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AQUARIUS

Volume 3 · 106 words · 1860 Edition

in Antiquity, slaves who supplied the women's baths with water, called sometimes Aquarioli, and held in great contempt (Juc. vi. 331, Fest. p. 19). The inspectors of the conduits or water-pipes were likewise called Aquarii.

the Water-bearer, in Astronomy, the 11th sign of the zodiac. It is marked thus, ♍. The poets feign that Aquarius was Ganymede, whom Jupiter ravished under the shape of an eagle, and carried away into heaven to serve as a cup-bearer in the room of Hebe and Vulcan; whence the name. Others hold that the sign was thus called because when it appears in the horizon the weather usually proves rainy.