Chapter 5

Practically the whole of Alexandria is undermined with subterranean conduits running from the Nile, by which water is conducted into private houses which Mater in course of time gradually settles down and becomes clear. This is what is normally used by the owners of mansions and their households for what the Nile brings down is so muddy and turbid that it gives rise to many different diseases: yet the rank and file of the common sort are perforce content with the latter, inasmuch as there is not one natural spring in the whole city. The main stream in question, however, was in that quarter of the city which was held by the Alexandrians. This circumstance suggested to Ganymedes the possibility that the water supply could be cut off from our troops; who, posted as they were in various quarters of the town to guard our entrenchments, were using water drawn from conduits and cisterns in private buildings.