[3.2.1] Tam varius singulis usus quam gustus: Seneca moves from the uses to the tastes of the waters, topics that often were tied together in ancient hydrology (cf. Hipp. Aër 7.1-100, Vitr. 8.3.1-12). Seneca will give the reason why waters have such varied flavor at 3.20.1: at quare aquis sapor varius? For more on this topic, cf. Clendenon 2009: 149-79 and Edlund-Berry 2006.
[Aut stant…venas]: I support the transposition proposed by Codoñer Merino 1979: ad loc. of this line to the beginning of chapter 3, where it is a fitting introduction to the differences between moving and standing waters.
dulces: dulcis is used to distinguish fresh water from water that is brackish or salty (OLD 2). The “sweetness” of waters is commented on by Vitruvius (8.3.1, 8.3.7, 8.3.11) and Pliny (Nat. 31.18, 31.48, 31.52, passim). The Aqua Martia was considered particularly good (Vitr. 8.3.1, Pliny Nat. 31.41). Robinson 2011: 18-20 provides a chemical analysis of the waters of Pierene, a spring thought to be particularly sweet by Pausanias (2.3.3).
varie asperae: Seneca follows with the ways the water may taste “harsh”.
interveniunt salsae amaraeque, aut medicatae: aquae needs to be supplied with salsae amarae and medicatae. intervenire here indicates “occur, be found” (OLD 3b). While “salty” and “bitter” waters stand alone, “mineral” waters need further definition. Vitruvius writes of bitter waters at 8.3.11, whereas Seneca mentions only the bitterness of the ocean (NQ 3.6.1, and quotes Vergil Ecl. 10.4-5 at 3.26.6). Salty waters are mentioned in all discussions of water, from Hippocrates (7.66-70) to Pliny (Nat. 31.5). Seneca only uses the adjective medicatus to refer to waters (Dial. 1.2.1: tanta medicatorum vis fontium, De Ben. 4.5.3: Quid medicatorum torrentium venae?, NQ 3.20.2, 3.25.9, 3.25.10). At 3.25.9 he explains that mineral waters are imbued with some healing powers, which will make them heavy in addition. Vitruvius endorses this thought, especially as it relates to hot springs (8.3.4).
sulphuratas: The multiple hot springs in Italy, especially those near Baiae, were a topic of scholarly interest (Pliny Nat. 3.60-61, 31.5 and see the note on 3.24.3 infra). The sulphuric smell and taste to the water is caused by hydrogen sulfide (a bacterium that feeds off the mineral sulfides dissolved in the hot water). Pliny mentions the lethal sulphur fumes that sometimes accompany the digging of wells (Nat. 31.49). Seneca will revisit these waters at NQ 3.20.2-5 and elsewhere in the NQ connects sulphur with fire (5.14.4) and lightning (2.21.2). Kroonenberg 2011 connects sulphur with ancient representations of the underworld and aspects of hydrology and Blümner’s article RE 11.2.796-801 (s.v. “Schwefel”) is exhaustive.
ferratas: A poetic word first used of the gates of war in Ennius Ann. 7.226. This is its sole appearance in Seneca. Scribonius Largus, court physician of Claudius, also mentions such chalybeate waters (ab aquis calidis, quae sunt in Tuscia ferratae, Comp. 146.2).
aluminosas: Water rich in astringent substances, such as sulphates of aluminum and alum, cf. Vitr. 8.2.8, Plin. Nat. 31.49. Aristotle believes this happens ultimately because of heat (Mete. 359b5-14). The importance of alum for dyeing as well as medicinal purposes is not lost on Pliny (Nat. 35.183-190).
indicat vim sapor: Cicero has a similar phrase at De Rep. 1.63.11: ipsum nomen vim suae potestatis indicat and both Lucretius (4.494: sapor oris habet vim) and Vergil write about taste in reminiscent language: at sapor indicium faciet manifestus (G. 2.246).
[3.2.2] multa discrimina: In addition to the intensity of the taste, there are other ways to differentiate between waters. Many of these topics will be treated more fully at NQ 3.24-25. Such discrimina are important for winds and sections of the sky (NQ 5.17.2, 2.17.3, 5.17.4) and Greek categorizing of comets (NQ 7.11.2).
tactus: tactus with the sense of temperature here, as at Cic. N.D. 2.40 about the heat of the sun. The genitive of definition (Woodcock 72.5) is due to discrimina, as at Cic. N.D. 3.85: si discrimen nullum est bonorum et malorum. Seneca will return to this topic of hot springs in section NQ 3.24. The relative temperature of a spring also was a topic for Plutarch’s Naturales Quaestiones (Q.N. 29.919AB).
ponderis: The weight of water is a topic of concern from Hippocrates (Aër 8.3) to Celsus (2.18.12) to Vitruvius (8.2.1) – for all of whom rainwater is the lightest and most salubrious. Pliny believes the water from melted snow is the lightest because nix aquarum caelestium spuma est (Nat. 17.14-17.15) and complains that actually weighing different types of water is nearly impossible (Nat. 31.32). The actual weight of water depends on the saturation of salts and minerals present, but for the ancients, the most telling sign of water’s weight was buoyancy (cf. Pliny Nat. 2.224 for the phenomenon of freshwater floating on the surface of salt water; Sen. NQ 3.25.5-10 infra).
