Frontinus: DE AQUAEDUCTU URBIS ROMAE

64. Persecutus ea quae de modulis dici fuit necessarium, nunc ponam, quem modum quaeque aqua, ut principum commentariis comprehensum est, usque ad nostram curam habere visa sit quantumque erogaverit; deinde quem ipsi scrupulosa inquisitione praeeunte providentia optimi diligentissimi Nervae principis invenerimus. Fuerunt ergo in commentariis in universo quinariarum decem duo milia septingentae quinquaginta quinque, in erogatione decem quattuor milia decem et octo: plus in distributione quam in accepto computabatur quinariis mille ducentis sexaginta tribus. Huius rei admiratio, cum praecipuum officii opus in exploranda fide aquarum atque copia crederem, non mediocriter me convertit ad scrutandum, quemadmodum amplius erogaretur, quam in patrimonio, ut ita dicam, esset.

64. Having pursued those matters which it was necessary to say about the moduli, I will now set down in what manner each aqueduct, as is contained in the princes' commentaries, seemed to have been held under our care up to our time and how much it had expended; next what we ourselves, by a scrupulous inquiry preceded by the providence of the most excellent and most diligent prince Nerva, discovered. There were therefore in the commentaries in all 12,755 quinariae, in expenditure 14,018: more in distribution than in receipts were reckoned 1,263 quinariae. The wonder of this affair, since I thought the chief duty of the office to be the investigation of the fidelity and abundance of the waters, not a little turned me to examine how it came about that more was being expended than was, so to speak, in the patrimony.

Ante omnia itaque capita ductuum metiri adgressus sum, sed longe, id est circiter quinariarum decem milibus, ampliorem quam in commentariis modum inveni, ut per singulas demonstrabo.

Before all things
therefore I undertook to measure the heads of the ducts, but I found a method far more ample than in the commentaries, that is by about ten thousand quinariae, which I will demonstrate for each in turn.

65. Appiae in commentariis adscriptus est modus quinariarum octingentarum quadraginta unius. Cuius aquae ad caput inveniri mensura non potuit, quoniam ex duobus rivis constat. Ad Gemellos tamen, qui locus est infra Spem Veterem, ubi iungitur cum ramo Augustae, inveni altitudinem aquae pedum quinque, latitudinem pedis unius dodrantis; fiunt areae pedes octo dodrans, centenariae viginti duae et quadragenaria, quae efficiunt quinarias mille octingentas viginti quinque; amplius quam commentarii habent quinariis nongentis octoginta quattuor.

65. In the commentaries the Appian [channel] is entered with a measure of 841 quinariae. The measure of whose water at the head could not be found, since it consists of two streams. At the Gemelli, however, a place below the Old Hope, where it joins with the branch of Augusta, I found the depth of the water five feet, the breadth three-quarters of one foot; the areas are eight and three-quarters feet, the centennial (measures) twenty-two and the fortyfold, which make up 1,825 quinariae; more than the commentaries have by 984 quinariae.

Erogabat quinarias septingentas quattuor; minus quam in commentariis adscribitur quinariis centum triginta septem, et adhuc minus quam ad Gemellos mensura respondet quinariis mille centum viginti una. Intercidit tamen aliquantum e ductus vitio, qui cum sit depressior, non facile manationes ostendit, quas esse ex eo apparet quod in plerisque urbis partibus probata aqua observatur, quae ex ea manat. Sed et quasdam fistulas intra urbem inlicitas deprehendimus.

It discharged 704 quinariae; 137 quinariae fewer than is ascribed in the commentaries, and 1,121 quinariae fewer than the measurement at Gemelli corresponds. Yet a portion of the duct was lost through a defect, which, being lower, does not readily show seepages — these are seen to be from it, for in many parts of the city the tested water that issues from it is observed. But we also discovered certain illicit pipes inside the city.

Extra urbem autem propter pressuram librae, cum sit infra terram ad caput pedibus quinquaginta, nullam accipit iniuriam.

Outside the city, however, on account of the pressure of the libra, since at the head it is fifty feet below ground, it sustains no injury.

66. Anioni Veteri adscriptus est in commentariis modus quinariarum mille quingentarum quadraginta unius. Ad caput inveni quattuor milia trecentas nonaginta octo praeter eum modum qui in proprium ductum Tiburtium derivatur, amplius quam in commentariis est quinariis duobus milibus octingentis quinquaginta septem. Erogabantur antequam ad piscinam veniret quinariae ducentae sexaginta duae.

66. To Anio the Elder is ascribed in the commentaries a measure of quinariae 1,541. At the head I found 4,398 besides that measure which is diverted into the private Tiburtine conduit, more than in the commentaries by quinariae 2,857. They were issued before it came to the piscina quinariae 262.

Modus in piscina, qui per mensuras positas initur, efficit quinariarum duo milia trecentas sexaginta duas. Intercidebant ergo inter caput et piscinam quinariae mille septingentae septuaginta quattuor. Erogabat post piscinam quinarias mille trecentas quadraginta octo; amplius quam in commentariis conceptionis modum significari diximus quinariis sexaginta novem; minus quam recipi in ductum post piscinam posuimus quinariis mille decem quattuor.

The mode in the pool, which is begun by measures put in place, produces 2,362 quinariae. Therefore between the head and the pool 1,774 quinariae were cut off. After the pool it yielded 1,348 quinariae; which is 69 quinariae more than the mode of conception we said is indicated in the commentaries; and 1,014 quinariae less than we set to be received into the conduit after the pool.

Summa quae inter caput et piscinam et post piscinam intercidebat quinariae duo milia septingentae octoginta octo, quod errore mensurae fieri suspicarer, nisi invenissem ubi averterentur.

The sum which was cut off between the head and the piscina and after the piscina amounted to 2,788 quinariae, which I would have suspected arose from an error of measurement, had I not found where they were diverted.

67. Marciae in commentariis adscriptus est modus quinariarum duum milium centum sexaginta duarum. Ad caput mensus inveni quinarias quattuor milia sexcentas nonaginta, amplius quam in commentariis est quinariis duobus milibus quingentis viginti octo. Erogabantur antequam ad piscinam perveniret quinariae nonaginta quinque, et dabantur in adiutorium Tepulae quinariae nonaginta duae, item in Anionem quinariae centum sexaginta quattuor.

67. In the commentaries a mode of quinariae of 2,162 is ascribed to Marcia. At the head, when measured, I found quinariae 4,690, more than in the commentaries by quinariae 2,528. Before it reached the piscina quinariae 95 were expended, and quinariae 92 were given to aid Tepula, likewise quinariae 164 to the Anio.

Summa quae erogabatur ante piscinam quinariae trecentae quinquaginta una. Modus qui in piscina mensuris positis initur cum eo quod circa piscinam ductum eodem canali in arcus excipitur, efficit quinarias duo milia nongentas quadraginta quattuor. Summa quae aut erogatur ante piscinam aut in arcus recipitur quinariarum tria milia ducentae nonaginta quinque; amplius quam in conceptis commentariorum positum est quinariis mille centum triginta tribus, minus, quam mensurae ad caput actae efficiunt quinariis mille trecentis nonaginta quinque.

The sum disbursed before the pool was 351 quinariae. The method that is begun in the pool with measures set in place, when that which is led around the pool is received into the arches by the same channel, yields 2,944 quinariae. The sum that is either disbursed before the pool or received into the arches is 3,295 quinariae; more than that which is set down in the draft commentaries by 1,133 quinariae, and less than that which the measures carried to the head produce by 1,395 quinariae.

Erogabat post piscinam quinarias mille octingentas quadraginta; minus quam in commentariis conceptionis modum significari diximus quinariis ducentis viginti septem, minus quam ex piscina in arcus recipiuntur quinariis mille centum quattuor. Summa utraque quae intercidebat aut inter caput et piscinam aut post piscinam quinariarum duo milia ID, quas sicut in ceteris pluribus locis intercipi deprehendimus. Non enim eas cessare manifestum est et ex hoc quod ad caput praeter eam mensuram, quam comprehendisse nos capacitate ductus posuimus, effunduntur amplius trecentae quinariae.

After the pool it disbursed 1,840 quinariae; less than the amount we said the mode of the conception in the commentaries indicates by 227 quinariae, and less than the amount received from the pool into the arc by 1,104 quinariae. The combined total which was intercepted either between the head and the pool or after the pool was 2,499 quinariae, which, as we have found intercepted in many other places, is apparent. For it is manifest that these do not cease, and from this: toward the head, besides that measure which we supposed the capacity of the conduit to encompass, more than 300 quinariae are poured out.

68. Tepulae in commentariis adscriptus est modus quinariarum quadringentarum. Huius aquae fontes nulli sunt; venis quibusdam constabat, quae interceptae sunt in Iulia. Caput ergo eius observandum est a piscina Iuliae.

68. In the commentaries a measure of four hundred quinariae is ascribed to Tepulae. This water has no springs; it consisted of certain veins, which were intercepted at Iulia. Therefore its head must be observed from the piscina of Iulia.

Ex ea enim primum accipit quinarias centum nonaginta, deinde statim ex Marcia quinarias nonaginta duas, praeterea ex Anione Novo ad hortos Epaphroditianos quinarias centum sexaginta tres. Fiunt omnes quinariae quadringentae quadraginta quinque, amplius quam in commentariis quadraginta quinque, quae in erogatione comparent.

From it indeed first it receives quinariae 190, then immediately from the Marcia quinariae 92, moreover from the Anio Novus to the Epaphroditian gardens quinariae 163. All the quinariae amount to 445, forty-five more than in the commentaries, which appear in the erogation.

69. Iuliae in commentariis adscriptus est modus quinariarum sexcentarum quadraginta novem. Ad caput mensura iniri non potuit, quoniam ex pluribus adquisitionibus constat, sed ad sextum ab urbe miliarium universa in piscinam recipitur, ubi modus eius manifestis mensuris efficit quinarias mille ducentas sex, amplius quam in commentariis quinariis quingentis quinquaginta septem. Praeterea accipit prope urbem post hortos Pallantianos ex Claudia quinarias centum sexaginta duas.

69. A measure of 649 quinariae is appended in the commentaries to Julia. At the head the mensura could not be entered, since it consists of several acquisitions, but at the sixth mile from the city the whole is received into the piscina, where by manifest mensurations its measure makes 1,206 quinariae, more than in the commentaries by 557 quinariae. Furthermore it takes in, near the city after the Pallantian gardens, from the Claudia 162 quinariae.

Est omne Iuliae in acceptis quinariae mille trecentae sexaginta octo. Ex eo dat in Tepulam quinarias centum nonaginta, erogat suo nomine octingentas tres. Fiunt quas erogat quinariae nongentae nonaginta tres; amplius quam in commentariis habet quinariis trecentis quadraginta quattuor; minus quam in piscina habere posuimus ducentis decem tribus, quas ipsas apud eos, qui sine beneficiis principis usurpabant, deprehendimus.

There is
the whole of Julia's receipts 1,368 quinariae. From that she gives to Tepula 190 quinariae, she disburses in her own name 803. The quinariae which she disburses amount to 993; more than in the commentaries by 344 quinariae; less than we supposed she had in the piscina by 213, which same we discovered among those who had usurped them without the prince's benefices.

70. Virgini in commentariis adscriptus est modus quinariarum sexcentarum quinquaginta duarum. Huius mensuram ad caput invenire non potui, quoniam ex pluribus adquisitionibus constat et lenior rivum intrat. Prope urbem tamen ad miliarium septimum in agro qui nunc est Ceionii Commodi, ubi velociorem cursum habet, mensuram egi quae efficit quinariarum duo milia quingentas quattuor, amplius quam in commentariis quinariis mille octingentis quinquaginta duabus.

