VI.
FORMULA FOR THE COUNT OF THE AQUEDUCTS.
[1] Although the structures of Rome, when compared one with another, can scarcely yield up which is the most outstanding, since everything that is seen to have been founded there is known to have been wrought to be marveled at, nevertheless we judge that there is a difference between what a necessary usefulness recommends and what is commended only for the sake of its beauty. To see Trajan's forum, even with daily familiarity, is to see a miracle; to climb the lofty Capitol is to have seen human genius surpassed. But is life sustained by these things, or is any health of the body restored by such delight from them? [2] In the aqueducts of Rome, however, both excellences are present, namely that the construction is wonderful and that the wholesomeness of the waters is singular. For so many rivers are conducted there as if upon constructed mountains, that you would believe them natural channels, given the solidity of the stones, since so great a rush of water could be firmly sustained through so many ages. Hollowed-out mountains for the most part collapse, the courses of torrents are scattered: and yet that work of the ancients is not destroyed, if it is preserved with helpful diligence. [3] Let us indeed consider how much adornment the abundance of waters bestows upon the walls of Rome. For what would that beauty of the baths be, if it did not have certain most sweet expanses of water? The water Virgo runs with most pure delight, which is believed to be so called for this reason, that it is polluted by no filth. For while other waters are violated by an excess of rain mixed with earth, this one, gliding most purely, mimics a perpetually serene air with its wave. Who could set forth such things in fitting words? [4] The Claudia [aqueduct] has been led through so great a mass of elevation to the head of the Aventine, so that, when it has fallen there having slipped from on high, that lofty summit seems to be watered as though it were the lowest valley. The Egyptian Nile, rising at certain seasons, swells turbulently over the lying fields beneath a serene sky once the flood has been drawn over them: but how much more beautiful it is that the Roman Claudia, through so many dry mountain-tops, should send forth most pure waters to baths and houses from the abundant mouths of its pipes, and should so flow evenly that it can never withdraw itself when it is longed for! For that one [the Nile], while it recedes, is mud; while it comes unexpectedly, is a flood. Who, then, would not reckon the famous Nile to be surpassed by the rivers of our city? Since it either terrifies its own Nile-dwellers by coming, or abandons them by receding. [5] Truly we have related these things not by superfluous commemoration, so that you may be able to perceive what diligence is required of you, to whom so great a beauty is entrusted. On which account, through that indiction, we have entrusted to you with great deliberation the countship of the aqueducts, so that with the utmost zeal you may strive to accomplish what you see to be expedient for matters so great and of such a kind. [6] In the first place, we decree that harmful trees, which bring about the ruin of structures, since they are certain irresistible battering-rams against walls, be cut away by the roots, because no injury is removed whose origin is not taken away. But if anything has been demolished through the action of old age, let it be repaired with ever-watchful speed, lest, as the defect grows, the cause of loss be increased for us. The conduit of the water is your fortune: while it shall be unharmed, if you shall have made it solid, you advance in our esteem just as much as you shall have proved yourself to have devoted effort to those things. Let your skill and faithfulness therefore act, so that both the construction of the fabric may remain undamaged and the distribution of the water may withdraw itself through no venality of its keepers.
VI.
FORMULA COMITIVAE FORMARUM.
