Aqueduct crossing

South of Rome, about 3 kilometers north of Roma Vecchia, Marcia (with Tepula's and Julia's
specus on top) made a wide loop and intersected Claudia - Anio Vetus twice. The area enclosed
by the loop was used by the Goths in 537 - 538 A.D. during their siege of Rome. They filled
in the arches and put in 7,000 troops in the fortified camp. From this event the place came
to be known as Campus Barbaricus. The tower in the foreground pretends to be Tor Fiscale
built in 1363 A.D. as a papal tax collector. The tower still has remains of the specus of the
five aqueducts. However, the placing of the tower is incorrect; it should be at the second
intersection, but then, of course, the composition of the picture would have suffered. The
sketch is made on the basis of a painting by the German eighteenth century artist Zeno Diemer,
and is not made better than fantasy.
From: G.E. Sandstrom: Water Conduction and Drainage in Greece and Rome, in: Man the builder (1970)