Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/96

 distribution. With the exception, however, of that of Valens, aerial aqueducts (so conspicuous at Rome) have not been carried near to, or within, the walls of Constantinople; and subterranean pipes of lead or earthenware are the usual means of conveying the precious liquid from place to place. The public cisterns are in themselves a striking architectural feature of the city. Some of these are open basins, but many of them possess vaulted roofs, upborne by hundreds of columns whose capitals are sculptured in the varied styles of Byzantine art. Most of these receptacles for water are distinguished by special names; thus, beneath the Sphendone of the Hippodrome, we have the Cold cistern, and near to the palace or hospice of Lausus the Philoxenus, or Travellers' Friend. By a law of Theodosius II, the wharf dues, paid for the use of the various stairs on the Golden Horn, are applied to the repair of the aqueducts, the supply of water from which is free to the public. In connection with the cisterns a group of three storks in white marble is pointed out as a further