Roman bridges

Грачева А.Д.

Roman bridges connected roads, towns and riverbanks. Builders used timber spans, stone arches and combinations of materials. A road bridge differs from an aqueduct bridge: one carries traffic, the other a water conduit. The Pont du Gard in France is a three-tier aqueduct bridge of the first century CE, not a late Republican structure.

Notable examples of a single-tiered span bridge are the Mulvian Bridge,the Fabricia and Cestia bridges in Rome. The Mulvian Bridge dates back to 109 BC and is part of the Flaminian Road. The bridge is a six-span stone structure without any decorative elements. This building has been preserved to this day in a somewhat rebuilt form. The Fabricius and Cestius bridges in Rome connected the island of Tiberina on the Tiber River with the city: on the left bank – the Fabricius Bridge,built in 62 BC. The Cestia Bridge,built in 46 BC,but completely rebuilt in 370 AD by the emperors Valentian,Valens and Gratian,and completely remodeled at the end of the nineteenth century,led to the Trastevere area on the right bank (Staciolli R. A. Ancient Rome p. 60.). If we talk separately about the Fabricius Bridge,which has been preserved almost in its original form,it should be said that the architect of this building managed to introduce elements of the order that decorated the bridge abutments for decoration,and thereby soften their massiveness (Sokolov G. I. Iskusstvo drevnego Rima P. 44.). Stone bridges are known in Rome and across many provinces of the empire.

Related topics

Roman Republic,Architecture in Ancient Rome,Roman roads,Roman Empire

Literature and sources

1. Sokolov G. I. Iskusstvo Drevnego Rima [The Art of Ancient Rome]. Moscow,Iskusstvo Publ.,1971 2. Stacciolli.R. A. Drevnyj Rim [Ancient Rome],Rome,1998 - Pont du Gard: official site