The English version has been carried out by the English department of liceo classico scientifico Francesco Sbordone
Naples and Its Waters: A 2700-Year History
Neapolis and the Aqua Augusta Aqueduct:
Branches to Urban Centers
The aqueduct ran along the side of the hills above Urbula, present-day Sarno (SA), with a gentle slope, heading towards the inward of the Campanian plain. It then turned northwest towards the site of present-day San Gennaro Vesuviano (ad Teglanum), from which the first two important branches diverged. After Sarno, the ruins of a section of the aqueduct are still visible, where it ran on an aqueduct bridge, the so-called "Mura d'Arce," and other remains can be seen in the Ponte Tirone area in the territory of Palma Campania.
The branch to Herculaneum with branches to Pompeii and Oplontis is highly likely not to have pointed directly towards Pompeii but to have remained at a higher elevation and continued towards Oplontis, present-day Torre Annunziata, and Herculaneum, serving the luxurious villas along the aforementioned route. Remains of the aqueduct have been found near Herculaneum and a castellum aquae in the city of Pompeii.
The aqueduct gently circled around the northern slope of Mount Vesuvius, gradually declining from 50 to 47 meters above sea level before reaching the branch to Acerrae. There is certainty about this branch due to the inscription of Constantine, but no other information is available.
After a short stretch from the branch for Acerrae, an imposing aqueduct bridge began, measuring over three and a half kilometers in length and reaching a height of about fifteen meters at certain points.
In a small final stretch, the aqueduct bridge, oriented towards the northwest, had to necessarily change direction, pointing towards the southwest. This aqueduct bridge survived long time after the deactivation of the aqueduct. In the High Middle Ages, there is evidence of various centers that, being located beyond the arches of the aqueduct (in the perspective from Neapolis), were called 'foris arcora' or also 'a foris arcora.' As derivations from these expressions, we have Pomigliano d'Arco, Arcora, the church of Madonna dell' Arcora in Casalnuovo di Napoli, and presumably Afragola, as a contraction of 'a foris arcora -> afracora -> Afragola.'
In the late Medieval and Modern Eras, the remains of the aqueduct were used as stone quarries until their complete destruction above ground level; however some foundations have emerged near Pomigliano d'Arco during the construction of the high-speed railway line. Just after the end of the grand aqueduct bridge, there should have been the branch for Atella, as it was the point closest to that city.