of Plinies Natural! Hiftorie. 
A  theirimage unto all mankind: hanging in the air withina frame at the mercy of one only hooke, 
rejoicing and readietoclap hands at their owne daunger. What acheape market of mens Jives 
was here toward ! What was the loffe at Cannz to this hazard, that they fhould complaine fo 
much as they doe of Cannz ? Howneare unto a mifcheefe werethey, which might have happe- 
ned hereby in the turning of a hand? Certes,when there is newescome of a cittie {wallowed up 
by awide chinke and opening of the earth,all men generally in a publickecommiferation doe 
greeve thereat,and there is not one but his hearrdothearne ; and yet, behold the univerfall tate 
and people of Rome,as if they were put into a couple of barkes, fupported betweene heaven and 
earth,and fitting atthe devotion onely of two pins or hookes. And what fpeGtacle doe they be- 
hold, a number of fencers trying it out with untebated {words ? nay ywis,but even themfelves ra- 
> therentered intoa moft defperat fight,and at the point to breake their necks every mothers fon, 
if the {caffold failed never fo little,&the frame went out of joint: Now furely by this proofe,Curio 
had gotten a good hand over the people of Rome, andno Tribunes of the Conimons with all 
their Orations could doe more: from that time forward he might make account to bee fo graci- 
ous,as to lead all the tribesafter him in any fuits; and have them hanging inthe aire at his plea- 
fure.VVhat a mightie man with them might hee bee(thinke you) preaching unto them from the 
Roftra? What would not he dare to propofe,having audience in that publick place before them, 
who could perfuade them thus,as he did, to fit upon fuch turning andticklifh Theatres. And in 
truth, if we will confider this pageant upright,we muft needs contefle & may bee bold to fay,that 
Curio had all the people of Rome to performe a brave skirmith and combat indeed to honor and 
folemmnize the funerals of his father before his tombe. And yet here is not all: for hee was at his 
chaunge and varietie of magnificent {hewes: and when he perceived once that the hookes ofhis 
frames were ftretched ynough and began to be out of order, hee kept them ftill clofe together 
round in forme ofa perfect Ainphitheatre,and the very laft day ofhis funerall felemnities, upon 
two fiagesjuftin the middeft, he reprefented wreitlers and other champions to performe their 
devoire,and then all oma fuddaine caufing the faid {tages to bedisjoined and hailed one from a- 
nother a contrary way,he brought forth the fame day the fencers & {word players who had woon 
the prife,and with that fhew made an end of all.See what Curio was able to doe ! And yet was he 
neither king nor Kefar: he was not fo much asa generall or commavnder of an armie;nay, hee 
was not named for any greatrich man : as whofe principall {tate depended upon this That when 
the greatmen of the citie, Ca/ar and Pompey, were skuffling together by the eares, hee knew well 
how to fifhinatroubled water.But to leave Carte and fuch as he was with their foolith and idle ex- 
pences,letus come to the miraculous workes that 2.Marcius Rex performed, and that to fome 
- good purpofe : which if we confider and efteeme aright,paffe all che other before rehearfed. This 
gentleman when he was Pretour, having commandement and commiffion both from the Senat, 
to repaire the conduits to the waters of Appia, Anio, and Tepula, which ferved Rome, did not 
that onely,but alfo conveighed a new water into the citie,which of his own name he called Mar- 
tia :and notwithftanding that hee was ro pierce certaine mountaines, and make trenches quite 
through them under the ground, for to bring the water thither from the Spring, yet hee perfour- 
med all within the time of his Pretourfhip. As for Agzppa,whiles he was A:dile,befides the con- 
duits from all other fountaines which he {coured,tepaired, and caufed to keepe their currant: he 
brought another of his owne to the citie,which is knowne by the name of Virgo: he made feven 
hundred pooles for receit of waters: a hundred and five conduits, yeelding water at cockes and 
fpouts : befidesa hundred and thirtie conduit heads in the fields, and the moft of them buile 
firong}y with vaults,and adornedright {tately. Moreover,upon thefeworkes of his he erected fta- 
tues and images,to the number of three hundred, partly of brafle,and partly of marble, befides 
foure hundfed pillars of marble,and all within the compaffe of one yeare. And if wee may be- 
leeve his owne {peech, difcourfing of the acts done by him during his Adilethip, hee addeth 
moreover and faith, That the plaies and games which hee exhibited that yeare, for to doe the 
people pleafure, continued threefcore daies together, wanting one: that hee caufed a hundred 
threefcore and ten baines and ftouves to be made within the citie,wherein people of all forts and 
degrees might bath and {wear of free coft,andnot pay a denier; the which remaine at this day, 
and have brought with them an infinit number of others, But of all the conduitsthat ever were 
before thistime, that which waslaft begun by C. Caligula Cafar, and finifhed by Clandius Cefar 
his fucceflour,pafleth forfumptuoufnelle: for they commaunded the waters from thetwo foun- 
Caines, 
3 
oe 
Cc 
y) 
