Via Tiburtina

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Via Tiburtina is an ancient road of Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) for a distance of about 18 miles. Its exit through the Aurelian Wall was the Porta Tiburtina and through the Servian Wall probably the Porta Esquilina.

Historians assert that Via Tiburtina must have come into existence, as a track, at any rate, during the establishment of the Latin League. Though afterward it became an important thoroughfare, the first portion of Via Tiburtina always retained its original name Via Valeria, which applied only to the portion of the road beyond Tibur. There is, however, a difficulty in determining the last portion of the course of Via Tiburtina from the Albulae Aquae (q.v.) to Tibur: According to the milestones and itineraries, the distance from Rome to Tibur is 20 miles, yet it is impossible to calculate a distance of more than 18 miles along any probable line.

See T. Ashby in Papers of the British School at Rome, iii. 84 sqq.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.