Subject
In a passage from the Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) offers a description of the Marcio Aqueduct, referred to in Latin as the Aqua Marcia, whose waters were noted for their coolness and healthful qualities, and so considered a gift to the Urbe from the gods. Pliny’s text mentions the praetor Quintus Marcius Rex, credited with the construction of the aqueduct in 144 BC, and Marcus Agrippa, who oversaw its restoration in the Augustan era.
Pliny Naturalis Historia 31.24: “The most celebrated of all the waters of the world, which Rome proclaims as the greatest of freshness and wholesomeness, is the Marcia water, one of the many gifts given by the gods to the Urbe. It was once called Aufeia, and the spring Pythonia. From its source at the terminus of the Peligni mountains, it crosses the Marsi region and Lake Fucino, and heads unerringly towards Rome. Then it plunges into caverns, emerges in the Tivoli region and is carried to Rome on an arched construction of nine miles. The first who began to bring this water to Rome was Quintus Marcius Rex, during his praetorship; Marcus Agrippa then restored the construction…” (translated from the Italian edition by Umberto Capitani and Ivan Garofalo).
Placement
Universiteit Gent Universiteitsbibliotheek
Credits
Google Books, Universiteit Gent Universiteitsbibliotheek
References
Gaio Plinio Secondo. Storia Naturale. IV. Medicina e farmacologia. Libri 28-32; traduzioni e note di Umberto Capitani e Ivan Garofalo, Torino 1986.
Histoire naturelle de Pline. Traduction nouvelle par M. Ajasson de Grandsagne, Tome dix-huitième, Paris 1833.
