Complete Works of Frontinus

by Frontinus

  [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. 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.

  [104] “The consuls, Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, having made a report upon the number of public fountains established by Marcus Agrippa in the City and within structures adjacent to the City, and having inquired of the Senate what it would please to order upon the subject, it has been RESOLVED that it is the sense of this body: That the number of public fountains which exist at present, according to the report of those who were ordered by the Senate to examine the public aqueducts and to inventory the number of public fountains, shall be neither increased nor diminished. Further, that the water-commissioners, who have been appointed by Caesar Augustus, with the endorsement of the Senate, shall take pains that the public fountains may deliver water as continuously as possible for the use of the people day and night.” In this resolution of the Senate, I think it should be noted that the Senate forbade any increase as well as any decrease in the number of public fountains. I think this was done because the quantity of water, which at that time came into the City, before Claudia and New Anio had been brought in, did not seem to permit of a greater distribution.

  [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. 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.

  [105] Whoever wishes to draw water for private use must seek for a grant and bring to the commissioner a writing from the sovereign; the commissioner must then immediately expedite the grant of Caesar, and appoint one of Caesar’s freedmen as his deputy for this service. Tiberius Claudius appears to have been the first man to appoint such a deputy after he introduced Claudia and New Anio. The overseers must also be made acquainted with the contents of the writing, that they may not excuse their negligence or fraud on the plea of ignorance. The deputy must call in the levellers and provide that the calix is stamped as conforming to the deeded quantity, and must study the size of the ajutages we have enumerated above, as well as have knowledge of their location, lest it rest with the caprice of the levellers to approve a calix of sometimes greater, or sometimes smaller, interior area, according as they interest themselves in the parties. Neither must the deputy permit the free option of connecting directly to the ajutages any sort of lead pipe, but there must rather be attached for a length of fifty feet one of the same interior area as that which the ajutage has been certified to have, as has been ordained by a vote of the Senate which 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. 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.

  [106] “The consuls, Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, having made a report that some private parties take water directly from the public conduits, and having inquired of the Senate what it would please to order upon the subject, it has been RESOLVED that it is the sense of this body: That it shall not be permitted to any private party to draw water from the public conduits; and all those to whom the right to draw water has been granted shall draw it from the reservoirs, the water-commissioners to direct at what points, within the City, private parties may suitably erect reservoirs for the purpose of drawing from them the water which they had received at the hand of the water-commissioner from some public reservoir; and no one of those to whom a right to draw water from the public conduits has been granted shall have the right to use a larger pipe than a quinaria for a space of fifty feet from the reservoir out of which he is to draw the water.” In this resolution of the Senate it is worthy of note that the resolution does not permit water to be drawn except from reservoirs, in order that the conduits or the public pipes may not be frequently cut into.

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

  [107] The right to granted water does not pass either to the heirs, or to the buyer, or to any new proprietor of the land. The public bathing establishments had from old times the privilege that water once granted to them should remain theirs for ever. We know this from old resolutions of the Senate, of which I give one below:- (Nowadays every grant of water is renewed to the new owner.)

  [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] “The consuls, Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus, having made a report upon the necessity of determining in accordance with what law those persons, to whom water had been granted, should draw water inside and outside the City, and having inquired of the Senate what it would please to order upon the subject, it has been RESOLVED that it is the sense of this body: That a grant of water, with the exception of those supplies which have been granted for the use of bathing establishments, or in the name of Augustus, shall remain in force as long as the same proprietors continue to hold the ground for which they received the grant of 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. 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 praed
ia in quae data erit, aut ex alio castello, quam ex quo epistula principiis continebit, duci palamst non oportere; sed et mandatis prohibetur.