70. To Virginius in the commentaries is ascribed a measure of quinariae 652. I could not find the mensura per head of this, since it consists of several acquisitions and enters a milder stream. Yet near the city at the seventh mile in the field which is now Ceionius Commodus’s, where it has a swifter course, I made a measurement which yields quinariae 2,504, more than in the commentaries by quinariae 1,852.

Approbatio nostra expeditissima est; erogat enim omnes quas mensura deprendimus, id est duo milia quingentas quattuor.

Our approval is most expeditious; for it disburses all which the mensura finds, that is 2,504.

71. Alsietinae conceptionis modus nec in commentariis adscriptus est nec in re praesenti certus inveniri potuit, cum ex lacu Alsietino et deinde circa Careias ex Sabatino quantum aquarii temperaverunt. Alsietina erogat quinarias trecentas nonaginta duas.

71. The mode of Alsietina collection is neither entered in the commentaries nor could it be certainly discovered in the present matter, since from Lake Alsietinus and then about Careiae from the Sabatinus they mixed as much as the aquarii tempered. Alsietina disburses 392 quinariae.

72. Claudia abundantior aliis maxime iniuriae exposita est. In commentariis habet non plus quinariis duobus milibus octingentis quinquaginta quinque, cum ad caput invenerim quinariarum quattuor milia sexcentas septem; amplius quam in commentariis mille septingentis quinquaginta duabus. Adeo autem nostra certior est mensura, ut ad septimum ab urbe miliarium in piscina, ubi indubitatae mensurae sunt, inveniamus quinarias tria milia trecentas decem duas; plus quam in commentariis quadringentis quinquaginta septem, quamvis et ex beneficiis ante piscinam eroget et plurimum subtrahi deprehenderimus ideoque minus inveniatur, quam re vera esse debeat, quinariis mille ducentis nonaginta quinque.

72. Claudia, more abundant than the others, has been especially exposed to loss. In the commentaries she is set down at no more than 2,855 quinariae, when at the head I found 4,607 quinariae; more by 1,752 than in the commentaries. Our measure, however, is so more certain that at the seventh mile from the city in the piscina, where the measures are undoubted, we find 3,312 quinariae; more than in the commentaries by 457, although she also pays out from benefices before the piscina and we discovered that very much is subtracted and therefore less is found than should be in truth, by 1,295 quinariae.

Et circa erogationem autem fraus apparet, quae neque ad commentariorum fidem neque ad eas quas ad caput egimus mensuras, neque ad illas saltem ad piscinam post tot iniurias sunt, convenit. Solae enim quinariae mille septingentae quinquaginta erogantur; minus quam commentariorum ratio dat quinariis mille centum quinque; minus autem quam mensurae ad caput factae demonstraverunt quinariis duobus milibus octingentis quinquaginta septem; minus etiam quam in piscina invenitur quinariis mille quingentis sexaginta duabus. Ideoque cum sincera in urbem proprio rivo perveniret, in urbe miscebatur cum Anione novo, ut confusione facta et conceptio earum et erogatio esset obscurior.

And concerning the disbursement, a fraud appears, which agrees neither with the fidelity of the commentaries nor with those measures we took to the head, nor at least with those at the piscina after so many injuries. For only 1,750 quinariae are disbursed; less than the commentaries’ account gives by 1,105 quinariae; less, however, than the measures made at the head demonstrated by 2,857 quinariae; less also than is found in the piscina by 1,562 quinariae. And therefore, when the sincere water reached the city by its own channel, it was mixed in the city with the new Anio, so that, confusion having been made, both their conception and their disbursement were the more obscure.

Quod si qui forte me adquisitionum mensuris blandiri putant, admonendi sunt adeo Curtium et Caeruleum fontes aquae Claudiae sufficere ad praestandas ductui suo quinarias quas significavi quattuor milia sexcentas septem, ut praeterea mille sexcentae effundantur. Nec eo infitias quin ea quae superfluunt non sint proprie horum fontium; capiuntur enim ex Augusta, quae inventa in Marciae supplementum, dum illa non indiget, adicitur fontibus Claudiae, quamvis ne huius quidem ductus omnem aquam recipiat.

But if those who by chance flatter me with measures of acquisitions think so, they must be admonished that the Curtius and Caeruleus springs suffice so far to furnish to the Claudia conduit the quinariae which I have specified — 4,607 — so that moreover 1,600 are poured out. Nor on that account do they deny that those things which exceed are not properly of these springs; for they are taken from Augusta, which, found as a supplement to the Marcia when that one does not need it, is added to the springs of Claudia, although not even the conduit of this latter receives all the water.

73. Anio Novus in commentariis habere ponebatur quinarias tria milia ducentas sexaginta tres. Mensus ad caput repperi quinarias quattuor milia septingentas triginta octo, amplius quam in conceptis commentariorum est, quinariis mille quadringentis septuaginta quinque. Quarum adquisitionem non avide me amplecti quo alio modo manifestius probem, quam quod in erogatione ipsorum commentariorum maior pars earum continetur?

73. Anio Novus in the commentaries was set down as having quinarias 3,263. Measured per head I found quinarias 4,738, more than is in the totals of the commentaries by quinarias 1,475. Of that acquisition I do not eagerly embrace any other means to prove it more manifestly than by the fact that in the disbursement of those very commentaries the greater part of them is contained?

Erogantur enim quinariarum quattuor milia ducentae, cum alioquin in eisdem commentariis inveniatur conceptio non amplius quam trium milium ducentarum sexaginta trium. Praeterea intercipi non tantum quingentas XXXVIII, quae inter mensuras nostras et erogationem intersunt, sed longe ampliorem modum deprendi. Ex quo apparet etiam exuberare comprehensam a nobis mensuram.

For indeed four thousand two hundred quinariae are disbursed, whereas otherwise in those same commentaries the reckoning is found to be no more than three thousand two hundred sixty-three. Moreover, not only five hundred thirty-eight are intercepted, which lie between our measures and the disbursement, but a much larger amount is detected. From which it also appears that the measure we comprehended is exceeded.

Cuius rei ratio est, quod vis aquae rapacior, ut ex largo et celeri flumine excepta, velocitate ipsa ampliat modum.

The reason of this matter is that the force of the water is more rapacious: when taken from a broad and swift river, it by that very swiftness enlarges the measure.

74. Non dubito aliquos adnotaturos, quod longe maior copia actis mensuris inventa sit, quam erat in commentariis principum. Cuius rei causa est error eorum, qui ab initio parum diligenter uniuscuiusque aquae fecerunt aestimationem. Ac ne metu aestatis aut siccitatum in tantum a veritate eos recessisse credam, obstat quod ipse actis mensuris Iulio mense hanc uniuscuiusque copiam, quae supra scripta est, tota deinceps aestate durantem exploravi.

74. I do not doubt that some will note that a far greater supply was found by the measured takings than was recorded in the registers of the principals. The cause of this thing is the error of those who from the outset made too careless an estimation of each water. And lest I should believe that they so departed from the truth through fear of summer or drought, this is refuted by the fact that I myself, by measured takings in the month of July, examined this quantity of each, which is written above, throughout the whole ensuing summer.

Quaecumque tamen est causa quae praecedit, illud utique detegitur, decem milia quinariarum intercidisse, dum beneficia sua principes secundum modum in commentariis adscriptum temperant.

Whatever, however, the cause that precedes may be, this at least is uncovered: ten thousand quinariae have been lost while the princes regulate their benefits according to the measure inscribed in the commentaries.

75. Sequens diversitas est quod alius modus concipitur ad capita, alius nec exiguo minor in piscinis, minimus deinde distributione continetur. Cuius rei causa est fraus aquariorum, quos aquas ex ductibus publicis in privatorum usus derivare deprehendimus. Sed et plerique possessorum, e quorum agris aqua circumducitur, formas rivorum perforant, unde fit ut ductus publici hominibus privatis vel ad hortorum usus itinera suspendant.

75. The next disparity is that one method is conceived for capita, another — not a little smaller — for piscines, and a smallest then is contained for distribution. The cause of this matter is the fraud of the aquarii, whom we have detected diverting waters from public ducts for private uses. But also many of the possessors, from whose fields the water is led around, perforate the courses of the rivuli, whence it happens that the public ducts suspend their routes to private men or to the uses of gardens.

76. Ac de vitiis eiusmodi nec plura nec melius dici possunt, quam a Caelio Rufo dicta sunt in ea contione, cui titulus est "De Aquis", quae nunc nos omnia simili licentia usurpata utinam non per offensas probaremus; inriguos agros, tabernas, cenacula etiam, corruptelas denique omnes perpetuis salientibus instructas invenimus. Nam quod falsis titulis aliae pro aliis aquae erogabantur, etiam sunt leviora ceteris vitia. Inter ea tamen quae emendationem videbantur exigere, numerandum est, quod fere circa montem Caelium et Aventinum accidit.

76. And of faults of this kind no more nor better can be said than what was said by Caelius Rufus in that assembly entitled "De Aquis," which now, with all things usurped by like licence, would that we might not have to approve by offences; we find irrigated fields, tabernas, even upper rooms, in short all corruptions fitted out with perennial springs. For that waters were delivered under false titles, some for others, these faults are even lighter than the rest. Among those things, however, which seemed to demand correction, must be reckoned what commonly occurs about the Caelian and Aventine hills.

Qui colles, priusquam Claudia perduceretur, utebantur Marcia et Iulia. Sed postquam Nero imperator Claudiam opere arcuato ad Spem exceptam usque ad templum Divi Claudii perduxit, ut inde distribueretur, priores non ampliatae sed omissae sunt; nulla enim castella adiecit, sed isdem usus est, quorum quamvis mutata aqua vetus appellatio mansit.

Those hills, before Claudia was led through, were used by the Marcia and Iulia. But after the emperor Nero conducted the Claudia by an arched work to the accepted Spes as far as the temple of the Divine Claudius, so that it might thence be distributed, the earlier [tracts] were not enlarged but omitted; for he added no fortlets, but made use of the same ones, of which, although the water was changed, the old appellation remained.

77. Satis iam de modo cuiusque et velut nova quadam adquisitione aquarum et fraudibus et vitiis quae circa ea erant dictum est. Superest ut erogationem, quam confertam et, ut sic dicam, in massa invenimus, immo etiam falsis nominibus positam, per nomina aquarum, uti quaeque se habet, et per regiones urbis digeramus. Cuius comprensionem scio non ieiunam tantum sed etiam perplexam videri posse, ponemus tamen quam brevissime, ne quid velut formulae officii desit.

77. Enough now has been said about the manner of each and, as it were, the new kind of acquisition of waters and the frauds and vices that were about them. It remains that we distribute the dispensation, which we find heaped together and, so to speak, in a mass, nay even set under false names, according to the names of the waters, how each stands, and according to the regions of the city. I know that the grasp of this may seem not only meagre but also perplexing; nevertheless we will lay it out as briefly as possible, lest anything be lacking as if a formula of the office.

Eis quibus sufficiet cognovisse summa, licebit transire leviora.

To those for whom knowing the summa will suffice, it will be permitted to pass over the lighter matters.

