Frontinus: Stratagems, Aqueducts of Rome
by Frontinus (translated by Charles E. Bennett)
(1 January 1925)
What’s it about?: Two books: a treatise on warfare, and an official report on the state of the aqueducts of Rome, by Sextus Julius Frontinus, civil engineer, author, soldier, and senator of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. It was presented to either Nerva or Trajan.
My opinion: Stratagems is fine, just very rudimentary. Frontinus seems to be drawing on his own personal experience, and anecdotes from others. He wouldn’t be the first to do that. Scholars have challenged the authenticity of his accounts in the fourth book, but elsewhere, his experience is documented. It sits nicely with any treatise on war and war strategy, but that’s not why I bought this volume.
Aqueducts of Rome is the reason to get it. It is absolutely riveting, and it is an excellent book to have in one’s library. This is partly because it’s the only one of its kind to have survived, or at least it’s one of the earliest examples. Reading about the complexities of engineering in ancient societies, and the political arrangements necessary for bringing water from such a distance to serve a population is something I never had on my bingo card, but I’m glad I did. Such feats of engineering are very, very incredible, and I have a great deal of respect for the minds who made it happen.
Frontinus bragging about the brilliance of his aqueducts is unintentionally hilarious. “With such an array of indispensable structures carrying so many waters, compare, if you will, the idle Pyramids or the useless, though famous, works of the Greeks!” He is not entirely wrong. A bit of arrogance is tolerable if you have something to back it up, and aqueducts are very incredible, so I think Frontinus gets a pass.
Charles E. Bennett’s translation is very readable, and not at all overwhelming for a non-engineer such as myself, so that’s a plus. And, the entirety of the Loeb Classical Library is just excellent, and this volume is another must-have for people who like to think about the Roman Empire.
Lawrence Deveney 