THE FOUNTAIN. 



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The aqueducts the fabrication of which was begun by Caius 

 Cassar, and which were brought to their highest perfe6lion by 

 the emperor Claudius, were incontrovertibly superior to the 

 produ6lions of that nature which had been before undertaken. 

 The elevated columns, and dilated arches, that served as ca- 

 nals for the conveyance of the immense masses of water,: 

 which, in precipitating itself from the lofty summit of the 

 Aventine hill, appeared to irrigate a profound valley, are the 

 most authentic and demonstrative monuments of the sublimity 

 of the mind of man. 



The Romans were not, however, satisfied with these rare 

 edifices, which vied in magnificence with the superb pyramids 

 of Egypt, and exceeded them in utility ; but meditated daily 

 new modes of improving the science of the movement of the 

 waters, a part of which they preserved in a determinate place. 

 Marcus Agrippa, when edile, undertook to convey them to a 

 fountain ; to unite many streams after they had been well 

 cleansed ; ^nd to form seven hundred lakes or pools ; five 

 hundred piles ; and a hundred and thirty receptacles ; adorn- 

 ing the whole of these works with three hundred statues of 

 marble and bronze, and four hundred columns. He thus con- 

 tributed towards the splendour of Rome, and bestowed a last- 

 ing benefit on his fellow-citizens, whom he constantly sup- 

 plied with salubrious and abundant waters. 



These fountains, these immense aquedu6ls, on which pro- 

 digious sums were expended, were not confined to the limits of 

 Rome : the provinces of the empire likewise enjoyed all the 

 beauties of their fine archite6lure, and the copious waters they 

 distributed artificially. The Roman aquedu6t entitled the 

 Ppnt-du-Gard, in the vicinity of Nismes, boasts at this time a, 



EC degree 