78. Fit ergo distributio quinariarum quattuordecim milium decem et octo, ita ut quinariae DCCLXXI, quae ex quibusdam aquis in adiutorium aliarum dantur et bis in speciem erogationis cadunt, semel in computationem veniant. Ex his dividuntur extra urbem quinariae quattuor milia sexaginta tres: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae mille septingentae decem et octo, privatis quinariae § § CCCXXXXV. Reliquae intra urbem VIIII milia nongentae quinquaginta quinque distribuebantur in castella ducenta quadraginta septem: ex quibus erogabantur sub nomine Caesaris quinariae mille septingentae septem semis, privatis quinariae tria milia octingentae quadraginta septem, usibus publicis quinariae quattuor milia quadringentae una: ex eo castris ducentinarie quinariae ducentae septuaginta novem, operibus publicis septuaginta quinque quinariae § § CCCI, muneribus triginta novem quinariae CCCLXXXVI, lacibus quingentis nonaginta uni quinariae § trecentae triginta quinque.

78. Thus a distribution is made of 14,018 quinariae, so that the 771 quinariae, which from certain waters are given to the aid of others and twice fall in the guise of disbursement, are counted once in the computation. Of these, outside the city are distributed 4,063 quinariae: of which in the name of the Caesar 1,708 quinariae, private quinariae § § 345. The remainder within the city, 9,955, were distributed into forts 247: of which were disbursed under the name of the Caesar 1,707½ quinariae, private quinariae 3,847, for public uses quinariae 4,401: from that to the camps by the hundreds quinariae 279, to public works 75 quinariae § § 301, to munera 39 quinariae 386, to lakes 591 quinariae § 335.

Sed et haec ipsa dispensatio per nomina aquarum et regiones urbis partienda est.

But even this very dispensatio — this distribution itself — must be apportioned by the names of the aquae and the regiones of the city.

79. Ex quinariis ergo quattuordecim milibus decem et octo, quam summam erogationibus omnium aquarum seposuimus, dantur nomine Appiae extra urbem quinariae tantummodo quinque, quoniam humilior turetia metitoribus. Reliquae quinariae sescentae nonaginta novem intra urbem dividebantur per regiones secundam IIX VIIII XI XII XIII XIV in castella viginti: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae centum quinquaginta una, privatis quinariae centum nonaginta quattuor, usibus publicis quinariae trecentae quinquaginta quattuor: ex eo castris I quinariae quattuor, operibus publicis quattuordecim quinariae centum viginti tres, muneri uni quinariae duae, lacibus nonaginta duobus quinariae ducentae viginti sex.

79. From the quinarii therefore of 14,018, which sum we set aside for the disbursements of all the aquae, in the name of the Appia outside the city are given quinarii only five, since its turetia is lower to the measurers. The remaining quinarii 699 within the city were divided through the regions second 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 into twenty castella: of which under the name of Caesar quinarii 151, to private persons quinarii 194, for public uses quinarii 354: of these to the camps quinarii 4, to public works quinarii 123, to one munus quinarii 2, to the lakes quinarii 226.

80. Anionis Veteris erogabantur extra urbem nomine Caesaris quinariae centum sexaginta novem, privatis quinariae CCCCIIII. Reliquae quinariae mille quingentae octo semis intra urbem dividebantur per regiones primam III IIII V VI VII VIII VIIII XII XIIII in castella triginta quinque: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae sexaginta VI S, privatis quinariae CCCCXC, usibus publicis quinariae quingentae tres: ex eo castris unis quinariae quinquaginta, operibus publicis XIX quinariae centum nonaginta sex, muneribus novem quinariae octoginta octo, lacibus nonaginta quattuor quinariae octoginta decem et octo.

80. Of the Anio Vetus were disbursed, outside the city in the name of Caesar, quinariae 169, to private persons quinariae 404. The remaining quinariae 1,508.5 within the city were divided among regions I, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14 into 35 castella: of which in the name of Caesar quinariae 66, to private persons quinariae 490, for public uses quinariae 503; of these to one camp quinariae 50, to public works 19 quinariae 196, to munera 9 quinariae 88, to lakes 94 quinariae 88.

81. Marciae erogabantur extra urbem nomine Caesaris quinariae CCLXI S. Reliquae quinariae mille quadringenta septuaginta duae intra urbem dividebantur per regiones primam tertiam quartam V VI VII VIII VIIII X XIIII in castella quinquaginta unum: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae CXVI, privatis quinariae quingentae quadraginta tres, usibus publicis quinariae CCCCXXXVIIII: ex eo castris IIII quinariae XLIIS, operibus publicis quindecim quinariae XLI, muneribus XII quinariae CIIII, lacibus CXIII quinariae CCLVI.

81. To Marcia, outside the city in the name of the Caesar were disbursed quinariae 261 S. The remaining quinariae 1,472 within the city were divided through regions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14 into castella 51: of which in the name of the Caesar quinariae 116, to private persons quinariae 543, for public uses quinariae 439: of these to the camps 4 quinariae 42S, to public works 15 quinariae 41, to munera 12 quinariae 104, to lakes 113 quinariae 256.

82. Tepulae erogabantur extra urbem nomine Caesaris quinariae LVIII, privatis quinariae quinquaginta sex. Reliquae quinariae CCCXXXI intra urbem dividebantur per regiones quartam V VI VII in castella XIIII: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae XXXIIII, privatis quinariae CCXXXVII, usibus publicis quinariae quinquaginta: ex eo castris I quinariae duodecim, operibus publicis III quinariae septem, lacibbus XIII quinariae XXXII.

82. Tepulae were disbursed outside the city in the name of the Caesar quinariae 58, to private persons quinariae 56. The remaining quinariae 331 were divided inside the city through the fourth, 5, 6, 7 regions into 14 castella: of which in the name of the Caesar quinariae 34, to private persons quinariae 237, for public uses quinariae 50; of these for one camp quinariae 12, for public works 3 quinariae 7, for lakes 13 quinariae 32.

83. Iuliae fluebant extra urbem nomine Caesaris quinariae LXXX quinque, privatis quinariae CXXI. Reliquae quinariae quingentae quadraginta octo intra urbem dividebantur per regiones secundam III V VI VIII X XII in castella decem et septem: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae decem et octo, privatis quinariae, CXCVI, usibus publicis quinariae CCCLXXXIII: ex eo castris octo usibus publicis quinariae sexaginta novem, operibus publicis quinariae CXXCI, muneribus III quinariae sexaginta septem, lacibus viginti octo quinariae sexaginta quinque.

83. The Iuliae flowed outside the city in the name of the Caesar, quinariae 85, to private persons quinariae 121. The remaining quinariae 548 were divided within the city through the regions second 3 5 6 8 10 12 into the castella 17: of which in the name of the Caesar quinariae 18, to private persons quinariae 196, for public uses quinariae 383: of these to the camps 8, for public uses quinariae 69, for public works quinariae 221, for munera 3 quinariae 67, for lakes 28 quinariae 65.

84. Virginis nomine exibant extra urbem quinariae ducentae. Reliquae quinariae duo milia trecentae quattuor intra urbem dividebantur per regiones septimam nonam quartamdecimam in castella decem et octo: ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae quingentae novem, privatis quinariae CCCXXXVIII, usibus publicis § centum sexaginta septem: ex eo muneribus II quinariae XXVI, lacibus viginti quinque quinariae quinquaginta una, operibus publicis sedecim quinariae § CCCLXXX, in quibus per se Euripo, cui ipsa nomen dedit, quinariae CCCCLX.

84. Under the name of the Virgin there were issued outside the city 200 quinariae. The remaining 2,304 quinariae within the city were divided through the seventh, ninth, and fourteenth regions into 18 castella: of which in the name of the Caesar 509 quinariae, to private persons 338 quinariae, to public uses § 167: from that to munera 2 quinariae 26, to baths 25 quinariae 51, to public works 16 quinariae § 380, in which for the Euripus itself, to which she gave the name, 460 quinariae.

85. Alsietinae quinariae trecentae nonaginta duae. Haec tota extra urbem consumitur, nomine Caesaris quinariae ducentae quinquaginta quattuor, privatis quinariae centum triginta octo.

85. Alsietinae quinariae 392. These are all consumed outside the city; in the name of Caesar quinariae 254, to private persons quinariae 138.

86. Claudia et Anio Novus extra urbem proprio quaeque rivo erogabantur, intra urbem confundebantur. Et Claudia quidem extra urbem dabat nomine Caesaris quinarias CC XI VI, privatis quinarias CCCCXXX novem; Anio Novus nomine Caesaris quinarias septingentas viginti octo. Reliquae utriusque quinariae tria milia quadringentae nonaginta octo intra urbem dividebantur per regiones urbis XIIII in castella nonaginta duo; ex quibus nomine Caesaris quinariae octingentae XV V, privatis quinariae § sexaginta septem, usibus publicis quinariae § XIV: ex eo castris novem quinariae centum quadraginta novem, operibus publicis decem et octo quinariae CCCLXXIIII, muneribus XII quinariae centum septem, lacibus CC viginti sex quinariae CCCCXXCII.

86. Claudia and the Anio Novus were discharged outside the city each by its own channel, but within the city they were mingled. And Claudia indeed outside the city gave, in the name of the Caesar, quinariae 217, to private persons quinariae 439; Anio Novus in the name of the Caesar quinariae 728. The remaining quinariae of both, 3,498, were distributed within the city through the regions of the city 14 into castella 92; of which, in the name of the Caesar quinariae 820, to private persons quinariae § 67, for public uses quinariae § 14: from these to the camps 9 quinariae 149, to public works 18 quinariae 374, to games 12 quinariae 107, to lakes 226 quinariae 522.

87. Haec copia aquarum ad Nervam imperatorem usque computata ad hunc modum discribebatur. Nunc providentia diligentissimi principis quicquid aut fraudibus aquariorum intercipiebatur aut inertia pervertebatur, quasi nova inventione fontium accrevit. Ac prope duplicata ubertas est et tam sedula deinde partitione distributa, ut regionibus quibus singulae serviebant aquae plures darentur, tamquam Caelio et Aventino in quos sola Claudia per arcus Neronianos ducebatur, quo fiebat ut quotiens refectio aliqua intervenisset, celeberrimi colles sitirent.

87. This abundance of waters, reckoned down to the emperor Nerva, was set forth in this manner. Now by the providence of the most diligent prince whatever either was intercepted by the frauds of the watermen or was perverted by inertia increased as if by a new discovery of springs. And the plenty was almost doubled and thereafter so sedulously distributed by partition that regions which single supplies had served were allotted more, as with the Caelian and Aventine, into which the Claudia alone was led by the Neronian arches, so that it happened that whenever any repair intervened the most celebrated hills were left thirsty.

Quibus nunc plures aquae et in primis Marcia reddita amplo opere a Spe in Aventinum usque perducitur. Atque etiam omni parte urbis lacus tam novi quam veteres plerique binos salientes diversarum aquarum acceperunt, ut si casus alterutram impedisset, altera sufficiente non destitueretur usus.

To these now more waters, and chiefly the Marcia restored, is conveyed by great work from Spe even to the Aventine. And likewise in every part of the city the basins, both new and old, for the most part received twin outlets springing of different waters, so that if chance should obstruct either one, use would not be left without the other being sufficient.

88. Sentit hanc curam imperatoris piissimi Nervae principis sui regina et domina orbis in dies et magis sentiet salubritas eiusdem aucto castellorum, operum, munerum et lacuum numero. Nec minus ad privatos commodum ex incremento beneficiorum eius diffunditur; illi quoque qui timidi inlicitam aquam ducebant, securi nunc ex beneficiis fruuntur. Ne pereuntes quidem aquae otiosae sunt: alia munditiarum facies, purior spiritus, et causae gravioris caeli quibus apud veteres urbis infamis aer fuit, sunt remotae.

