A dictionary of Greek and Roman . an three miles. The number of workmenemployed was 30,000, and the time occupied inthe work eleven years. (Suet. Claud. 20 ; compare Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 15. s. 24. §11.) For morethan a mile the tunnel is carried under a moun-tain, of which the highest part is 1000 feet abovethe level of the lake, and through a stratum ofrocky formation (carnelian) so hard that every inchrequired to be worked by the chisel. The remain-ing portion runs through a softer soil, not muchbelow the level of the earth, and is vaulted withbrick. Perpendicular openings (putei
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . an three miles. The number of workmenemployed was 30,000, and the time occupied inthe work eleven years. (Suet. Claud. 20 ; compare Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 15. s. 24. §11.) For morethan a mile the tunnel is carried under a moun-tain, of which the highest part is 1000 feet abovethe level of the lake, and through a stratum ofrocky formation (carnelian) so hard that every inchrequired to be worked by the chisel. The remain-ing portion runs through a softer soil, not muchbelow the level of the earth, and is vaulted withbrick. Perpendicular openings (putei) are sunk atvarious distances into the tunnel, through whichthe excavations were partly discharged ; and anumber of lateral shafts (cuniculi), some of whichseparate themselves into two branches, one abovethe other, are likewise directed into it, the lowestat an elevation of five feet from the these the materials excavated were alsocarried out. Their object was to enable the pro-digious multitude of 30,000 men to carry on their. operations at the same time, without incommodingone another. The immediate mouth of the tunnelis some distance from the present margin of thelake, which space is occupied by two ample reser-voirs, intended to break the rush of water before itentered the emissary, connected by a narrow pas-sage, in which were placed the sluices (epistomia).The mouth of the tunnel itself consists of a splendidarchway of the Doric order, nineteen feet high andnine wide, formed out of large blocks of stone, re-sembling in construction the works of the Claudianaqueduct. That through which the waters dis-charged themselves into the Liris was more simple,and is represented in the preceding woodcut. Theriver lies in a ravine between the arch and fore-ground, at a depth of 60 feet below, and conse-quently cannot be seen in the cut. The smallaperture above the embouchure is one of the cuni-culi above mentioned. It appears that the actualdrainage was relinquished s
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