39. KING THEODORIC TO ALOISIUS THE ARCHITECT.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Footnote 270: [Greek: aponos].]