88. The queen and mistress of the world feels this care of her most pious emperor, her prince Nerva, day by day, and will feel the salubrity of the same more and more with the number of castles, works, gifts, and lakes increased. No less is advantage diffused to private persons from the increase of his benefactions; those also who, fearful, used to draw illicit water now securely enjoy the benefits. Not even waters that perish lie idle: another aspect of cleanliness, a purer breath, and the causes of a more grievous climate by which among the ancients the city’s air was infamous, have been removed.

Non praeterit me, deberi operi novae erogationis ordinationem; sed haec cum incremento adiunxerimus; intellegi oportet, non esse ea ponenda nisi consummata fuerint.

It does not escape me that an ordination for a new disbursement is owed to the work; but we have added these with the increment; it ought to be understood that those things are not to be put down unless they have been consummated.

89. Quid quod nec hoc diligentiae principis, quam exactissimum civibus suis praestat, sufficit, parum praesidii usibus ac voluptatibus nostris contulisse sese credentis, quod tantam copiam adiecit, nisi eam ipsam sinceriorem iucundioremque faciat? Operae pretium est ire per singula, per quae ille occurrendo vitiis quarundam universis adiecit utilitatem. Etenim quando civitas nostra, cum vel exigui imbres supervenerant, non turbulentas limosasque aquas habuit?

89. What shall I say, that not even this diligence of the prince, which he bestows most exactingly upon his citizens, suffices—one thinking that he has conferred too little protection for our uses and pleasures, since he has added so great an abundance—unless he make that very abundance more pure and more pleasant? It is worth the trouble to go through the particulars, by which he, encountering certain vices universal in scope, has added utility. For when has our city not had turbulent, silty waters, even when only slight rains had fallen?

Nec quia haec universis ab origine natura est, aut quia istud incommodum sentire debeant quae capiuntur ex fontibus, in primis Marcia et Claudia ac reliquae, quarum splendor a capite integer nihil aut minimum pluvia inquinatur, si putea exstructa et obtecta sint.

Not because all these things are from nature from the very origin, nor because those conduits taken from springs — especially the Marcia and the Claudia and the others, whose splendour, whole from the head/source, is not at all or only minimally sullied by rain — should feel that inconvenience, if the wells are built up and covered.

90. Duae Anienses minus permanent limpidae, nam sumuntur ex flumine ac saepe etiam sereno turbantur, quoniam Anio quamvis purissimo defluens lacu mollibus tamen cedentibus ripis aufert aliquid quo turbetur, priusquam deveniat in rivos. Quod incommodum non solum hibernis ac vernis, sed etiam aestivis imbribus sentit, quo tempore gratior aquarum sinceritas exigitur.

90. Two Anian waters remain less limpid, for they are taken from the river and are often even, when serene, disturbed, since the Anio, although flowing from a most pure lake, nevertheless from its soft yielding banks carries away something by which it is troubled before it arrives into the rills. This inconvenience is felt not only by wintry and vernal rains but also by summer showers, at which time a truer sincerity of the waters is more desired.

91. Et alter quidem ex his, id est Anio Vetus, cum plerisque libra sit inferior, incommodum intra se tenet. Novus autem Anio vitiabat ceteras, nam cum editissimus veniat et in primis abundans, defectioni aliarum succurrit. Imperitia vero aquariorum deducentium in alienos eum specus frequentius, quam explemento opus erat, etiam sufficientes aquas inquinabat, maxime Claudiam, quae per multa milia passuum proprio ducta rivo, Romae demum cum Anione permixta in hoc tempus perdebat proprietatem.

91. And the other of these, that is Anio Vetus, since for the most part it lies somewhat lower, holds an inconvenience within itself. But the New Anio corrupted the others, for when it comes most elevated and above all abundant, it comes to the aid of the deficiency of the others. The inexperience of the aquarii who led it into alien conduits more frequently than was needful for supplementation even polluted waters that were sufficient, most of all the Claudia, which, led by its own little channel for many miles, at Rome finally, when mixed with the Anio at this time, lost its proprietary character.

Adeoque obvenientibus non succurrebatur, ut pleraeque accerserentur per imprudentiam non uti dignum erat aquas partientium. Marciam ipsam splendore et frigore gratissimam balneis ac fullonibus et relatu quoque foedis ministeriis deprehendimus servientem.

And so she did not give succor to those arriving, so that most were brought, through imprudence, not to use the waters of the springs as was fitting. We discovered Marcia herself serving, most pleasing in splendor and coolness to bathers and fullers, and by report also detected ministering in foul ministrations.

92. Omnes ergo discerni placuit, tum singulas ita ordinari ut in primis Marcia potui tota serviret et deinceps reliquae secundum suam quaeque qualitatem aptis usibus assignarentur sic ut anio Vetus pluribus ex causis (quo inferior excipitur minus salubris) in hortorum rigationem atque in ipsius urbis sordidiora exiret ministeria.

92. It was therefore agreed that all be distinguished, and then that each be ordered so that Marcia might in the first place serve wholly, and thereafter the rest be assigned to fit uses according to their several qualities, so that the Anio Vetus, for many reasons (the lower one being regarded as less salubrious), be diverted to the irrigation of gardens and to the more sordid services of the city.

93. Nec satis fuit principi nostro ceterarum restituisse copiam et gratiam; Anionis quoque Novi vitia excludi posse vidit. Omisso enim flumine repeti ex lacu qui est super villam Neronianam Sublacensem, ubi limpidissimus est, iussit. Nam cum oriatur Anio supra Trebam Augustam, seu quia per saxosos montes decurrit, paucis circa ipsum oppidum obiacentibus cultis, seu quia lacuum altitudine in quos excipitur velut defaecatur, imminentium quoque nemorum opacitate inumbratus, frigidissimus simul ac splendidissimus eo pervenit.

93. It was not enough for our prince to have restored the abundance and favour of the others; he saw that the faults of the Anio Novus could likewise be excluded. For, the main river being set aside, he ordered it to be drawn from the lake that lies above the Neronian villa of Sublacum, where it is most limpid. For when the Anio rises above Treba Augusta, whether because it runs down through rocky mountains, with few cultivated lands lying about that town, or because by the altitude of the lakes into which it is received it is as it were purified, and furthermore shaded by the darkness of overhanging groves, it reaches there most cold and at the same time most clear.

Haec tam felix proprietas aquae omnibus dotibus aequatura Marciam, copia vero superatura, veniet in locum deformis illius ac turbidae, novum auctorem imperatorem Caesarem Nervam Traianum Augustum praescribente titulo.

This so fortunate property of the water, equalling the Marcia in all its gifts and indeed surpassing it in abundance, will come into the place of that deformed and turbid one, with the new founder and emperor, Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus, prescribing the title.

94. Sequitur ut indicemus quod ius ducendae tuendaeque sit aquae, quorum alterum ad cohibendos intra modum impetrati beneficii privatos, alterum ad ipsorum ductuum pertinet tutelam. In quibus dum altius repeto leges de singulis aquis latas, quaedam apud veteres aliter observata inveni. Apud quos omnis aqua in usus publicos erogabatur et cautum ita fuit: "Ne quis privatus aliam aquam ducat, quam quae ex lacu humum accidit" ( haec enim sunt verba legis ) id est quae ex lacu abundavit; eam nos caducam vocamus.

94. It follows that we must indicate what right there is of conducting and of guarding waters, one of which pertains to restraining private uses within the measure of the conferred benefit, the other to the protection of the very conduits. In these matters, while I go back more deeply over the laws laid down about particular waters, I found some things among the ancients observed otherwise. With them every water was distributed for public uses and it was decreed thus: "Ne quis privatus aliam aquam ducat, quam quae ex lacu humum accidit" (for these are the words of the law) — that is, which has overflowed from the lake; that we call caduca.

Et haec ipsa non in alium usum quam in balnearum aut fullonicarum dabatur, eratque vectigalis, statuta mercede quae in publicum penderetur. Aliquid et in domos principum civitatis dabatur, concedentibus reliquis.

And these very waters were assigned to no other use than for baths or fulleries, and were subject to a tax, by a fixed fee which was to be paid into the public treasury. A portion was also granted to the houses of the city's leading men, the rest consenting.

95. Ad quem autem magistratum ius dandae vendendaeve aquae pertinuerit, in eis ipsis legibus variatur. Interdum enim ab aedilibus, interdum a censoribus permissum invenio; sed apparet, quotiens in re publica censores erant, ab illis potissimum petitum, cum ei non erant, aedilium eam potestatem fuisse. Ex quo manifestum est quanto potior cura maioribus communium utilitatium quam privatarum voluptatium fuerit, cum etiam ea aqua quam privati ducebant ad usum publicum pertineret.

95. As to which magistracy the right to grant or to vend water belonged, it varies in those very laws. For sometimes I find it permitted by the aediles, sometimes by the censors; but it is plain that, whenever there were censors in the res publica, the right was sought from them above all, and when they were not present it lay with the aediles. From this it is manifest how much more potent the care of the ancients was for communal utilities than for private pleasures, since even that water which private persons conducted pertained to public use.

96. Tutelam autem singularum aquarum locari solitam invenio positamque redemptoribus necessitatem certum numerum circa ductus extra urbem, certum in urbe servorum opificum habendi, et quidem ita ut nomina quoque eorum, quos habituri essent in ministerio per quasque regiones, in tabulas publicas deferrent; eorumque operum probandorum curam fuisse penes censores aliquando et aediles, interdum etiam quaestoribus eam provinciam obvenisse, ut apparet ex S. C. quod factum est C. Licinio et Q. Fabio cos.

96. I find that the guardianship of individual waters was wont to be appointed, and that a necessity was assigned to the contractors: a certain number to be placed about the conduits outside the city, a certain number of servant‑artificers to be kept in the city, and indeed so that the names also of those who were to be employed in the service in each region were entered on the public registers; and that the care of approving their works lay sometimes with the censors and aediles, and at other times that office befell the quaestors, as appears from the Senatus Consultum which was made in the consulship of G. Licinius and Q. Fabius.

97. Quanto opere autem curae fuerit ne quis violare ductus aquamve non concessam derivare auderet, cum ex multis apparere potest, tum et ex hoc quod Circus Maximus ne diebus quidem ludorum circensium nisi aedilium aut censorum permissu inrigabatur, quod durasse etiam postquam res ad curatores transiit sub Augusto, apud Ateium Capitonem legimus. Agri vero, qui aqua publica contra legem essent inrigati, publicabantur. Mancipi etiam si clam eo quem adversus legem fecisset, multa dicebatur.

97. How great a matter of care it was that no one should dare to violate the conduits or to divert water not granted, as can be seen from many things, and also from this: that the Circus Maximus was not watered even on the days of the circensian games except by permission of the aediles or censors—an arrangement which, we read from Ateius Capito, continued even after the responsibility passed to the curators under Augustus. Fields, however, that were irrigated with public water contrary to the law were declared public. It was likewise said that many penalties were imposed on mancipi if they had secretly done this against another in violation of the law.

In eisdem legibus adiectum est ita: "Ne quis aquam oletato dolo malo, ubi publice saliet. Si quis oletarit, sestertiorum decem milium multa esto." Cuius rei causa aediles curules iubebantur per vicos singulos ex eis qui in unoquoque vico habitarent praediave haberent binos praeficere, quorum arbitratu aqua in publico saliret.

In those same laws it was added thus: "Let no one, by a malodorous deceit, make the water spring where it will issue publicly. If anyone shall cause a stink, let there be a fine of ten thousand sestertii." For this reason the curule aediles were ordered to appoint, for each street, two men from among those who dwelt or held property in that very street, by whose arbitrament the water should spring in public.

