Page:Frontinus - The stratagems, and, the aqueducts of Rome (Bennet et al 1925).djvu/515

 encumbered with tombs and edifices and planted with trees, and having inquired of the Senate what it would please to order upon the subject, it has been RESOLVED: That since, for the purpose of repairing the channels and conduits [obstructions must be removed] by which public structures are damaged, it is decreed that there shall be kept clear a space of fifteen feet on each side of the springs, arches, and walls; and that about the subterranean conduits and channels, inside the City, and inside buildings adjoining the City, there shall be left a vacant space of five feet on each side; and it shall not be permitted to erect a tomb at these places after this time, nor any structures, nor to plant trees. If there be any trees within this space at the present time they shall be taken out by the roots except when they are connected with country seats or enclosed in buildings. Whoever shall contravene these provisions, shall pay as penalty, for each contravention, 10,000 sestertii, of which one-half shall be given as a reward to the accuser whose efforts have been chiefly responsible for the conviction of the violator of this vote of the Senate. The other half shall be paid into the public treasury. About these matters the water-commissioners shall judge and take cognizance."

 This resolution of the Senate would appear perfectly just, even if this ground were claimed solely in view of the public advantage; but with much more admirable justice, our forefathers did not seize from private parties even those lands which were necessary for public purposes but, in the construction of water-works, whenever a proprietor made any difficulty in the sale of a portion, they