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Volume 101 No. 3
July 1997
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Torrent or Trickle? The Aqua Alsietina, the Naumachia Augusti, and the Transtiberim
Rabun Taylor
Using both the physical and testimonial evidence, this article attempts to present a coherent history of the Aqua Alsietina and the Naumachia Augusti, for which the aqueduct was originally built. After a survey of the primary sources, a reassessment of Roman techniques for measuring water volume in aqueducts is offered. The meager volume Frontinus ascribes to the Alsietina makes sense only if the Naumachia was out of use by his time--a reasonable conclusion if we recognize the increasing value of the land that it occupied in the Transtiberim. The major aim of this article is to locate the Naumachia securely and to characterize three distinct phases of the aqueduct's existence: the functional life of the Naumachia, the era of the water mills on the Janiculum, and the interval in between. Lastly, it uses the evidence of the Aqua Alsietina to resolve some questions about the water rights of those who had property fronting upon an aqueduct zone in the ager Romanus.
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