98. Primus M. Agrippa post aedilitatem, quam gessit consularis, operum suorum et munerum velut perpetuus curator fuit. Qui iam copia permittente discripsit, quid aquarum publicis operibus, quid lacibus, quid privatis daretur. Habuit et familiam propriam aquarum, quae tueretur ductus atque castella et lacus.

98. The first was M. Agrippa, who after his aedileship, which he discharged as consul, served as the perpetual curator of his works and gifts. He, resources now permitting, allotted what of the waters should be given to public works, what to lakes, what to private persons. He also had a private familia of the waters, which guarded the ductus and the castella and the lakes.

Hanc Augustus hereditate ab eo sibi relictam publicavit.

Augustus made this public, it having been left to him by inheritance by that man.

99. Post eum Q. Aelio Tuberone Paulo Fabio Maximo cos. cum res usque in id tempus quasi potestate acta certo iure eguisset, senatus consulta facta sunt ac lex promulgata. Augustus quoque edicto complexus est, quo iure uterentur qui ex commentariis Agrippae aquas haberent, tota re in sua beneficia translata.

99. After him, in the consulship of Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, when the matter up to that time had been conducted, as it were, under a quasi‑authority and by settled right, senatorial decrees were made and a law was promulgated. Augustus likewise adopted it by edict, whereby those who held waters from Agrippa’s commentaries should use them by right, the whole affair being transferred into his benefices.

Modulos etiam, de quibus dictum est, constituit et rei continendae exercendaeque curatorem fecit Messalam Corvinum, cui adiutores dati Postumius Sulpicius praetorius et Lucius Cominius pedarius. Insignia eis quasi magistratibus concessa, deque eorum officio senatus consultum factum, quod infra scriptum est.

He also established the modules, of which mention was made, and made Messala Corvinus curator for containing and exercising the matter, to whom assistants were given: Postumius Sulpicius, praetorian, and Lucius Cominius, pedarius. Insignia were granted to them as to magistrates, and concerning their office a senatorial decree was made, which is written below.

100. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. de eis qui curatores aquarum publicarum ex consensu senatus a Caesare Augusto nominati essent ornandis, D. E. R. Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. placere huic ordini, eos qui aquis publicis praeessent, cum eius rei causa extra urbem essent, lictores binos et servos publicos ternos, architectos singulos et scribas, librarios, accensos praeconesque totidem habere, quot habent ei per quos frumentum plebei datur.

100. That, which, when Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus were consuls, concerning those who, by the consent of the senate, had been appointed by Caesar Augustus as curators of the public waters for their ornament, D. E. R. Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C., pleases this order: that those who preside over the public waters, since for the purpose of that matter they are outside the city, shall have two lictors and three public slaves, one architect apiece and scribes, librarians, and as many attendant heralds as they have by whom the grain for the plebs is distributed.

Cum autem in urbe eiusdem rei causa aliquid agerent, ceteris apparitoribus eisdem praeterquam lictoribus uti. Utique quibus apparitoribus ex hoc senatus consulto curatoribus aquarum uti liceret, eos diebus decem proximis, quibus senatus consultum factum esset, ad aerarium deferrent; quique ita delati essent, eis praetores aerarii mercedem cibaria, quanta praefecti frumento dando dare deferreque solent, annua darent et adtribuerent; eisque eas pecunias sine fraude sua capere liceret. Utique tabulas, chartas ceteraque quae eius curationis causa opus essent eis curatoribus Q. Aelius Paulus Fabius cos.

But when, in the city, they were to act for that same matter, they were to use the same other apparitors except lictors. Certainly those apparitors whom, by this senatus consultum, the curators of the waters might employ, they should, within the ten days next following in which the senatus consultum had been made, be carried to the aerarium (treasury); and those who had been thus delivered, the praetors of the aerarium would give and assign to them annually a wage in food, as much as the prefects are accustomed to give and deliver by giving grain; and it would be permitted for them to take those monies without fraud. Moreover the tablets, papers, and other things which were needed for the sake of that administration were to be given to those curators — Q. Aelius, Paulus, Fabius, consuls.

ambo alterve, si eis videbitur, adhibitis praetoribus qui aerario praesint, praebenda locent.

ambo alterve, if it shall seem good to them, with praetors brought in who preside over the aerarium, shall arrange to let the things to be supplied.

101. "Itemque cum viarum curatores frumentique parte quarta anni publico fungantur ministerio, ut curatores aquarum iudiciis vacent privatis publicisque." Apparitores et ministeria, quamvis perseveret adhuc aerarium in eos erogare, tamen esse curatorum videntur desisse inertia ac segnitia non agentium officium. Egressis autem urbem dumtaxat agendae rei causa senatus praesto esse lictores iusserat.

101. "And likewise, since the curators of the roads and the fourth part of the year's grain perform a public ministry, that the curators of the waters be exempt from private and public trials." The apparitors and ministrations, although the aerarium (treasury) still continues to disburse to them, nevertheless seem to have ceased from the curators through the inertia and sluggishness of those not doing their duty. And when they had gone forth from the city, the lictors were ordered to be present with the senate only for the purpose of conducting business.

Nobis circumeuntibus rivos fides nostra et auctoritas a principe data pro lictoribus erit.

While we go about the streams, our good faith and the authority given by the prince will serve in place of lictors.

102. Cum perduxerimus rem ad initium curatorum, non est alienum subiungere qui post Messalam huic officio ad nos usque praefuerint. Messalae successit Planco et Silio cos.

102. When we have brought the matter to the beginning of the curators, it is not alien to add those who after Messala have presided over this office up to our time. To Messala succeeded Planco and Silio, consuls.

Ateius Capito. Capitoni C. Asinio Pollione C. Antistio Vetere cos. Tarius Rufus.

Ateius Capito. To Capitonius, Gaius Asinius Pollio, Gaius Antistius Vetus, consuls. Tarius Rufus.

Tario Servio Cornelio Cethego L. Visellio Varrone consulibus M. Cocceius Nerva, divi Nervae avus, scientia etiam iuris inlustris. Huic successit Fabio Persico L. Vitellio cos. C. Octavius Laenas.

In the consulship of Tarius, Servius Cornelius Cethegus, and Lucius Visellius Varro, M. Cocceius Nerva, grandfather of the divine Nerva, illustrious also in the knowledge of law. To him succeeded as consuls Fabius Persicus and Lucius Vitellius. Gaius Octavius Laenas.

Laenati Aquila Iuliano et Nonio Asprenate consulibus M. Porcius Cato. Huic successit post mensem Ser. Asinio Celere A. Nonio Quintiliano consulibus A. Didius Gallus.

Laenatus Aquila. In the consulship of Iulianus and Nonus Asprenatus, M. Porcius Cato. To him succeeded, after a month, in the consulship of Ser. Asinius Celer and A. Nonius Quintilianus, A. Didius Gallus.

Gallo Q. Veranio et Pompeio Longo cos. Cn. Domitius Afer. Afro Nerone Claudio Caesare IIII et Cosso Cossi f. consulibus L. Piso.

Gallo
In the consulship of Q. Veranius and Pompeius Longus. Cn. Domitius Afer. In the consulship of Afro, Nero Claudius Caesar IV, and Cossus, son of Cossus: L. Piso.

Pisoni Verginio Rufo et Memmio Regulo consulibus Petronius Turpilianus. Turpiliano Crasso Frugi et Laecanio Basso consulibus P. Marius. Mario Luccio Telesino et Suetonio Paulino cos.

In the consulship of Pisonius Verginius Rufus and Memmius Regulus, Petronius Turpilianus.
In the consulships of Turpilianus, Crassus Frugi and Laecanius Bassus, P. Marius.
In the consulships of Marius Lucius Telesinus and Suetonius Paulinus.

Fonteius Agrippa. Agrippae Silio et Galerio Trachalo cos. Albius Crispus.

Fonteius Agrippa. In the consulship of Agrippa Silius and Galerius Trachalus. Albius Crispus.

Crispo Vespasiano III et Cocceio Nerva cos. Pompeius Silvanus. Silvano Domitiano II Valerio Messalino consulibus Tampius Flavianus.

Crispus Vespasianus 3 and Cocceius Nerva, consuls. Pompeius Silvanus. Tampius Flavianus, in the consulship of Silvanus, Domitian 2, and Valerius Messalinus.

Flaviano Vespasiano V Tito III consulibus Acilius Aviola. Post quem imperatore Nerva III et Verginio Rufo III consulibus ad nos cura translata est.

Acilius Aviola, in the consulships of Flavianus Vespasian 5 and Titus 3. After him, with Nerva 3 as emperor and in the consulships of Verginius Rufus 3, the cura was transferred to us.

103. Nunc quae observare curator aquarum debeat et legem senatusque consulta ad instruendum actum pertinentia subiungam. Circa ius ducendae aquae in privatis observanda sunt, ne quis sine litteris Caesaris, id est ne quis aquam publicam non impetratam, et ne quis amplius quam impetravit ducat.

103. Now I will append what the curator of the aqueducts ought to observe and the laws and senatorial decrees pertaining to the instruction of the act. Concerning the right of leading water on private grounds the following must be observed: that no one without the letters of the Caesar—that is, that no one shall lead public water not obtained—and that no one shall lead more than he has obtained.

Ita enim efficiemus ut modus, quem adquiri diximus, possit ad novos salientes et ad nova beneficia principis pertinere. In utroque autem magna cura multiplici opponenda fraudi est: sollicite subinde ductus extra urbem circumeundi ad recognoscenda beneficia; idem in castellis et salientibus publicis faciendum, ut sine intermissione diebus noctibusque aqua fluat. Quod senatus quoque consulto facere curator iubetur, cuius haec verba sunt:

Thus we shall effect that the modus, which we said ought to be acquired, may pertain to new salients and to new benefits of the prince; in both cases, however, great care must be opposed to manifold fraud: diligently and frequently being led outside the city to go round and inspect the benefits; the same is to be done in castles and in public salients, so that water may flow without intermission by days and nights. Which the curator is also ordered to do by a senatus consultum, whose words are these:

104. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. de numero publicorum salientium qui in urbe essent intraque aedificia urbi coniuncta, quos M. Agrippa fecisset, Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. neque augeri placere nec minui numerum publicorum salientium, quos nunc esse rettulerunt ei, quibus negotium a senatu est imperatum ut inspicerent aquas publicas inirentque numerum salientium publicorum.

104. "That which Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, consuls, concerning the number of public salients which were in the city and joined within the buildings of the city, which M. Agrippa had made, Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C., that it is not pleasing that the number of public salients be either increased or diminished from those which they have now reported to those to whom the senate has commanded the business of inspecting the public waters and of entering the number of public salients.

Itemque placere curatores aquarum, quos Caesar Augustus ex senatus auctoritate nominavit, dare operam uti salientes publici quam adsiduissime interdiu et noctu aquam in usum populi funderent." In hoc senatus consulto crediderim adnotandum quod senatus tam augeri quam minui salientium publicorum numerum vetuerit. Id factum existimo, quia modus aquarum quae eis temporibus in urbem veniebant, antequam Claudia et Anio Novus perducerentur, maiorem erogationem capere non videbatur.

And it pleased likewise the curators of the waters, whom Caesar Augustus named by senatorial authority, to take pains that the public salientes should pour water for the people’s use as continuously as possible, by day and by night. In this senatus consultum I should think it worthy to note that the senate forbade both the increasing and the diminishing of the number of public salientes. I judge this to have been done because the measure of the waters which in those times came into the city, before the Claudia and the Anio Novus were led in, did not seem able to bear a greater discharge.

105. Qui aquam in usus privatos deducere volet, impetrare eam debebit et a principe epistulam ad curatorem adferre; curator deinde beneficio Caesaris praestare maturitatem et procuratorem eiusdem officii libertum Caesaris protinus scribere. Procuratorem autem primus Ti. Claudius videtur admovisse, postquam Anionem Novum et Claudiam induxit.