coloris: The color of water quickly suggests its purity as suspended particles will lead to discoloration. Empedocles and Aristotle hypothesized that the color of water may essentially be black (elementally speaking, fire is associated with light and water with darkness; cf. Kalderon 2015: 92-108). The color will change depending on its illumination, as Kalderon 2015: 106 clarifies with the example of a river on a sunny day, “The different colors – white, blue, and black – are due to different proportions of fire and water. In the shifting pattern of reflective highlights, there is a preponderance of fire and this results in a brilliant appearance; whereas, in the depth of the river, there is a preponderance of water (and perhaps no fire at all) and this results in a dark appearance. In the shallows of the river, due to a more equitable combination of fire and water, a blue appearance is manifest”. One needs only think of Homer’s “wine-dark sea” (οἶνοψ πόντος) to question how our experience of color may be different than the ancients (I’ve never thought of the Aegean as intrinsically “dark” or cabernet-colored), cf. Bradley 2011 for color in Rome and the essays in Squire 2015 for the sense of sight more generally.
purae: Here, it must mean “clear” (OLD 6b) to contrast with turbidae “murky, turbid” (OLD 2), cf. Cic. Tusc. 5.97: cum aquam turbidam et cadaveribus inquinatam bibisset; Sen. Ep. 108.26 (of wine). For the contrast between purus and turbidus, cf. Pliny Nat. 2.85 about the atmosphere, Gellius N.A. 18.5.11 for evidence.
caeruleae: A blue or blue-green color when used of water. Seneca recalls this passage at NQ 4a.2.23, when dismissing the hypothesis that the Nile flooding originates in the Atlantic: ex mari purus et caeruleus efflueret, non, ut nunc, turbidus veniret. Pliny Nat. 31.55-56 about lakes and springs changing color, including the Borysthenes, which flows caeruleus at certain intervals.
lucidae: This color term differs from purae above, by indicating a certain “brightness” to the water. Because of their similarity and manuscript discrepancies, emendations have been proposed. But Seneca uses it of the Alpheos river at Thy. 130, cf. Tarrant 1985: ad loc., the alliterative –ul lu- sounds, and his reuse of these adjectives when discussing the color changes of the mullet at its death (NQ 3.18.5, where it is paired with caeruleum) makes lucidae the most attractive option. If Seneca is following Empedocles and the mixing of elements even in water, then lucidus may indicate the presence of the element of fire as well. The repetition of these color terms in the mullet section tie these more general physical concerns to an ethical application.
salubritatis: The “health-effects” of water are also the primary point of Hippocrates’ account (7.1) and underlie many of the fantastic stories of water recorded in Vitruvius (8.3.4-5) and Pliny (Nat. 31.5-15). Such health-effects also motivate many of the poems and writings about springs’ qualities, some of which are preserved in Vitruvius (8.3.21-3). For more on the Romans’ (mis)understanding about water and health, see Koloski-Ostrow 2015: passim.
utiles…mortiferae: Seneca will write about plague-ridden waters hidden deep below the earth at NQ 6.27.3: quid quod aquae quoque inutiles pestilentesque in abdito latent, as well as deadly waters that can not be determined through smell or taste (NQ 3.25.1). Pliny will also use these terms to distinguish deadly and beneficial waters, cf. Pliny Nat. 31.25-35 (mortiferorum fontium, 31.26; utilissimae, 31.31) and Vitruvius likewise writes of deadly waters (8.3.15-16).
cogantur in lapidem: Seneca will go on to discuss waters becoming stone and how these are harmful when ingested at NQ 3.20.3-4. Waters becoming stone are mentioned at Pliny Nat. 31.29-30 of stalactites and stalagmites (which are formed by minerals deposited through slowly dripping water) and crystals (Nat. 36.161), and Seneca also believes certain metals and crystals are made of solidified liquids (NQ 3.15.3: quae in lapidem ex liquore vertuntur, 3.25.12). Ovid often stresses the transformative qualities of water in his Metamorphoses (cf. Met. 13.918, 15.251 and uses the phrase in lapidem at Met. 11.59), cf. the comments of Hinds on water in the Metamorphoses, “water is also, both in its fluidity and in its power to reflect and distort, the quintessentially metamorphic element” (2002: 145).
tenues…pingues: This is the only time Seneca juxtaposes these terms, but both will reappear in later descriptions of waters (NQ 3.15.2, 3.15.7, 3.25.9). While these should be taken absolutely as further distinguishing characteristics of water, there was some argument about whether quartz was created by particularly thin or thick (s.v. pinguis OLD 6) waters, see the note on 3.25.12 infra. Vergil uses tenuis to describe water at G. 3.335, 4.410 and pinguis to describe the Nile at A. 9.31. In this book, Seneca claims animals are born underground in air that is caeco pinguique (3.16.5).
quaedam alunt…adferunt: Seneca concludes this section by generalizing about waters that nourish, waters that have no effect, and those that imbue fertility on the drinker (cf. NQ 3.25.11). Pliny writes of a spring in Campania that cures barrenness (Nat. 31.8) as well as additional waters that help in conception (Nat. 31.10).