  [109] As soon as any water-rights are vacated, this is announced, and entered in the records, which are consulted, in order that vacant water-rights may be given to applicants. These waters they formerly used to cut off immediately, in order that between times they might sell them either to the occupants of the land, or to outsiders even. It seemed less harsh to our ruler, in order not to deprive estates of water suddenly, to give thirty days’ grace, within which those whose interests were involved [might make suitable arrangements]. I did not find anything set down about the water granted to an estate belonging to a syndicate. Nevertheless, the following practice is observed, just as though prescribed by law, “that as long as one of those who have received a common grant of water survives, the full amount of granted water shall flow upon the land, and the grant shall be renewed only when every one of those who received it has ceased to remain in possession of the property.” That granted water must not be carried elsewhere than upon the premises to which it has been made appurtenant, or taken from another reservoir than the one designated in the writing of the sovereign, is self-evident, but is forbidden also by ordinance.

  [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] Those waters also that are called “lapsed,” namely, those that come from the overflow of the reservoirs or from leakage of the pipes, are subject to grants; which are wont to be given very sparingly, however, by the sovereign. But this offers opportunity for thefts by the water-men; and how much care should be devoted to preventing these, may be seen from a paragraph of an ordinance, which I append:

  [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 desire that no one shall draw ‘lapsed’ water except those who have permission to do so by grants from me or preceding sovereigns; for there must necessarily be some overflow from the reservoirs, this being proper not only for the health of our City, but also for use in the flushing of the sewers.”

  [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. 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. 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.

  [112] Having now explained those things that relate to the administration of water for the use of private parties, it will not be foreign to the subject to touch upon certain practices, by way of illustration, whereby we have caught these most wholesome ordinances in the very act of being defeated. In a great number of reservoirs I found certain ajutages of a larger size than had been granted, and among them some that had not even been stamped. Now whenever a stamped ajutage is larger than its legitimate measure it reveals designing dishonesty on the part of the deputy who stamped it; but when it is not even stamped, it clearly reveals the fault of all, especially of the grantee, also of the overseer. In some of the reservoirs, though their ajutages were stamped in conformity with their lawful admeasurements, pipes of a greater diameter [than the ajutages] were at once attached to them. As a consequence, the water not being held together for the lawful distance, and being on the contrary forced through the short restricted distance, easily filled the adjoining larger pipes. Care should therefore be taken, as often as an ajutage is stamped, to stamp also the adjoining pipe over the length which we stated was prescribed by the resolution of the Senate. For then and then only can the overseer be held to his full responsibility, when he understands that none but stamped pipes must be set in place.

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

  [113] In setting ajutages also, care must be taken to set them on the level, and not place the one higher and the other lower down. The lower one will take in more; the higher one will suck in less, because the current of water is drawn in by the lower one. To some pipes no ajutages were even attached. Such pipes are called “uncontrolled,” and are enlarged or diminished as pleases them.

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

  [114] There is, besides, this intolerable method of cheating practised by the water-men: When a water-right is transferred to a new owner, they will insert a new ajutage in the reservoir; the old one they leave in the tank and draw from it water, which they sell. This practice especially, therefore, as I believe, should be corrected by the Commissioner; for this concerns not only the protection of the water itself, but also the maintenance of the reservoirs, which get to be leaky when they are often and unnecessarily tapped into.

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

  [115] The following mode of gaining money, practised by the water-men, is also to be abolished; the one called “puncturing.” There are extensive areas in various places where secret pipes run under the pavements all over the City. I discovered that these pipes were furnishing water by special branches to all those engaged in business in those localities through which the pipes ran, being bored for that purpose here and there by the so-called “puncturers”; whence it came to pass that only a small quantity of water reached the places of public supply. How large an amount of water has been stolen in this manner, I estimate by means of the fact that a considerable quantity of lead has been brought in by the removal of that kind of branch pipes.

  [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. 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.

  [116] It remains to speak of the maintenance of the conduits; but before I say anything about this, a little explanation should be given about the gangs of slaves established for this purpose. There are two of those gangs, one belonging to the St
ate, the other to Caesar. The one belonging to the State is the older, which, as we have said, was left by Agrippa to Augustus, and was by him made over to the State. It numbers about 240 men. The number in Caesar’s gang is 460; it was organized by Claudius at the time he brought his aqueduct 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. 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.