[1] Quamvis Romuleae fabricae collatae sibi vix possint praecipuae reperiri, quia totum ad ammirationem noscitur exquisitum, quod ibi cernitur esse fundatum, tamen interesse arbitramur, quod utilitas necessaria gratificat et quod pulchritudinis tantum causa commendat. Traiani forum vel sub assiduitate videre miraculum est: Capitolia celsa conscendere hoc est humana ingenia superata vidisse. sed numquid per ea vivitur aut corporis salus aliqua inde delectatione recreatur? [2] In formis autem Romanis utrumque praecipuum est, ut fabrica sit mirabilis et aquarum salubritas singularis. quot enim illuc flumina quasi constructis montibus perducuntur, naturales credas alveos soliditate saxorum, quando tantus impetus fluminis tot saeculis firmiter potuit sustineri. cavati montes plerumque subruunt, meatus torrentium dissipantur: et opus illud veterum non destruitur, si industria suffragante servetur. [3] Respiciamus certe aquarum copia quantum Romanis moenibus praestat ornatum. nam thermarum illa pulchritudo quid esset, si dulcissima quaedam aequora non haberet? currit aqua Virgo sub delectatione purissima, quae ideo sic appellata creditur, quod nullis sordibus polluatur. nam cum aliae pluviarum nimietate terrena commixtione violentur, haec aerem perpetue serenum purissime labens unda mentitur. quis possit talia sermonibus idoneis explicare? [4] Claudiam per tantam fastigii molem sic ad Aventini caput esse perductam, ut cum ibi ex alto lapsa ceciderit, cacumen illud excelsum quasi imam vallem irrigare videatur. Aegyptius Nilus certis temporibus crescens per campos iacentes superducto diluvio aere sereno turbulentus exaestuat: sed quanto pulchrius est Claudiam Romanam per tot siccas montium summitates lavacris ac domibus liquores purissimos fistularum uberibus emisisse et ita aequaliter fluere, ut numquam se possit desiderata subducere! ille enim dum recedit, limus est, dum venit insperate, diluvium. quis ergo famosum Nilum urbis nostrae fluminibus non aestimet esse superatum? quando Nilicolas suos aut veniendo terret aut recedendo destituit. [5] Verum haec non superflua commemoratione narravimus, ut possis advertere qualis a te diligentia perquiratur, cui pulchritudo tanta committitur. qua de re per indictionem illam comitivam tibi formarum sub magna deliberatione credidimus, ut summo studio nitaris efficere quod tantis ac talibus rebus respicis expedire. [6] In primis noxias arbores, quae inferunt fabricarum ruinas, dum sunt quidam moenium importabiles arietes, censemus radicitus amputari, quia nulla laesio removetur, cuius origo non tollitur. si quid autem conficiente senio fuerit demolitum, pervigili celeritate reparetur, ne crescente defectu augeatur nobis causa dispendii. ductus aquae fortuna tua est, dum incolumis eris, si illa solidaveris, tantumque apud nos proficis, quantum te illis studuisse probaveris. agat ergo peritia fidesque tua, ut et constructio fabricae illibata permaneat et aquae distributio nulla se custodum venalitate subducat.
◆
VI. FORMULA FOR THE COUNT OF THE AQUEDUCTS.
[1] Although the structures of Rome, when compared one with another, can scarcely yield up which is the most outstanding, since everything that is seen to have been founded there is known to have been wrought to be marveled at, nevertheless we judge that there is a difference between what a necessary usefulness recommends and what is commended only for the sake of its beauty. To see Trajan's forum, even with daily familiarity, is to see a miracle; to climb the lofty Capitol is to have seen human genius surpassed. But is life sustained by these things, or is any health of the body restored by such delight from them? [2] In the aqueducts of Rome, however, both excellences are present, namely that the construction is wonderful and that the wholesomeness of the waters is singular. For so many rivers are conducted there as if upon constructed mountains, that you would believe them natural channels, given the solidity of the stones, since so great a rush of water could be firmly sustained through so many ages. Hollowed-out mountains for the most part collapse, the courses of torrents are scattered: and yet that work of the ancients is not destroyed, if it is preserved with helpful diligence. [3] Let us indeed consider how much adornment the abundance of waters bestows upon the walls of Rome. For what would that beauty of the baths be, if it did not have certain most sweet expanses of water? The water Virgo runs with most pure delight, which is believed to be so called for this reason, that it is polluted by no filth. For while other waters are violated by an excess of rain mixed with earth, this one, gliding most purely, mimics a perpetually serene air with its wave. Who could set forth such things in fitting words? [4] The Claudia [aqueduct] has been led through so great a mass of elevation to the head of the Aventine, so that, when it has fallen there having slipped from on high, that lofty summit seems to be watered as though it were the lowest valley. The Egyptian Nile, rising at certain seasons, swells turbulently over the lying fields beneath a serene sky once the flood has been drawn over them: but how much more beautiful it is that the Roman Claudia, through so many dry mountain-tops, should send forth most pure waters to baths and houses from the abundant mouths of its pipes, and should so flow evenly that it can never withdraw itself when it is longed for! For that one [the Nile], while it recedes, is mud; while it comes unexpectedly, is a flood. Who, then, would not reckon the famous Nile to be surpassed by the rivers of our city? Since it either terrifies its own Nile-dwellers by coming, or abandons them by receding. [5] Truly we have related these things not by superfluous commemoration, so that you may be able to perceive what diligence is required of you, to whom so great a beauty is entrusted. On which account, through that indiction, we have entrusted to you with great deliberation the countship of the aqueducts, so that with the utmost zeal you may strive to accomplish what you see to be expedient for matters so great and of such a kind. [6] In the first place, we decree that harmful trees, which bring about the ruin of structures, since they are certain irresistible battering-rams against walls, be cut away by the roots, because no injury is removed whose origin is not taken away. But if anything has been demolished through the action of old age, let it be repaired with ever-watchful speed, lest, as the defect grows, the cause of loss be increased for us. The conduit of the water is your fortune: while it shall be unharmed, if you shall have made it solid, you advance in our esteem just as much as you shall have proved yourself to have devoted effort to those things. Let your skill and faithfulness therefore act, so that both the construction of the fabric may remain undamaged and the distribution of the water may withdraw itself through no venality of its keepers.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