105. Whoever wishes to conduct water to private uses must procure it and bring from the prince a letter to the curator; the curator then, by the favour of the Caesar, must furnish the necessary surety and forthwith register the procurator of that office as a freedman of the Caesar. Ti. Claudius, however, seems to have been the first to appoint a procurator, after he brought in the Anio Novus and the Claudia.

Quid contineat epistula, vilicis quoque fieri notum debet, ne quando neglegentiam aut fraudem suam ignorantiae colore defendant. Procurator calicem eius moduli, qui fuerit impetratus, adhibitis libratoribus signari cogitet, diligenter intendat mensurarum quas supra diximus modum et positionis notitiam habeat, ne sit in arbitrio libratorum, interdum maioris luminis, interdum minoris pro gratia personarum calicem probare. Sed nec statim ab hoc liberum subiciendi qualemcumque plumbeam fistulam permittatur arbitrium, verum eiusdem luminis quo calix signatus est per pedes quinquaginta, sicut senatus consulto quod subiectum est cavetur.

What the letter contains must also be made known to the vilicus (steward), lest at any time they cloak their negligence or fraud with the color of ignorance. The procurator should consider having its calix (measuring cup) of the modulus that was obtained marked in the presence of the libratores (weighers); he should diligently attend to the standards of measure which we mentioned above and have a knowledge of the method and the placement, so that it may not be at the arbitrio of the libratores—now approving a cup of greater lumen, now of lesser, out of favor for persons. Nor, however, should any leaden fistula (pipe) be at once left subject to such discretion, but a pipe of the same lumen as the cup is to be measured off by fifty feet, as is guarded in the senatus consultum that follows.

106. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. quosdam privatos ex rivis publicis aquam ducere, Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. ne cui privato aquam ducere ex rivis publicis liceret, utique omnes ei quibus aquae ducendae ius esset datum ex castellis ducerent, animadverterentque curatores aquarum, quibus locis intra urbem apte castella privati facere possent, ex quibus aquam ducerent quam ex castello communi accepissent a curatoribus aquarum.

106. "Which, when Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus were consuls, 5, forbids certain private persons to draw water from public rivulets; Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. — that no private person should be permitted to draw water from public rivis — but rather that all those to whom the right of drawing water had been granted should draw from castella, and that the curators of the waters should observe in which places within the city privates could suitably make castella, from which they would draw the water which they had received from the common castellum from the curators of the waters.

Neve cui eorum quibus aqua daretur publica ius esset, intra quinquaginta pedes eius castelli, ex quo aquam ducerent, laxiorem fistulam subicere quam quinariam." In hoc S. C. dignum adnotatione est, quod aquam non nisi ex castello duci permittit, ne aut rivi aut fistulae publicae frequenter lacerentur.

"Nor shall any of those to whom public right to water is given, within fifty feet of that castellum from which they draw water, subjoin a looser pipe than a quinaria." In this S. C. it is worthy of note that it permits water to be drawn only from the castellum, lest either the public rivi or the public fistulae be frequently torn.

107. Ius impetratae aquae neque heredem neque emptorem neque ullum novum dominum praediorum sequitur. Balneis quae publice lavarent privilegium antiquitus concedebatur, ut semel data aqua perpetuo maneret.

107. The right to water obtained follows neither heir nor purchaser nor any new owner of the estates. To baths which washed the public a privilege was anciently granted, that once water had been given it should remain perpetually.

Si ex veteribus senatus consultis cognoscimus, ex quibus unum subieci; nunc omnis aquae cum possessore instauratur beneficium.

If we learn from the ancient senatus consulta, one of which I have set forth; now the whole privilege of the water is restored along with the possessor.

108. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. constitui oportere, quo iure extra intraque urbem ducerent aquas, quibus adtributae essent, Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. uti usque eo maneret adtributio aquarum, exceptis quae in usum balinearum essent datae aut Augusti nomine, quoad eidem domini possiderent id solum, in quod accepissent aquam."

108. "Which Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, consuls 5 F., judged ought to be established: by what right they should lead waters without and within the city, to which they had been assigned; Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. that the attribution of the waters should remain up to that point, excepting those which had been given for the use of bathhouses or in the name of Augustus, so long as the same owners possessed only that to which they had received the water."

109. Cum vacare aliquae coeperunt aquae, adnuntiatur et in commentarios redigitur, qui respiciuntur ut petitoribus ex vacuis dari possint. Has aquas statim intercipere solebant, ut medio tempore venderent aut possessoribus praediorum aut aliis etiam.

109. When some waters began to be vacant, it was announced and entered in the commentaries, which are consulted so that they may be given from the vacants to petitioners. These waters they were accustomed to intercept at once, so that in the meantime they might sell them either to the possessors of the estates or to others as well.

Humanius visum est principi nostro, ne praedia subito destituerentur, triginta dierum spatium indulgeri, intra quod ei ad quos res pertineret *** De aqua in praedia sociorum data nihil constitutum invenio. Perinde tamen observatur ac iure cautum, ut dum quis ex eis qui communiter impetraverunt superesset, totus modus praediis adsignatus flueret et tunc demum renovaretur beneficium, cum desisset quisque ex eis quibus datum erat possidere. Impetratam aquam alio, quam in ea praedia in quae data erit, aut ex alio castello, quam ex quo epistula principiis continebit, duci palamst non oportere; sed et mandatis prohibetur.

It seemed to our prince Humanius, lest the praedia be suddenly abandoned, that a period of thirty days be granted, within which those to whom the matters pertained *** De aqua in praedia sociorum data nihil constitutum invenio. Nevertheless it is observed and legally provided that so long as any one of those who had jointly obtained remained, the whole allotment assigned to the estates would continue to run, and only then would the benefice be renewed, when each of those to whom it had been given had ceased to possess. Water obtained ought not openly to be led elsewhere than into the very praedia to which it has been granted, nor from any other castellum than that which the prince’s letter will state; and it is also prohibited by mandates.

110. Impetrantur autem et eae aquae quae caducae vocantur, id est quae aut ex castellis aut ex manationibus fistularum, quod beneficium a principibus parcissime tribui solitum. Sed fraudibus aquariorum obnoxium est, quibus prohibendis quanta cura debeatur, ex capite mandatorum manifestum erit quod subieci.

110. Moreover those waters called caducae are procured, that is, which either flow from castles or from the outlets of pipes—a benefice which the princes have been wont to grant very sparingly. But it is liable to the frauds of the aquarii (watermen); how great a care must be taken to forbid these will be manifest from the head of the mandates which I have subjoined.

111. "Caducam neminem volo ducere nisi qui meo beneficio aut priorum principum habent. Nam necesse est ex castellis aliquam partem aquae effluere, cum hoc pertineat non solum ad urbis nostrae salubritatem, sed etiam ad utilitatem cloacarum abluendarum."

111. "I do not wish to grant any caducous water
except to those who have my favor or that of prior princes. For it is necessary that from the castles some part of the water flow forth, since this pertains not only to the salubrity of our city, but also to the utility of cleansing the cloacae."

112. Explicitis quae ad ordinationem aquarum privati usus pertinebant, non ab re est quaedam ex eis, quibus circumscribi saluberrimas constitutiones in ipso actu deprehendimus, exempli causa attingere. Ampliores quosdam calices, quam impetrati erant, positos in plerisque castellis inveni et ex eis aliquos ne signatos quidem.

112. With those matters that pertain to the ordination of waters for private use having been set forth, it is not out of place to touch upon some of them as examples, in which we found most salutary constitutions to be circumscribed in the very act. I found certain vessels broader than had been obtained, placed in most of the castles, and among them some not even marked.

Quotiens autem signatus calix excedit legitimam mensuram, ambitio procuratoris qui eum signavit detegitur. Cum vero ne signatus quidem est, manifesta culpa omnium, maxime accipientis, deprehenditur, deinde vilici. In quibusdam, cum calices legitimae mensurae signati essent, statim amplioris moduli fistulae subiectae fuerunt, unde acciderat ut aqua non per legitimum spatium coercita, sed per brevis angustias expressa facile laxiorem in proximo fistulam impleret.

Whenever, however, a marked calix exceeds the lawful measure, the ambition of the procurator who marked it is laid bare. But when it is not even marked, the manifest fault of all is discovered, chiefly of the receiver, then of the vilicus. In some instances, when calices of the lawful measure had been marked, immediately pipes of a larger diameter were placed beneath them, whence it came about that the water, instead of being confined through the lawful span, being forced through short narrowings, readily filled a more capacious pipe close by.

Ideoque illud adhuc, quotiens signatur calix, diligentiae adiciendum est, ut fistulae quoque proximae per spatium, quod S. C. comprehensum diximus, signentur. Ita demum enim vilicus cum scierit non aliter quam signatas conlocari debere, omni carebit excusatione.

And therefore this further: whenever a cup is sealed, diligence must be added, so that the nearest pipes also be sealed for the span which, as we have said, the S. C. comprehends. For only thus, when the vilicus knows they ought to be set no otherwise than those sealed, will he be bereft of every excuse.

113. Circa conlocandos quoque calices observari oportet ut ad lineam ordinentur nec alterius inferior calix, alterius superior ponatur. Inferior plus trahit; superior, quia cursus aquae ab inferiore rapitur, minus ducit.

113. Concerning the placing of the calices it must also be observed that they be set in a line and that the lower calix of one not be placed beneath the upper of another. The lower draws more; the upper, because the course of the water is drawn off by the lower, carries less.

In quorundam fistulis ne calices quidem positi fuerunt. Hae fistulae solutae vocantur et ut aquario libuit, laxantur vel coartantur.

In the fistulae of some not even calices were placed. These fistulae are called solutae, and, as the aquarius pleases, they are loosened or constricted.

114. Adhuc illa aquariorum intolerabilis fraus est: translata in novum possessorem aqua foramen novum castello imponunt, vetus relinquunt quo venalem extrahunt aquam. In primis ergo hoc quoque emendandum curatori crediderim.

114. Still that intolerable fraud of the aquarii remains: when the water is transferred to a new possessor they impose a new aperture on the new castello, leaving the old by which they draw off the water for sale. Therefore this also I would entrust to the Curator to be corrected.

Non enim solum ad ipsarum aquarum custodiam, sed etiam ad castelli tutelam pertinet, quod subinde et sine causa foratum vitiatur.

For this concerns not only the guarding of the waters themselves, but also the defense of the castle, that it is spoiled by being bored through repeatedly and without cause.

115. Etiam ille aquariorum tollendus est reditus, quem vocant puncta. Longa ac diversa sunt spatia, per quae fistulae tota meant urbe latentes sub silice.

115. That emolument of the aquarii must likewise be abolished, which they call puncta. Long and diverse are the stretches through which the pipes lie hidden beneath the stone throughout the whole city.

Has comperi per eum qui appellabatur a punctis passim convulneratas omnibus in transitu negotiationibus praebuisse peculiaribus fistulis aquam, quo efficiebatur ut exiguus modus ad usus publicos perveniret. Quantum ex hoc modo aquae surreptum sit, aestimo ex eo quod aliquantum plumbi sublatis eiusmodi ramis redactum est.

I discovered by the man who was called a punctis that he had furnished water through peculiar little pipes, everywhere pierced along all the passages of commerce, whereby a scant measure reached public uses. How much water was filched in this way I estimate from the fact that a certain quantity of lead was recovered when such branches were taken up.

116. Superest tutela ductuum, de qua priusquam dicere incipiam, pauca de familia quae huius rei causa parata est explicanda sunt. Familiae sunt duae, altera publica, altera Caesaris.

