Note 79 — Chapter IV · PART I. THE AQUEDUCTS.

The new company had at first proposed to draw their chief supply of water from the small lake called the Lago di S. Lucia, which is nearer to Rome, and which they had been misinformed was the Aqua Marcia. Dr. Fabio Gori, from his great local knowledge and his archæological researches, was able to shew that this was a mistake, and wrote to that effect a letter in the Roman newspaper called the Osservatore Romano. This letter at first gave great offence, and a very warm controversy was carried on for some time on that subject. Eventually, however, a new engineer of the company thought it better to examine the ground himself, and the result was to establish that Gori’s views were perfectly correct. He then became a warm advocate for the company, which he thinks entitled to great praise for the admirable manner in which its works in the valley of the Anio have been carried out as far as Tivoli. Their works almost equal those of the time of the Empire, and are carried out on the same principles; but from Tivoli to Rome the water is carried in metal pipes, and not in a stone specus as it is above Tivoli. This enables the company to carry it in a more direct line.