHER SIDE OF SPRINGS, ARCHES, AND WALLS, AND THAT A SPACE OF FIVE FEET ON EITHER SIDE BE LEFT VACANT AROUND THE CHANNELS WHICH ARE BELOW GROUND AND AROUND TUNNELS WITHIN THE CITY AND WITHIN THE BUILT-UP AREAS CONTIGUOUS TO THE CITY, AND IN THESE PLACES IT SHALL AFTER THIS TIME BE PERMITTED TO LOCATE NEITHER MONUMENT NOR BUILDING NOR TO PLANT TREES; AND IF THERE NOW EXIST ANY TREES WITHIN THE SAID SPACE, THEY ARE TO BE CUT DOWN, EXCEPTING THOSE WHICH MAY BE CONNECTED WITH A COUNTRY RESIDENCE AND ENCLOSED BY BUILDINGS. ( IF ANYONE SHALL ACT CONTRARY TO THESE PROVISIONS, THE PENALTY FOR EACH SUCH OFFENSE SHALL BE 10,000 SESTERCES, THE HALF OF WHICH SHALL BE GIVEN AS A REWARD TO THE ACCUSER BY WHOSE EFFORT MOST OF ALL CONDEMNATION SHALL HAVE BEEN SECURED FOR THE PERSON WHO ACTED CONTRARY TO THIS SENATORIAL RESOLUTION, THE OTHER HALF SHALL BE DEPOSITED IN THE STATE TREASURY; ( AND IN SUCH CASE THE WATER COMMISSIONERS SHALL CONDUCT A TRIAL AND TAKE COGNIZANCE. |
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128
| This senatorial resolution would seem to be entirely just, even if these spaces were reclaimed by reason of usefulness to the state alone. Its fairness is all the more apparent in light of the fact that our forefathers, with remarkable equity, did not seize from private parties even those lands which were of necessary interest to the state; but when they were bringing in waters, if a landholder was recalcitrant about selling a part of his property, they paid for the whole, and then after fixing boundaries for the land that was needed they sold the property in their turn, it having been clearly established that the state as well as private parties, each within respective boundaries, should have full and absolute right. ( But many, not content to have encroached beyond the boundaries, have laid hands upon the conduits themselves. By penetrating the side walls here and there ... no less those who have a granted right of water, than those who take advantage of the slightest opportunity for an imperial favor to get control of the channels.... ( What would happen besides, were not all such actions forbidden by a statute drafted with exceptional diligence and were not the willfully disobedient threatened with a penalty more than moderately severe? ( For this reason I quote the words of the statute: |
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THE CONSUL TITUS QUINCTIUS CRISPINUS, ON THE ADVICE OF THE SENATE, DULY PUT THE QUESTION TO THE PEOPLE, AND THE PEOPLE AS A BODY DULY VOTED APPROVAL IN THE FORUM, BEFORE THE ROSTRA OF THE TEMPLE OF THE DEIFIED JULIUS, ON THE 30TH DAY OF JUNE. ( THE TRIBE SERGIA WAS THE FIRST TO VOTE, ( AND FOR THIS TRIBE SEXTUS VIBIDIUS VIRRO, SON OF LUCIUS, CAST THE FIRST VOTE.
WHOEVER, AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THIS STATUTE, SHALL KNOWINGLY WITH WRONGFUL DECEIT PIERCE, BREAK, CAUSE TO HAVE PIERCED OR BROKEN, OR DAMAGE THE CHANNELS, TUNNELS, ARCHES, PIPES, TUBES, DELIVERY-TANKS OR BASINS OF THOSE PUBLIC WATERS WHICH ARE CONVEYED OR WILL HEREAFTER BE CONVEYED INTO THE CITY OF ROME, WHEREBY THE SAID WATERS OR ANY OF THEM MAY BE UNABLE TO GO, FALL, FLOW, REACH, OR BE CONVEYED, OR WHEREBY THE SAME MAY BE HINDERED FROM ISSUING, BEING DISTRIBUTED, DIVIDED, DISCHARGED INTO DELIVERY-TANKS OR BASINS WITHIN THE CITY OF ROME AND IN THOSE PLACES WHICH ARE NOW OR WILL HEREAFTER BE BUILT-UP AREAS CONTIGUOUS TO THE CITY, IN THOSE ESTATES, PROPERTIES AND PLACES TO THE PROPRIETORS, HOLDERS, USUFRUCTUARIES OF WHICH ESTATES, PROPERTIES AND PLACES WATER HAS BEEN OR WILL HEREAFTER BE GRANTED OR ASSIGNED: THAT PERSON SHALL BE CONDEMNED TO PAY TO THE PEOPLE OF ROME A FINE OF 100,000 SESTERCES; AND, MOREOVER, WHOEVER WITHOUT WRONGFUL DECEIT SHALL HAVE DONE ANY ONE OF THESE THINGS, HE SHALL BE CONDEMNED TO REPAIR, REMAKE, RESTORE, REBUILD OR REPLACE WHAT HE HAS DAMAGED, TO DESTROY OR DEMOLISH WHAT HE HAS BUILT AND TO PERFORM ALL SUCH REQUIREMENTS AND IN SUCH MANNER AS WILL THINK RIGHT WHOEVER IS OR SHALL BE WATER COMMISSIONER OR, IF THERE IS NO WATER COMMISSIONER, THEN THAT PRAETOR WHO ADMINISTERS JUSTICE BETWEEN CITIZENS AND FOREIGNERS, EITHER OF WHICH OFFICIALS SHALL COMPEL AND ADMINISTER BY FINE OR PLEDGES; AND ON THAT ACCOUNT THE SAID COMMISSIONER OR, IF THERE IS NO COMMISSIONER, THEN THE SAID PRAETOR SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT AND POWER OF COMPULSION, ADMINISTRATION, OF IMPOSING A FINE OR COLLECTING A PLEDGE. IF A SLAVE SHALL HAVE DONE ANY ONE OF THESE THINGS, HIS MASTER SHALL BE CONDEMNED TO PAY TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE 100,000 SESTERCES.