VI. FORMULA COMITIVAE FORMARUM.
[1] Quamvis Romuleae fabricae collatae sibi vix possint praecipuae reperiri, quia totum ad ammirationem noscitur exquisitum, quod ibi cernitur esse fundatum, tamen interesse arbitramur, quod utilitas necessaria gratificat et quod pulchritudinis tantum causa commendat. Traiani forum vel sub assiduitate videre miraculum est: Capitolia celsa conscendere hoc est humana ingenia superata vidisse. sed numquid per ea vivitur aut corporis salus aliqua inde delectatione recreatur? [2] In formis autem Romanis utrumque praecipuum est, ut fabrica sit mirabilis et aquarum salubritas singularis. quot enim illuc flumina quasi constructis montibus perducuntur, naturales credas alveos soliditate saxorum, quando tantus impetus fluminis tot saeculis firmiter potuit sustineri. cavati montes plerumque subruunt, meatus torrentium dissipantur: et opus illud veterum non destruitur, si industria suffragante servetur. [3] Respiciamus certe aquarum copia quantum Romanis moenibus praestat ornatum. nam thermarum illa pulchritudo quid esset, si dulcissima quaedam aequora non haberet? currit aqua Virgo sub delectatione purissima, quae ideo sic appellata creditur, quod nullis sordibus polluatur. nam cum aliae pluviarum nimietate terrena commixtione violentur, haec aerem perpetue serenum purissime labens unda mentitur. quis possit talia sermonibus idoneis explicare? [4] Claudiam per tantam fastigii molem sic ad Aventini caput esse perductam, ut cum ibi ex alto lapsa ceciderit, cacumen illud excelsum quasi imam vallem irrigare videatur. Aegyptius Nilus certis temporibus crescens per campos iacentes superducto diluvio aere sereno turbulentus exaestuat: sed quanto pulchrius est Claudiam Romanam per tot siccas montium summitates lavacris ac domibus liquores purissimos fistularum uberibus emisisse et ita aequaliter fluere, ut numquam se possit desiderata subducere! ille enim dum recedit, limus est, dum venit insperate, diluvium. quis ergo famosum Nilum urbis nostrae fluminibus non aestimet esse superatum? quando Nilicolas suos aut veniendo terret aut recedendo destituit. [5] Verum haec non superflua commemoratione narravimus, ut possis advertere qualis a te diligentia perquiratur, cui pulchritudo tanta committitur. qua de re per indictionem illam comitivam tibi formarum sub magna deliberatione credidimus, ut summo studio nitaris efficere quod tantis ac talibus rebus respicis expedire. [6] In primis noxias arbores, quae inferunt fabricarum ruinas, dum sunt quidam moenium importabiles arietes, censemus radicitus amputari, quia nulla laesio removetur, cuius origo non tollitur. si quid autem conficiente senio fuerit demolitum, pervigili celeritate reparetur, ne crescente defectu augeatur nobis causa dispendii. ductus aquae fortuna tua est, dum incolumis eris, si illa solidaveris, tantumque apud nos proficis, quantum te illis studuisse probaveris. agat ergo peritia fidesque tua, ut et constructio fabricae illibata permaneat et aquae distributio nulla se custodum venalitate subducat.