39. King Theodoric to Aloisius the Architect.

Hot springs of Aponum.

'The fountain of Aponus—so called originally in the Greek language as being the remover of pain[270]—has many marvellous and beneficial properties, for the sake of which the buildings round it ought to be kept in good repair. One may see it welling up from the bowels of the earth in spherical form, under a canopy of steam. From this parent spring the waters, glassy-clear and having lost their first impetuosity, flow by various channels into chambers prepared for them by nature but made longer by art. In the first, when the boiling element dashes against the rock, it is hot enough to make a natural sudatorium; then it cools sufficiently for the tepidarium; and at last, quite cold, flows out into a fish-pond like that of Nero. Marvellous provision of Nature, whereby the opposing elements, fire and water, are joined in harmonious union and made to soothe the pain and remove the sickness of man! Yet more wonderful is the moral purity of this fountain. Should a woman descend into the bath when men are using it, it suddenly grows hotter, as if with indignation that out of its abundant supply of waters separate bathing-places should not be constructed for the two sexes, if they wish to enjoy its bounty[271]. Moreover, those secret caves, the bowels of the mountains from whence it springs, have power even to judge contentious business. For if any sheep-stealer presumes to bring to it the fleece of his prey, however often he may dip it in the seething wave, he will have to boil it before he succeeds in cleansing it.

'This fountain then, as we before said, deserves a worthy habitation. If there be anything to repair in the thermae themselves or in the passages (cuniculi), let this be done out of the money which we now send you. Let the thorns and briers which have grown up around it be rooted up. Let the palace, shaken with extreme old age, be strengthened by careful restoration. Let the space which intervenes between the public building and the source of the hot-spring be cleared of its woodland roughness, and the turf around rejoice in the green beauty which it derives from the heated waters.'

[The hot-springs of Abano, the ancient Aponum, are situated near the Euganean Hills, and are about six miles from Padua. The heat of the water varies from 77° to 185° (Fahr.). The chief chemical ingredients are, as stated by Cassiodorus, salt and sulphur. Some of the minute description of Cassiodorus (greatly condensed in the above abstract) seems to be still applicable; but he does not mention the mud-baths which now take a prominent place in the cure. On the other hand, the wonderful moral qualities of the spring are not mentioned by modern travellers.]