Bridges of Ancient Rome

• Ten bridges crossed the Tiber in Ancient Rome.
• Two of the ten are still standing in almost their original condition, the Milvian Bridge and the Ponte Fabricio.

The River Tiber

• The Tiber is the River that runs through Rome down to Portus and Ostia.
• Seven Rivers ran under Rome, and drained through the Cloaca Maxima, which emptied into the Tiber just below Tiber Island.
• The towpath along the Tiber was specifically for oxen to haul the barges upriver, as described by Procopius.

The Ten Ancient Roman Bridges over the Tiber (heading south)

1. Milvian Bridge (109 BCE)
   • Mostly original, the bridge carried the Via Flaminia and the Via Cassia. It was the site in 312 CE of the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
2. Ponte Sant' Angelo (134 CE)
   • Also known as the Aelian Bridge, ‘Pons Aelius’, or Bridge of Hadrian.
   • Three central arches are original. The bridge leads to the Castel San Angelo.
3. Neronian Bridge (54-68 CE)
   • Destroyed in the fourth century CE, the remains are underwater. It connected the Campus Martius with Circus of Nero.
4. Agrippa’s Bridge (41-54 CE)
   • Only the remains of four piers are visible on right bank, the rest are underwater lying 525 feet (160m) north of Aurelian Bridge.
5. Aurelian Bridge (211-217 CE)
   • The remains of piers and an entrance arch on the left bank are all that remain.
6. Ponte Fabricio (62 BCE)
   • The Bridge of Fabricius is the original and best preserved bridge in Rome. It connects Tiber Island with the East Bank.
   • On the parapet are two marble pillars known as the Quattro Capi which each have a double headed sculpture of Janus.
7. Cestius Bridge (62-27 BCE)
   • This connects Tiber Island to the West Bank of the Tiber.
   • It was the first stone bridge from Tiber island to the Trastevere area.
   • It was rebuilt in 370 CE. Then rebuilt and lengthened in 1888-92 CE. Only the middle span is original.
8. Pons Aemilius
   • Built in 179 BCE, the stone arches were added in 142 BCE. Today there is one arch left, south of Tiber Island. It was the first stone bridge in Rome and connected the Forum Boarium with the Trastevere area.
   • The bridge carried the Via Aurelia to Pisa.
   • The Cloaca Maxima emerges between the Pons Aemilius and the Pons Sublicius.
9. Pons Sublicius (4th-3rd century BCE)
   • Rebuilt continuously until 5th century CE. It was the oldest and most famous wooden bridge constructed of wood only. It was located near the Forum Boarium on the site of the ford across the Tiber, the site is uncertain today, but south of Tiber Island. In Latin ‘Pons Sublicius’ means bridge built on wooden piles.
10. Probus’ Bridge (276-282 CE)
    • The bridge was rebuilt in 381-387 CE, but destroyed over the centuries and nothing remains today.

Tiber Island

• The Roman Water Mills on the Tiber

Docks of Ancient Rome

• The Docks were known as the Emporium.
• The Warehouse were the Porticus Aemilia.
• Monte Testaccio is a nearby mountain of broken fragments from all the pottery containers that came to Rome.

The Seaports of Rome

• Ostia
  • the seaport of Ancient Rome
• Portus
  • In 42 CE a new seaport was built 2 miles north of Ostia by Claudius. It was later enlarged by Trajan.
• Centumcellae
  • Built in 106 CE by Trajan, this is now Rome’s Seaport of Civitaveccia.

Ponte Fabricio (intact)