Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Pons Fabricius" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Pons Fabricius Ponte Fabricio Ponte dei Quattro Capi
The Pons Fabricius in 2008
Coordinates	41°53′28″N 12°28′42″E / 41.89111°N 12.47833°E / 41.89111; 12.47833
Carries	Connection Campus Martius-Tiber Island
Crosses	Tiber
Locale	Rome, Italy
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Stone and rock
Total length	62 m (203 ft)
Width	5.5 m (18 ft)
Height	55.5 feet
Longest span	24.5 m (80 ft)
No. of spans	2
History
Construction end	62 BC
Location
Click on the map for a fullscreen view

The Pons Fabricius (Italian: Ponte Fabricio, "Fabrician Bridge") or Ponte dei Quattro Capi, is the oldest extant bridge in Rome, Italy. Built in 62 BC, it spans half of the Tiber River, from the Campus Martius on the east side to Tiber Island in the middle (the Pons Cestius is west of the island). Quattro Capi ("four heads") refers to the two marble pillars of the two-faced Janus herms on the parapet, which were moved here from the nearby Church of St Gregory (Monte Savello) in the 14th century.

Bridge

According to Dio Cassius, the bridge was built in 62 BC, the year after Cicero was consul, to replace an earlier wooden bridge destroyed by fire. It was commissioned by Lucius Fabricius, the curator of the roads and a member of the gens Fabricia of Rome. Completely intact from Roman antiquity, it has been in continuous use ever since.

The Pons Fabricius has a length of 62 m, and is 5.5 m wide. It is constructed from two wide arches spanning 80 feet, supported by a central pillar in the middle of the stream. The arches of this bridge are the first ones on any Roman bridge that were not semi-circular. This is possibly caused by the semi-circle being located below the water line. Its core is constructed of tuff. Its outer facing today is made of bricks and travertine. A relief is located 20 feet above the pier. During times of flood, this relief served as an additional waterway.

Inscription

An original inscription on the travertine commemorates its builder in Latin: L . FABRICIVS . C . F . CVR . VIAR | FACIVNDVM . COERAVIT | IDEMQVE | PROBAVIT ("Lucius Fabricius, son of Gaius, superintendent of the roads, took care and likewise approved that it be built"). It is repeated four times, once on each side of each arch.

A later inscription, in smaller lettering, records that the bridge was restored under Pope Innocent XI, probably in 1679.

See also

• Ponte Milvio – Ancient Roman bridge, a landmark of Rome, Italy
• List of Roman bridges
• List of ancient monuments in Rome
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

References

1. Rabun M. Taylor (2000). Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome. L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. pp. 141–. ISBN 978-88-8265-100-8.
2. Claridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
3. Whitney, Charles S. (2003-01-01). Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction. Courier Corporation. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-0-486-42995-3.

Sources

• O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, p. 66, ISBN 0-521-39326-4

External links

• LacusCurtius: Pons Fabricius
• Pons Fabricius at Structurae
• The Waters of Rome: Tiber River Bridges and the Development of the Ancient City of Rome Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Tiber Island information (in Italian)
• Ponte Fabricio Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
• Lucentini, M. (31 December 2012). The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City. Interlink. ISBN 9781623710088.

[REDACTED] Media related to Ponte dei Quattro Capi at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Roman bridges
England	Chesters Bridge Piercebridge Roman Bridge Pons Aelius
France	Pont Ambroix Pont de Bornègre Pont des Marchands Pont du Gard Pont Flavien Pont Julien Pont Serme Pont sur la Laye Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry) Roman Bridge (Vaison-la-Romaine)
Germany	Caesar's Rhine bridges Roman Bridge (Trier)
Iran	Band-e Kaisar
Italy	Pons Aemilius Pons Agrippae Ponte Altinate Pons Cestius Pons Fabricius Pons Neronianus Pons Probi Pons Sublicius Pont d'Aël Pont de Pierre (Aosta) Pont-Saint-Martin Ponte d'Augusto (Narni) Ponte di Tiberio Ponte Corvo Ponte del Gran Caso Ponte Milvio Ponte Molino (Padua) Ponte Nomentano Ponte Pietra (Verona) Ponte di Pioraco Ponte di Quintodecimo Ponte Salario Ponte San Lorenzo Ponte di San Vito Ponte Sant'Angelo Susegana Bridge
Lebanon	Leontes Bridge
Portugal	Ponte de Rubiães Ponte Nova da Cava da Velha Roman Bridge (Chaves) Roman Bridge of Catribana
Romania	Constantine's Bridge (Danube) Trajan's Bridge
Spain	Acueducto de los Milagros Albarregas Roman bridge Alconétar Bridge Aqueduct of Segovia Alcántara Bridge Les Ferreres Aqueduct Puente de Alcántara Puente Romano, Mérida Roman bridge of Ávila Roman bridge of Córdoba Roman bridge of Lugo Roman bridge of Salamanca Roman bridge of Talamanca de Jarama
Syria	Ain Diwar Bridge Bridge at Nimreh Gemarrin Bridge Kharaba Bridge
Turkey	Aesepus Bridge Arapsu Bridge Bridge at Oinoanda Constantine's Bridge (Mysia) Eurymedon Bridge (Aspendos) Eurymedon Bridge (Selge) Karamagara Bridge Kemer Bridge Limyra Bridge Misis Bridge Macestus Bridge Nysa Bridge Penkalas Bridge Pergamon Bridge Sangarius Bridge Severan Bridge Stone Bridge (Adana) Valens Aqueduct Bridge White Bridge (Mysia)
Full list of Roman bridges

• Bridges in Rome
• Roman bridges in Italy
• Deck arch bridges
• Stone bridges in Italy
• Bridges completed in the 1st century BC
• Rome R. XII Ripa