ness of the way, and arriving fresh as if just struck out of the rock.[1]
To form some idea of the aqueducts of ancient Rome, we must glance at the present supply of water in that city, as the only term of comparison.
The ancient aqueducts were all cut off, in the sixth century, by Vitiges, king of the Goths, when he besieged Rome, defended successfully by Belisarius. No attempt was made to restore them, and for eleven centuries the inhabitants were compelled to drink no waters but those of the Tiber, and of cisterns. The water of the Tiber easily and quickly parts with its, deposit, and becomes clear and potable. Still, for the poor, it must have been a hardship to have to carry it home. But the ingenuity of charity sought to lighten this labour. A pious confraternity was formed, which had its seat at the Lateran Church, under the name of Aquarii, or "watermen," and devoted itself to supplying the poor with water.
So soon as the Roman Pontiffs had leisure to turn their minds to internal improvements, after their return from Avignon in 1377, one of their first thoughts was to recover some of the lost sources, and reconduct their waters to Rome. In the course of seventy years, three of them were again pouring out their grateful supplies into reservoirs, whence they are distributed through every part of the city, and flow on all sides—sometimes in torrents—into the most magnificent, or graceful, fountains.
To present to you a tangible way of measuring the quantity of water which these three aqueducts
- ↑ So symbolized on "the fountain of Moses," on the Quirinal.
