valleys in its course, and not crossing them, supported on arches, after
the manner of more recent constructions; it was thus invisible until it
got inside the city itself, a very important matter when we consider how
liable Rome was, in these early times, to hostile attacks.

It was soon found that more water was required than was brought by this
aqueduct, and it was no doubt considered desirable to have tanks at a
higher level in the city than those supplied by the Appian aqueduct. It
was determined, therefore, to bring water from a greater height, and from
a greater distance, and the river Anio, above the falls at Tivoli, was
selected for this purpose. The second aqueduct, the Anio Vetus, was no
less than 42 miles in length, and was, like the Appian, entirely under
the surface of the ground, except at its entrance into Rome at a point
about 60 ft. higher than the level of the Appian aqueduct.

Little search has been made for the remains of this aqueduct, and its
exact course is not known; but during my examination of the remains of
the subsequent aqueducts at a place called the Porta Furba, near Rome,
where the ruins of five aqueducts are seen together, and at, or close to,
which point the Anio Vetus must also have passed underground, I was
rewarded for my search by discovering a hole, something like a fox's
hole, leading into the ground; and on clearing away a few loose stones
which had apparently been thrown into it, and putting my arm in, I found
that it led into the specus or channel of an underground aqueduct; and on
relating this incident to the late Mr. John Henry Parker, the
antiquarian, who was then in Rome, and showing him a sketch of the place,
he said that he had no doubt that I had been fortunate enough to discover
the exact position of the veritable Anio Vetus at that spot. These two
aqueducts sufficed for the supply of Rome with water for about 120 years,
for Frontinus tells us that 127 years after the date at which the