116. What remains is the guardianship of the conduits, about which, before I begin to speak, a few things about the family that has been prepared for this purpose must be explained. There are two families, one public, the other of Caesar.

Publica est antiquior, quam ab Agrippa relictam Augusto et ab eo publicatam diximus; habet homines circiter ducentos quadraginta. Caesaris familiae numerus est quadringentorum sexaginta, quam Claudius cum aquas in urbem perduceret constituit.

The public one is the older, which we said Agrippa left to Augustus and which he made public; it has about 240 men. The Caesar's household numbers 460, which Claudius instituted when he brought the waters into the city.

117. Utraque autem familia in aliquot ministeriorum species diducitur, vilicos, castellarios, circitores, silicarios, tectores aliosque opifices. Ex his aliquos extra urbem esse oportet ad ea quae non sunt magnae molitionis, maturum tamen auxilium videntur exigere.

117. Both families, however, are divided into several kinds of ministrations: vilici (estate stewards), castellarii, circitores, silicarii, tectores, and other opifices (artisans). Of these, some ought to be outside the city for those things which are not of great labour, yet they seem to require timely aid.

Homines in urbe circa castellorum et munerum stationes opera quaeque urgebunt, in primis ad subitos casus, ut ex compluribus regionibus, in quam necessitas incubuerit, converti possit praesidium aquarum abundantium. Tam amplum numerum utriusque familiae solitum ambitione aut neglegentia praepositorum in privata opera diduci revocare ad aliquam disciplinam et publica ministeria ita instituimus, ut pridie quid esset actura dictaremus et quid quoque die egisset actis comprehenderetur.

Men in the city about the stations of forts and of duties will press forward each several task, especially for sudden emergencies, so that from many regions, into which necessity has fallen, a relief or support of abundant waters may be turned. So great a number of each family, wont to be drawn off into private works by the ambition or negligence of superintendents, we arranged to recall to some discipline and to public ministrations, so that on the day before we might dictate what was to be done and that what each day had done should be taken up in the acts.

118. Commoda publicae familiae ex aerario dantur, quod impendium exoneratur vectigalium reditu ad ius aquarum pertinentium. Ea constant ex locis aedificiisve quae sunt circa ductus et castella aut munera aut lacus.

118. The conveniences of the public familia are supplied from the treasury, that expense being offset by the revenue of tolls pertaining to the right of the waters. These consist of places or buildings which are around the ducts and castella, or munera, or lakes.

Quem reditum prope sestertiorum ducentorum quinquaginta milium alienatum ac vagum, proximis vero temporibus in Domitiani loculos conversum iustitia Divi Nervae populo restituit, nostra sedulitas ad certam regulam redegit, ut constaret quae essent ad hoc vectigal pertinentia loca. Caesaris familia ex fisco accipit commoda, unde et omne plumbum et omnes impensae ad ductus et castella et lacus pertinentes erogantur.

As for that revenue, nearly 250,000 sestertii, alienated and vagant, and more recently having been turned into Domitian’s coffers, the justice of the Divine Nerva restored it to the people; our diligence reduced matters to a fixed rule, so that it might be clear which places pertain to that vectigal. The Caesar’s household receives advantages from the fiscus, from which also all lead and all expenses pertaining to the ductus and castella and lacus are disbursed.

119. Quoniam quae videbantur ad familiam pertinere exposuimus, ad tutelam ductuum sicut promiseram divertemus, rem enixiore cura dignam, cum magnitudinis Romani imperii vel praecipuum sit indicium. Multa atque ampla opera subinde dilabuntur, quibus ante succurri debet quam magno auxilio egere incipiant, plerumque tamen prudenti temperamento sustinenda, quia non semper opus aut facere aut ampliare quaerentibus credendum est.

119. Since we have set forth those things which seemed to pertain to the public household, we will turn, as I promised, to the guardianship of the aqueducts, a matter deserving of more eager care, since it is a chief sign of the greatness of the Roman empire. Many and extensive works continually fall into decay, and these ought to be aided before they begin to require great help; yet for the most part they must be borne with prudent moderation, because one must not always trust those seeking to make or to enlarge a work.

Ideoque non solum scientia peritorum sed et proprio usu curator instructus esse debet, nec suae tantum stationis architectis uti, sed plurium advocare non minus fidem quam subtilitatem, ut aestimet quae repraesentanda, quae differenda sint, et rursus quae per redemptores effici debeant, quae per domesticos artifices.

Therefore the curator must be instructed not only by the scientia of experts but also by his own use, and he must not employ architects of his own station alone, but summon several—calling to him no less fides than subtilitas—so that he may judge what is to be represented, what deferred, and again what ought to be effected by redemptores (contractors) and what by domestici artifices.

120. Nascuntur opera ex his causis: aut impotentia possessorum quid corrumpitur aut vetustate aut vi tempestatium aut culpa male facti operis, quod saepius accidit in recentibus.

120. Works are born from these causes: either by the impotence of the possessors something is spoiled, or by age, or by the force of storms, or by the fault of a badly made work, which more often happens in recent ones.

121. Fere aut vetustate aut vi tempestatium eae partes ductuum laborant quae arcuationibus sustinentur aut montium lateribus applicatae sunt, et ex arcuationibus eae quae per flumen traiciuntur. Ideoque haec opera sollicita festinatione explicanda sunt.

121. Nearly, either from age or from the force of storms, those parts of the aqueducts fail which are supported by arcuations or are applied to the sides of mountains, and from the arcuations those which are carried across a river. And therefore these works must be carried out with solicitous haste.

Minus iniuriae subiacent subterranea nec gelicidiis nec caloribus exposita. Vitia autem eiusmodi sunt, ut aut non interpellato cursu subveniatur eis, aut emendari nisi adverso non possint, sicut ea quae in ipso alveo fieri necesse est.

Subterranean parts undergo less injury, being not exposed to frosts nor to heats. The defects, however, are of such sort that either, if the course is not interrupted, they cannot be remedied, or they cannot be corrected except by an opposing force — as those works which must necessarily be carried out in the very channel itself.

122. Haec duplici ex causa nascuntur: aut enim limo concrescente, qui interdum in crustam indurescit, iter aquae coartatur, aut tectoria corrumpuntur, unde fiunt manationes quibus necesse est latera rivorum et substructiones vitiari. Pilae quoque ipsae tofo exstructae sub tam magno onere labuntur.

122. These arise from a twofold cause: either by the accretion of silt, which at times hardens into a crust, the course of the water is constricted, or the coverings/roofings are ruined, whence there arise seepages by which the banks of the streams and the substructions/foundations are necessarily impaired. The piles themselves, built of tufa, also slip under so great a burden.

Refici quae circa alveos rivorum sunt aestate non debent, ne intermittatur usus tempore quo praecipue desideratur, sed vere vel autumno et maxima cum festinatione, ut scilicet ante praeparatis omnibus quam paucissimis diebus rivi cessent. Neminem fugit, per singulos ductus hoc esse faciendum, ne si plures pariter avertantur, desit aqua civitati.

Those repairs about the river‑beds that would be made in summer ought not to be carried out, lest the use be interrupted at the time when it is especially wanted, but in spring or autumn and with the greatest haste, namely so that, with all things prepared beforehand, the rivers may cease in as few days as possible. No one fails to see that this must be done for each individual conduit, lest if many are diverted at once, water be lacking to the community.

123. Ea quae non interpellato aquae cursu effici debent maxime structura constant, quam et suis temporibus et fidelem fieri oportet. Idoneum structurae tempus est a Kalendis Aprilibus in Kalendas Novembres ita ut optimum sit intermittere eam partem aestatis quae nimiis caloribus incandescit, quia temperamento caeli opus est, ut ex commodo structura combibat et in unitatem corroboretur; non minus autem sol acrior quam gelatio praecipit materiam.

123. Those things which must be effected without interrupting the course of the water consist chiefly of construction, which ought to be made both in its proper seasons and faithfully. A suitable time for construction is from the Kalends of April to the Kalends of November, so that it is best to omit that part of summer which is inflamed by excessive heats, because a tempering of the sky is needed, that by a comfortable climate the structure may settle together and be strengthened into unity; nor less does the sun, more scorching than frost, ruin the material.

Nec ullum opus diligentiorem poscit curam quam quod aquae obstaturum est; fides itaque eius per singula secundum legem notam omnibus sed a paucis observatam exigenda est.

No work demands more diligent care than that which is to obstruct water; therefore its fides — its trustworthiness — must be exacted in every particular according to the law known to all but observed by few.

124. Illud nulli dubium esse crediderim, proximos ductus, id est qui a septimo miliario lapide quadrato consistunt, maxime custodiendos, quoniam et amplissimi operis sunt et plures aquas singuli sustinent. Quos si necesse fuerit interrumpere, maiorem partem aquarum urbis destituent.

124. I should think there will be no doubt that the nearest conduits, that is those which stand at the seventh milestone by the squared stone, must be most carefully guarded, since they belong to very great works and each sustains several water‑supplies. If it should be necessary to interrupt them, they would leave the greater part of the city's waters lacking.

Remedia tamen sunt et huius difficultatis: opus incohatum excitatur ad libram deficientis, alveus vero plumbatis canalibus per spatium interrupti ductus rursus continuatur. Porro quoniam fere omnes specus per privatorum agros derecti erant et difficilis videbatur futurae impensae praeparatio, nisi et aliqua iuris constitutione succurreretur, simul ne accessu ad reficiendos rivos redemptores a possessoribus prohiberentur, S. C. factum est quod subieci.

There are, however, remedies for this difficulty: the work begun is increased by the pound of the deficiency, and the channel is again continued for the length of the interrupted conduit with leaden pipes. Moreover, since almost all the aqueducts had been directed through private fields and the preparation of the future expense seemed difficult unless some legal constitution should provide assistance, and at the same time lest the purchasers be barred by the landowners from access to repair the streams, a Senatus consultum was made which I have appended.

125. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. de rivis, specibus, fornicibus, aquae Iuliae, Marciae, Appiae, Tepulae, Anienis reficiendis, Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. uti cum ei rivi, specus, fornices, quos Augustus Caesar se refecturum impensa sua pollicitus senatui est, reficerentur, ex agris privatorum terra, limus, lapides, testa, harena, ligna ceteraque quibus ad eam rem opus esset, unde quaeque eorum proxime sine iniuria privatorum tolli, sumi, portari possint, viri boni arbitratu aestimata darentur, tollerentur, sumerentur, exportarentur; et ad eas res omnes exportandas earumque rerum reficiendarum causa, quotiens opus esset, per agros privatorum sine iniuria eorum itinera, actus paterent, darentur."

125. "Which Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, consuls 5, decreed concerning the repairing of rivuli, specus, fornicēs, and the Aqua Iulia, Marcia, Appia, Tepula, and Anio: that, so that those rivuli, specus, and fornices which Augustus Caesar had promised the senate he would repair at his own expense might be repaired, earth, marl, stones, tile, sand, timber and the other materials required for that work should be taken from private fields, wherever each of them could most readily be removed without injury to private persons, to be estimated at the judgment of good men and given, removed, taken up, and exported; and that for the purpose of exporting all those things and for repairing those works, whenever need arose, routes and passages through private fields, without injury to their owners, should be allowed."

126. Plerumque autem vitia oriuntur ex impotentia possessorum, qui pluribus rivos violant. Primum enim spatia, quae circa ductus aquarum ex S. C. vacare debent, aut aedificiis aut arboribus occupant.

126. For faults commonly arise from the impotence of possessors, who trespass upon several rivos. For first they occupy the spaces which, by S. C., ought to be vacant around the conduits of waters, either with buildings or with trees.

