354 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book X 



places in the suburbs, and country-houses ; and then reflect 

 upon the distances that are traversed, the arches that have been 

 constructed, the mountains that have been pierced, the valleys 

 that have been levelled; we must of necessity admit that there 

 is nothing to be found more worthy of our admiration, through- 

 out the whole universe. 



Among the most memorable works, too, I, for my own part, 

 should include another undertaking of the Emperor Claudius, 

 although it was afterwards abandoned in consequence of the 

 hatred borne him by his successor ; u I mean the channel that 

 was cut through a mountain as an emissary for Lake Fucinus; 14 

 a work which cost a sum beyond all calculation, and employed 

 a countless multitude of workmen for many years. Jn thosu 

 parts where the soil was found to be terreous, it was necessary 

 to pump up the water by the aid of machinery ; in other parts, 

 again, the solid rock had to be hewn through. All this, too, 

 had to be done in the midst of darkness within ; a series of 

 operations which can only be adequately conceived by thosu 

 who were witnesses of them, and which no human language 

 can possibly describe. 



I pass in silence the harbour that has been formed at Ostia ; 

 the various roads, too, that have been cut across mountains ; 

 the Tyrrhenian Sea separated by an embankment from Lake 

 Lucrinus ; 16 and vast numbers of bridges constructed at an 

 enormous expense. Among the many other marvels, too, of 

 Italy, we are informed by Papirius Fabianus, a most diligent 

 enquirer into the operations of .Nature, that the marble there 

 grows in the quarries ; and those who work in the quarries 

 assure us that the wounds thus initiated upon the mountains 

 iill up spontaneously. If such is the fact, luxury has good 



" N<ro. 



^ 16 Sec B. ii. c. 10G, and 1*. iii. c. 17. In order to check the sudden 

 rise of its waters, a design was entertained by Julius Cuj.sar to construct u 

 Mibterranean canal from the lake into the valley of the Liris, which, unfor- 

 tunately, was frustrated by his death. Claudius, however, executed the work, 

 by cutting a gallery upwards of an English mile and u half through tho 

 limestone rock ; a work which, according to Suetonius, occupied thirty 

 thousand workmen continually for eleven years. On opening it with a 

 mock naval combat, an accident happened in which many persons lost 

 their lives, and Claudius himself but narrowly escaped. The emissary 

 answered its purpose for some time, and, though Nero suffered the works 

 to fall into decay, they were repaired by Hadrian. In the middle ages, 

 however, the work fell m, and has not since been restored. 



1C See B. iii. c. 0. 



