which the temperature could be varied and adapted to the taste and desires of those who frequented them; and for this purpose large brick stoves communicated heat to several at the same time, so as to afford the accommodation of either a tepid, hot, or steam bath.

Another practice that commonly prevailed among the Romans, evinces the utility of these contrivances. Previous to taking that repast, which in modern times is called dinner, it was their custom to bathe; and this probably may have been the chief reason for the principal baths being formed contiguous to the dining-room. As the splendid mansions of the wealthy usually contained large and commodious basins, in which persons could enjoy the pleasure and exercise of swimming, on occasions of social festivities, the guests were offered the use of the baths before participating of the feast.

The Romans generally began their bathing with hot water, and concluded with cold, when they afterwards underwent the operation of rubbing with oils and perfumes. Persons of both sexes equally indulged in these refreshing and healthful enjoyments. At one period the public baths were indiscriminately used; but as such promiscuous bathing gradually became offensive, by its diminishing or destroying the delicacy of moral feeling, and a due regard for decorum, it was consequently prohibited, when each sex had separate baths provided for their respective use. Male and female slaves attended the public baths to perform different services; and these people had designations according to their several employments: some heated the baths, others had the care of the clothes of those who bathed; whilst another class was engaged in rubbing the bathers with oils and perfumes. Considerable revenues were applied to the maintenance of these establishments; and officers, appointed by the

government, superintended them. It may not be irrelevant to remark that, although no distinction of rank, or quality precluded admission to them, and whatever disregard of delicacy or decency might occasionally have occurred, at one time it was considered unbecoming for a father to bathe with his own sons, or sons in law, when they had arrived at the age of puberty. This fact may appear to be singular, but it serves to illustrate the modifications of manners and moral sentiment, in different ages, even among the people of the same nation.

The reflections of Pliny concerning the aqueducts for supplying Rome, evince the admiration excited by them at the period of his writing. "If any person," he observes, "shall very attentively consider the abundance of water conveyed to the public, for baths, fish-ponds, private houses, fountains, gardens, villas,-conducted over arches of considerable extent,-through mountains perforated for the purpose, and even valleys filled up, he will be disposed to acknowledge that nothing was ever more wonderful in the world." The first of these grand structures mentioned in a former page as being formed during the censorship of Appius Claudius, and thence denominated Appia Claudia, had its source in the district of Tusculum, where, after making a circuitous course of about 800 paces, it proceeded through a deep subterraneous channel, more than eleven miles in length, and entering the city at the Appian Way, delivered the greater portion of its water in the Campus Martius.

The formation of another aqueduct, the Aqua Martia, originated with Quintus Martius. It began at a spring, thirty-three miles from Rome, and having a circuitous channel along the surface of the ground for three miles, it

Plinii, Nat. Hist. lib. xxxvi. cap. 15.

then entered a tunnel sixteen feet in diameter, whence it continued for thirty-eight miles; having also in its course a series of nearly 7000 arcades, with an elevation of seventy feet. In various parts of this extensive aqueduct deep cisterns were formed, for the purpose of receiving the sediment deposited by the water; and at certain distances, the upper parts had apertures for the escape of air, that might be collected in the conduit. The water supplied from this source is represented to be remarkable for its green colour; and Pliny, in his Natural History, particularly celebrates its excellence, for when treating of the qualities of waters, he thus eulogizes it:-" Among the blessings conferred upon the city by the bounty of the gods is the water of the Martia; the clearest of all the waters in the world, and distinguished for coolness and salubrity."

From the obvious utility of these important works to the inhabitants of Rome, different persons were induced to construct others of a similar kind; and hence, at successive periods, their number was greatly augmented. During the reign of Augustus, some of the aqueducts, which had long been erected, being found in a decayed condition, Agrippa, who then held the office of Ædile, or principal curator of the public works, not only repaired their dilapidations, but also constructed a new one. All the aqueducts being formed with a slight descent, the water always flowed in a gentle current; and through nearly the whole extent of the channels they were covered.

Among the noble works constructed by Agrippa was the aqueduct called Aqua Virginia, which began at a copious spring in the middle of a marsh eight miles distant from Rome, but its winding channel extended the