Arbores magis nocent, quarum radicibus concamerationes et latera solvuntur. Dein vicinales vias agrestesque per ipsas formas derigunt. Novissime aditus ad tutelam praecludunt.

Trees do more harm, whose roots loosen vaults and walls. Next they divert neighboring roads and country tracks through their very trunks. Finally they shut off approaches to the fortification.

Quae omnia S. C. quod subieci provisa sunt.

All these things are provisions of the S. C. which I have subjoined.

127. "Quod Q. Aelius Tubero Paulus Fabius Maximus cos. V. F. aquarum, quae in urbem venirent, itinera occupari monumentis et aedificiis et arboribus conseri, Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. cum ad reficiendos rivos specusque per quae opera publica corrumpantur, placere circa fontes et fornices et muros utraque ex parte quinos denos pedes patere, et circa rivos qui sub terra essent et specus intra urbem et urbi continentia aedificia utraque ex parte quinos pedes vacuos relinqui ita ut neque monumentum in eis locis neque aedificium post hoc tempus ponere neque conserere arbores liceret, sique nunc essent arbores intra id spatium, exciderentur praeterquam si quae villae continentes et inclusae aedificiis essent.

127. "That, when Q. Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus were consuls, concerning the waters which came into the city, their courses were to be occupied by monuments and buildings and planted with trees, Q. F. P. D. E. R. I. C. — since it is agreeable for repairing the channels and sewers by which public works are impaired — that about fountains and arches and walls on both sides an open space of five to ten feet be left, and about the channels which lie under ground and the sewers within the city and buildings contiguous to the city on both sides five feet be left empty, so that neither a monument in those places nor a building after this time be placed, nor trees be planted; and if there are now trees within that space, they shall be cut down, except those that belong to villas contained and enclosed by buildings.

Si quis adversus ea commiserit, in singulas res poena HS dena milia essent, ex quibus pars dimidia praemium accusatori daretur, cuius opera maxime convictus esset qui adversus hoc S. C. commisisset, pars autem dimidia in aerarium redigeretur. Deque ea re iudicarent cognoscerentque curatores aquarum."

If anyone should commit acts contrary to these provisions, the penalty for each separate case shall be HS ten thousand, of which one half shall be given as a reward to the accuser by whose efforts the person convicted of having acted against this S. C. was chiefly apprehended, and the other half shall be paid into the treasury. And on this matter the curators of the waters shall judge and investigate.

128. Posset hoc S. C. aequissimum videri, etiam si ex re tantum publicae utilitatis ea spatia vindicarentur. Multo magis autem maiores nostri admirabili aequitate ne ea quidem eripuerunt privatis quae ad modum publicum pertinebant, sed cum aquas perducerent, si difficilior possessor in parte vendunda fuerat, pro toto agro pecuniam intulerunt et post determinata necessaria loca rursus eum agrum vendiderunt, ut in suis finibus proprium ius res publica privatique haberent.

128. This S. C. might seem most equitable, even if from the matter only those spaces of public utility were vindicated. Much more, however, our ancestors, with admirable equity, did not even wrest from private persons those things which pertained in a public manner; but when they conducted waters, if the possessor proved difficult about the part to be sold, they paid money for the whole field and, after setting aside the determined necessary places, sold the field again, so that within their boundaries both the res publica and private individuals might have their proper right.

Plerique tamen non contenti occupasse fines ipsis ductibus manus adtulerunt per suffossa latera passim cursus aquarum tam ei qui ius aquarum impetratum habent, quam ei qui quantulicumque beneficii occasione ad expugnandos rivos abutuntur. Quid porro fieret, si non universa ista diligentissima lege prohiberentur poenaque non mediocris contumacibus intentaretur? Quare subscripsi verba legis.

Most, however, not content with having occupied the bounds themselves, laid hands upon the conduits, along the buried banks everywhere, upon the courses of the waters, both those who have obtained the right to the waters and those who, by occasion of any small benefit, make use abusively to expel the rivulets. Moreover, what would come to pass if all these things were not forbidden by the most diligent law and if a not inconsiderable punishment were not threatened against the contumacious? Wherefore I have subscribed the words of the law.

129. "T. Quintus Crispinus consul *** populum iure rogavit populusque iure scivit in foro pro rostris aedis Divi Iulii pr. K. Iulias. Tribus Sergia principium fuit.

129. T. Quintus Crispinus, consul, lawfully asked the people, and the people lawfully voted in the forum before the rostra, at the temple of the Divine Julius on the day before the Kalends of July. *** The beginning was with the Sergia tribe.

Pro tribu Sex. L. f. Varro primus scivit. Quicumque post hanc legem rogatam rivos, specus, fornices, fistulas, tubulos, castella, lacus aquarum publicarum, quae ad urbem ducuntur, sciens dolo malo foraverit, ruperit, foranda rumpendave curaverit peiorave fecerit, quo minus eae aquae earumve quae pars in urbem Romam ire, cadere, fluere, pervenire, duci possit, quove minus in urbe Roma et in eis locis, aedificiis, quae loca, aedificia urbi continentia sunt, erunt, in eis hortis, praediis, locis, quorum hortorum, praediorum, locorum dominis possessoribusve aqua data vel adtributa est vel erit, saliat, distribuatur, dividatur, in castella, lacus immittatur, is populo Romano HS centum milia dare damnas esto.

For the tribe, Sextus, son of Lucius, Varro, was the first to vote. Whoever after this law has been proposed, knowingly and with evil intent shall have bored into, broken, caused to be bored or broken, or otherwise worse done to rivos, specus, fornices, fistulas, tubulos, castella, lacus of the public waters that are led to the city, so that those waters or that part of them which can go, fall, flow, reach, be conducted into the city of Rome, or so that less of them shall be in the city of Rome and in those places and buildings which are or shall be parts of the city, or in those gardens, estates, places, whose owners or possessors water has been or shall be given or assigned, shall leap, be distributed, be divided, be admitted into reservoirs or basins, let him be condemned to give to the Roman people HS 100,000.

Et qui D. M. qui eorum ita fecerit, id omne sarcire, reficere, restituere, aedificare, ponere et celere demolire damnas esto sine dolo malo atque omnia ita ut quicumque curator aquarum est, erit, si curator aquarum nemo erit, tum is praetor qui inter cives et peregrinos ius dicet, multa, pignoribus cogito, coercito, eique curatori aut si curator non erit, tum ei praetori eo nomine cogendi, coercendi, multae dicendae sive pignoris capiendi ius potestasque esto. Si quid eorum servus fecerit, dominus eius HS centum milia populo Romano D. D. E. Si qui locus circa rivos, specus, fornices, fistulas, tubulos, castella, lacus aquarum publicarum, quae ad urbem Romam ducuntur et ducentur, terminatus est et erit, ne quis in eo loco post hanc legem rogatam quid opponito, molito, obsaepito, figito, statuito, ponito, conlocato, arato, serito, neve in eum quid immittito, praeterquam eorum faciendorum, reponendorum causa, quae hac lege licebit, oportebit. Qui adversus ea quid fecerit, siremps lex, ius causaque omnium rerum omnibusque esto, atque uti esset esseve oporteret, si is adversus hanc legem rivum, specum rupisset forassetve.

And whoever, D. M., whoever shall have done any of those things, shall be liable to sarcire, to reficere, to restore, to rebuild, to place and to demolish swiftly all of it — without malicious intent — and shall do all things so that whoever is curator of the aquae is, shall be able; if there shall be no curator of the aquae, then that praetor who shall administer law between citizens and foreigners, shall have many powers: to compel, to seize pledges, to coerce, and to require of that curator — or if there shall be no curator, then of that praetor — by that name the rights and power of compelling, coercing, and of taking pledges shall be. If any slave shall have done any of those things, his master shall give HS 100,000 to the Roman people D. D. E. If any place around the rivi (streams), specus (channels), fornices (culverts), fistulae (pipes), tubuli (small tubes), castella, or the lacūs of the public waters which are led to the city of Rome and shall be led, is or shall be bounded, no one in that place after this law shall be proposed shall oppose, heap up, close up, fix, set up, place, locate, plough, sow, or plant, nor shall any thing be thrown into it, except for the causes of making or replacing those things which by this law it will be permitted. Whoever shall do anything contrary to these provisions, this very law shall be the right and cause of all things and to all persons, and shall be used and ought to be used as if he had broken or dug up the rivus or specus contrary to this law.

Quo minus in eo loco pascere, herbam, fenum secare, sentes tollere liceat, eius hac lege nihilum rogatur. Curatores aquarum, qui nunc sunt quique erunt, faciunto ut in eo loco, qui locus circa fontes et fornices et muros et rivos et specus terminatus est, arbores, vites, vepres, sentes, ripae, maceria, salicta, harundineta tollantur, excidantur, effodiantur, excodicentur, uti quod recte factum esse volent; eoque nomine eis pignoris capio, multae dictio coercitioque esto; idque eis sine fraude sua facere liceat, ius potestasque esto. Quo minus vites, arbores, quae villis, aedificiis maceriisve inclusae sunt, maceriae, quas curatores aquarum causa cognita ne demolirentur dominis permiserunt, quibus inscripta insculptaque essent ipsorum qui permisissent curatorum nomina, maneant, hac lege nihilum rogatur.

That no one thereby be prevented in that place from pasturing, cutting grass or hay, or removing briars; this law makes no provision concerning that. Let the Curatores Aquarum, who now are and who shall be, cause that in that place which is bounded around the springs and arches and walls and channels and cisterns trees, vines, brambles, thorns, banks, walls, willows, reed-beds be removed, cut down, dug out, root-and-branch destroyed, that they may do what they shall judge rightly done; and on that account let seizure of pledges, many proclamations and coercion be permitted to them; and let them do this without fraud of their own, and let it be their right and authority. Where vines or trees are enclosed within villas, buildings, or walls, or where walls which the Curatores Aquarum, the matter having been known, permitted to the owners not to be demolished, and upon which the names of those who permitted them, the names of the curators, were inscribed or carved, let them remain; this law makes no provision concerning those.

Quo minus ex eis fontibus, rivis, specibus, fornicibus aquam sumere, haurire eis, quibuscumque curatores aquarum permiserunt, permiserint, praeterquam rota calice, machina liceat, dum ne qui puteus neque foramen novum fiat, eius hac lege nihilum rogatur.

So that from those springs, streams, conduits, and arches they may not take or draw water for any persons to whom the curators of the waters have permitted or shall permit, except that a wheel, cup, or machine may be allowed, provided that no new well nor opening be made; by this law nothing is thereby enjoined.

130. Utilissimae legis contemptores non negaverim dignos poena quae intenditur, sed neglegentia longi temporis deceptos leniter revocari oportuit. Itaque sedulo laboravimus ut quantum in nobis fuit, etiam ignorarentur qui erraverant.

130. I do not deny that the contemners of the most useful law are worthy of the punishment which is intended, but, deceived by the neglect of long time, they ought to be gently recalled. Therefore we have diligently laboured that, so far as lay in us, even those who had erred might be overlooked.

Eis vero qui admoniti ad indulgentiam imperatoris decucurrerunt, possumus videri causa impetrati beneficii fuisse. In reliquo<m> vero opto ne exsecutio legis necessaria sit, cum officii fidem etiam per offensas tueri praestit<er>it.

For those, however, who, having been admonished, ran to the emperor’s indulgence, we may seem to have been the cause of the benefit obtained. In the remainder<m> however I wish that the execution of the law not be necessary, since he has also shown the fidelity of his office even through offenses praestit<er>it.