Junction of the Five Great Aqueducts

"...the longest tunnel constructed in its vicinity for the sake of the water-supply is the one of Monte Affliano, between Tivoli and S. Gericomio, 4,950 metres (about three miles) long. Its boring was intrusted - by Domitian to one of the imperial contractors, L. Paquedius Festus. A bold and arduous work it was, especially on account of the difficulty of ventilation in a channel only seven feet high by three wide. The contractor, before commencing the tunnel, made a vow to a local goddess, named the Bona Dea, to restore her decayed temple on the top of the mountain if the enterprise should succeed. The two opposite sections met most successfully on July 3, A. D. 88. The beautiful columns and fragments of Junction of the Five Great AqueducU. statuary discovered on the summit of Monte Affliano prove that the vow of L. Paquedius was not what is called the vow of a sailor. . .."

Ancient Rome
in the light of recent excavations

Author: Rodolfo Lanciani
Editor:Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston and New York
Published: 1890


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