Pons Fabricius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pons Fabricius (today: Ponte dei Quattro Capi) is the oldest bridge in Rome, Italy. It spans half of the Tiber River, from the Campus Martius on the east side to Tiber Island in the middle.
According to Dio Cassius, the bridge was built in 62 BC, the year after Cicero was consul. It was built to replace an earlier bridge destroyed by fire. It was commissioned by Lucius Fabricius, the curator of the roads in 62 BC, and a member of the gens Fabricia of Rome. It has been in continuous use ever since.
The Pons Fabricius has a length of 62 m, and it is 5.5 m wide. It is constructed from two wide arches, supported by a central pillar in the middle of the stream. Its nucleus is built of blocks of tufa and peperino, and its outer facing today is made of bricks and travertine.
An original inscription on the travertine commemorates its builder in elegant Roman capitals, L . FABRICIVS . C . F . CVR . VIAR | FACIVNDVM . COERAVIT | IDEMQVE | PROBAVIT. It is repeated four times: on each arch, on both sides of the bridge.
A later inscription, in smaller lettering, records that the bridge was later restored under Pope Innocent XI, probably in 1679.
The bridge is today known as the Ponte Fabricio or the Ponte Quattro Capi. Quattro Capi ("four heads" in Italian) refers to the four heads of the Janus herms on the parapet.
[edit] Further reading
- Colin O'Connor, Roman Bridges, Cambridge Univ. Press (1994) ISBN 0-521-39326-4
[edit] External links
- Description of the construction of the bridge
- LacusCurtius: Pons Fabricius
- Structurae: Pons Fabricius - data
- Tiber Island information (Italian)