IF ANY AREA HAS BEEN OR WILL HEREAFTER BE DELIMITED ALONG THE CHANNELS, TUNNELS, ARCHES, PIPES, TUBES, DELIVERY-TANKS OR BASINS OF THE PUBLIC WATERS WHICH ARE CONVEYED OR WILL HEREAFTER BE CONVEYED TO THE CITY OF ROME, THEN AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THIS STATUTE NO ONE SHALL IN THAT AREA PUT IN THE WAY, CONSTRUCT, ENCLOSE, SET UP, ESTABLISH, PLACE, LOCATE, PLOW IN OR SOW ANYTHING, NOR SHALL ANYONE INTRODUCE ANYTHING INTO THAT AREA, EXCEPT FOR MAKING OR REPLACING SUCH THINGS AS ARE PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY THIS STATUTE. WHOEVER SHALL HAVE DONE ANYTHING CONTRARY THERETO, AGAINST HIM IN EVERY WAY THE STATUTE, LAW AND PROCEDURE SHALL APPLY IN EVERY PARTICULAR AS IT WOULD OR OUGHT TO APPLY IF HE HAD BROKEN OR PIERCED THE CHANNEL OR TUNNEL IN CONTRAVENTION OF THIS STATUTE.
TO THE EFFECT THAT IT NOT BE PERMITTED IN THAT AREA WHICH HAS BEEN OR SHALL BE DELIMITED ALONG THE SPRINGS AND ARCHES AND WALLS AND CHANNELS AND TUNNELS TO GRAZE LIVESTOCK, TO CUT HAY OR GRASS, TO REMOVE BRUSH; OR TO THE EFFECT THAT IN THAT AREA THOSE WHO NOW ARE OR SHALL HEREAFTER BE WATER COMMISSIONERS NOT ARRANGE THAT TREES, VINES, BRAMBLES, BRUSH, BANKS, FENCES, WILLOW-THICKETS AND BEDS OF REEDS BE REMOVED, CUT DOWN, DUG OUT, UPROOTED IN SUCH MANNER AS THEY WILL THINK RIGHT, NOTHING OF THAT IS PROPOSED BY THIS STATUTE; AND ON THAT ACCOUNT THEY SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO COLLECT A PLEDGE, TO IMPOSE A FINE, THE POWER OF COMPULSION AND ADMINISTRATION; AND THEY ARE TO BE ALLOWED AND HAVE THE RIGHT AND POWER TO DO SO WITHOUT PERSONAL LIABILITY.
TO THE EFFECT THAT VINES AND TREES (WHICH ARE ENCLOSED BY COUNTRY RESIDENCES, BUILDINGS OR FENCES) OR THAT FENCES (WHICH THE WATER COMMISSIONERS AFTER DUE EXAMINATION HAVE EXEMPTED THEIR OWNERS FROM DEMOLISHING AND UPON WHICH HAVE BEEN INSCRIBED OR CARVED THE NAMES OF THOSE COMMISSIONERS WHO GAVE THE PERMISSION) NOT REMAIN, NOTHING OF THAT IS PROPOSED BY THIS STATUTE. (1 TO THE EFFECT THAT IT NOT BE ALLOWED TO WHATEVER PERSONS THE WATER COMMISSIONERS HAVE PERMITTED OR WILL HEREAFTER HAVE PERMITTED TO TAKE OR HAUL UP WATER FROM SUCH SPRINGS, CHANNELS, TUNNELS OR ARCHES, EXCEPTING BY MEANS OF WHEEL, SCREW OR MACHINE, PROVIDED THAT THERE BE MADE NEITHER WELL-SHAFT NOR ANY NEW OPENING, NOTHING OF THAT IS PROPOSED BY THIS STATUTE. |
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| I should not deny that those who show no respect for a statute of such excellent justice are worthy of the penalty which is threatened. But those who had been lulled into confidence by administrative neglect over a long period of time deserved to be brought back to their senses with gentleness. ( Thus with special care I have sought, so far as it lay within my power, to preserve the anonymity of those who had erred. ( Those who took my admonition seriously and sought the Emperor's pardon may look upon me as the means whereby they now enjoy an official grant with imperial favor. ( Against the others, indeed, I hope that execution of the statute may not be necessary, since in the end it is better to uphold the trust placed in my office even at the risk of provoking indignant reactions. |
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Frontinus - 10 
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