AQU2EDUCT. 
Even Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, and Ca- 
racalla, though in other respects not of the 
best character, took care of the city in this 
useful article. There are still to be seen in 
the country about Rome wonderful re- 
mains of the ancient aquaeducts, some ele- 
vated above the ground by arches conti- 
nued and raised one above the other, and 
others subterraneous, passing through rocks; 
such is that seen at Vicovaro, beyond 
Tivoli, in which a canal pierces a rock to 
the extent of more than a mile, and about 
five feet deep and four broad. At certain 
distances vents were provided, so that the 
water which was accidentally obstructed in 
its passage, might be discharged, till its or- 
dinary passage was cleared; and in the 
canal of the aqueduct itself there were cavi- 
ties, into which the water was precipitated, 
and where it remained till its mud was de- 
posited ; and ponds in which it might purify 
itself. In the construction of these aque- 
ducts, there was a considerable variety : 
that called the Aqua Marcia had an arch of 
sixteen feet in diameter ; it was constructed 
of three kinds of stone, and was formed 
with two canals, one above the other. The 
most elevated was supplied by the waters 
of the Tiverone, Anionovus, and the lowest 
by the Claudian water. The entire edifice 
was 70 Roman feet high. The arch of the 
aquaeduct which brought to Rome the 
Claudian water, was constructed of beauti- 
ful hewn stone. This is represented by 
Pliny as the most beautiful of all that had 
been built for the use of Rome. It con- 
veyed the water, through a vaulted canal, 
through the distance of 40 miles, and was 
so high that it supplied all the hills of the 
city. According to him, and the compu- 
tation of Budaeus, the charge of this work 
amounted to 1,385,500 crowns. This aqute- 
duct was begun by Caligula, and finished 
by Claudius, who brought its waters from 
two springs, called Caeruleus and Curtius. 
Vespasian, Titus, Marcus Aurelius, and 
Antoninus Pius, repaired and extended it; 
it is now called Aqua Felice. The three 
chief aquaeducts now in being are those of 
the Aqua Virginea, Aqua Felice, and Aqua 
Paulina. The first was repaired by Pope 
Paul IV. The second was constructed by 
Pope Sixtus V. and is called from the name 
which he assumed before he was exalted 
to the Papal throne. It proceeds from 
Palaestrina at the distance of twenty-two 
miles, and discharges itself at the Fontana 
di Termini, which was also built at his ex- 
pense, and consists of three arches, sup- 
ported by four Corinthian pillars, and th« 
water gushes out through three, large aper- 
tures. Over the middle arch stands a 
beautiful statue of Moses striking the rock 
with his rod ; over another arch-is a basso- 
relievo of Aaron leading the people to the 
miraculous springs in the wilderness ; and 
the third exhibits Gideon trying his soldiers 
by their drinking water. Round it are 
four lions, two of marble, and the other 
two of oriental granite, said to be brought 
thither from a temple of Serapis. All the 
four lions eject water ; and on the front is 
an inscription, importing that this aqumduct 
was begun in the first and completed in 
the third year of the Pontificate of Sixtus 
V. 1588. The third was repaired by Pope 
Paul V. in the year 1612. This divides 
itself into two principal channels, one of 
which supplies Mount Janiculus, and the 
other the Vatican and its neighbourhood. 
It is conveyed through the distance of thirty 
miles, from the district of Bracciano, and 
three of its five streams are not inferior to 
small rivers, and sufficient to turn a mill. 
The famous aqua-ducts of Constantinople, 
about six miles from the village of Belgrade, 
were built by Valentinian the First, Clear- 
chus, being prefect, and afterwards repaired 
by Solyman the Magnificent, who exempted 
twelve adjacent Greek villages from the 
customary tribute of the empire, in consi- 
deration of their keeping these aquaeducts 
in repair. Of these the most remarkable 
are three large and lofty fabrics, built over 
so many vallies betwixt the adjoining hills, 
of which the longest has many but less 
arches, and may possibly be the entire work 
of Solyman. The other two have the ap- 
pearance of a more ancient and regular ar- 
chitecture, consisting of two rows of arches 
one over the other ; and those of the second 
were enclosed by pillars cut through the 
middle, so as to render the fabric both pas- 
sable like a bridge, and useful for the con- 
veyance of water. The more considerable 
of these two consists of only four large ar- 
ches, each twenty yards long, and some- 
what above twenty high, supported by oct 
tangular pillars of about 56 yards in cir- 
cumference towards the bottom. For an 
inquiry into the nature and construction of 
the aquaeducts of the Romans, see Governor 
Pownafl’s Notices and Descriptions of An- 
tiquities of the Provincia Romana of Gaul, 
4to. 1788. The aquaeduct built by Lewis 
XIV. near Maintinon, for carrying the river 
Bure to Versailles, is perhaps the greatest 
now in the world. It is 7000 fathoms long, 
U 2 
