AQUEDUCTS. 29 



was constructed by Eupalinus, who had previously gained celebrity 

 by building the aqueduct at Megara. At Athens the water-supply 

 was drawn by subterranean conduits from Mounts Hymettus, Penteli- 

 cus, and Parnes, and received into reservoirs outside the city. Two 

 conduits came from Mount Hymettus, and passed under the bed of 

 the river Ilissus. Of course, it was necessary to supply fresh air to 

 the water flowing through these subterranean channels, and that 

 was done by piercing them with shafts at intervals of about fifty 

 yards. Subterranean channels were also used to distribute the water 

 through the city; they were of different forms, being round or square, 

 and in some of them pipes of baked clay were laid. It is somewhat 

 remarkable that these beneficent works were constructed by the wis- 

 dom of rulers who have come down to us branded as tyrants. The 

 tyrants Theagenes of Megara, Polycrates of Samos, and Pisistratus 

 of Athens, were the men who caused them to be built. Some of those 

 old aqueducts still continue to supply Athens with water. The aque- 

 duct of Syracuse which still supplies the city with an abundance of 

 water, and which is remarkable for having a tunnel under the sea, 

 between the city and the mainland, was built some time prior to the 

 Athenian invasion, 412 b. c, for Thucydides mentions that it was 

 partially destroyed by the invaders. But far more ancient than any 

 yet referred to is the one at Jerusalem, built by Solomon, to conduct 

 the water from the reservoirs, or " pools," that bear his name, to the 

 city, a distance of six miles. It was formed by an earthen pipe ten 

 inches in diameter, incased in stone and laid underground. It is still 

 in use. 



The periodical overflow of the Nile, the Tigris, and Euphrates, 

 enabled the peoples of Egypt and Babylonia to store up vast quan- 

 tities of water in artificial lakes, of which the Mceris in Egypt is a 

 celebrated example, and the water was utilized as required, by sur- 

 face-conduits or canals. 



Let us now turn back to the aqueducts of Rome, and examine 

 somewhat the details of construction. A recently-published work on 

 the aqueducts comprehetided in the archoeology of Rome, by John 

 Henry Parker, C. B., affords much interesting information in this con- 

 nection. The facts are ascertained partly from the work of Sextus 

 Julius Frontinus, who was superintendent of the aqueducts {curator 

 aquarum) under the Emperors Nerva and Trajan (a. d. 94-107), and 

 partly from explorations of the courses and remains of the aqueducts 

 made by Mr. Parker himself. Of the eleven aqueducts already 

 referred to, ten approached the city from the east and one fi'om the 

 west. Of the ten on the east, four had their sources near Subiaco, in 

 a spur of the Apennines beyond Tivoli ; the others took their rise in 

 the lower lands nearer Rome. Two of these, the Anio Vetus and 

 the Anio JVovus, were fed by the river Anio, as is indicated by their 

 names ; the others received their waters from springs or small lakes, 



