Pons Agrippae : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pons Agrippae

Bridge in Rome, Italy

The Pons Agrippae (Bridge of Agrippa) was an ancient bridge across the River Tiber in Rome. It was located 160 metres above the Ponte Sisto, and is known from an inscribed cippus set up by the curatores riparum during the Principate of the Emperor Claudius, suggesting it was built during or before the reign of Claudius. It was restored in 147 AD. The bridge is named after Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a close friend of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippa married Julia, the daughter of Augustus, and the couple lived in a villa on the opposite bank of the River Tiber. To connect his villa to the Field of Mars, where Agrippa had built several important monuments, it has been suggested that Agrippa constructed the Pons Agrippae.^[1]

The remains of four piers from the bridge were discovered in 1887; these are still somewhat visible on the right bank, but are mostly under water.^[2] These piers are misaligned with the modern current.^[3] The Pons Agrippae survived into the Middle Ages, connecting the area of the Palazzo Farnese with the Villa Farnesina, supposedly built on the site of Agrippa's villa. One arch of a bridge that connected the Palazzo Farnese to the Pons Agrippae is still intact. The Pons Agrippae was demolished when Pope Sixtus IV ordered a new bridge to be constructed, the Ponte Sisto.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Bridge of Agrippa in Rome on livius.org
^ Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby): A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, (1929) pg 398
^ Taylor, Rabun Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome, L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome (2000) pg 131 Google Books

External links

The Tiber River, Tiber Bridges, and Tiber Island in Rome

Ancient bridges on the Tiber (from source to mouth)

Upstream

Milvius (Molle)

Ælius (Sant'Angelo)

Neronianus^†

Agrippae (Sisto)

Aurelius^†

After Tiber Isl.

Fabricius

Cestius

Æmilius (Rotto)^†

Sublicius^†

Probi^†

† partly or wholly underwater or demolished
Names are in the original Latin; in parentheses are the Italian names that differ significantly

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