‹‹‹ Vitr. 8.6.3 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 8.6.5 ›››
4If the water is to be brought in leaden pipes, a reservoir is first made near the spring, from whence to the reservoir in the city, pipes are laid proportioned to the quantity of water. The pipes must be made in lengths of not less than ten feet: hence if they be one hundred inches wide (centenariæ), each length will weigh twelve hundred pounds; if eighty inches (octogenariæ), nine hundred and sixty pounds; if fifty inches (quinquagenariæ), six hundred pounds; if forty inches (quadragenariæ), four hundred and eighty pounds; if thirty inches (tricenariæ), three hundred and sixty pounds; if twenty inches (vicenariæ), two hundred and forty pounds; if fifteen inches (quinumdenum), one hundred and eighty pounds; if ten inches (denum), one hundred and twenty pounds; if eight inches (octonum), ninety-six pounds; if five inches (quinariæ), sixty pounds. It is to be observed that the pipes take the names of their sizes from the quantity of inches in width of the sheets, before they are bent round: thus, if the sheet be fifty inches wide, before bending into a pipe, it is called a fifty-inch pipe; and so of the rest.
4But if the water is to be conducted in lead pipes, first build a reservoir at the source; then, let the pipes have an interior area corresponding to the amount of water, and lay these pipes from this reservoir to the reservoir which is inside the city walls. The pipes should be cast in lengths of at least ten feet. If they are hundreds, they should weigh 1200 pounds each length; if eighties, 960 pounds; if fifties, 600 pounds; forties, 480 pounds; thirties, 360 pounds; twenties, 240 pounds; fifteens, 180 pounds; tens, 120 pounds; eights, 100 pounds; fives, 60 pounds. The pipes get the names of their sizes from the width of the plates, taken in digits, before they are rolled into tubes. Thus, when a pipe is made from a plate fifty digits in width, it will be called a “fifty,” and so on with the rest.