70 Irrigation and Drainage 



minions, their historian, Polybius, drew a similar pic- 

 ture of the high state of cultivation of this country. 



In the early days of both Grecian and Roman his- 

 tory, great progress had already been made by these 

 peoples in handling and conveying water by gravity 

 over long distances for domestic purposes. At Patara 

 the Greeks, according to Herodotus, carried an aque- 

 duct across a ravine 200 feet wide and 250 feet deep, 

 constructing a pipe line by drilling 13 -inch holes 

 through cubic blocks 3 feet in diameter, fitting these 

 blocks together with curved necks and recesses, whose 

 joints were laid in cement and held secure by means 

 of iron bands run with lead. This was an inverted 

 syphon, now so often used to cross a ravine or canon 

 in the west, but made from stone instead of steel 

 or redwood hooped with steel, so commonly used to- 

 day. 



Rome was supplied with water in Nero's time by 

 nine separate aqueducts aggregating a length, of 255 

 miles, and which delivered daily 173,000,000 gallons 

 of water, which was later increased to 312,500,000 gal- 

 lons. The Aqua Martia conduit, which brought the 

 drinking water for the city, had a diameter of 16 feet, 

 and was 40 miles long. 



When the Romans invaded France, they constructed 

 great systems of water works for cities in various 

 places at Lyons, Souy, Nismes, Frejus, and Metz. 

 The Nismes conduit was constructed at the time of 

 Augustus, 19 B.C., and delivered 14,000,000 gallons 

 per day. It is noted for the great Pont du Gard, 

 which carried it across a ravine, and which is spoken 



