The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest
river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the
Apennine Mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
in
Emilia-Romagna and flowing through
Tuscany,
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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, and
Lazio, where it is joined by the River
Aniene
The Aniene (; la, Aniō), formerly known as the Teverone, is a river in Lazio, Italy. It originates in the Apennines at Trevi nel Lazio and flows westward past Subiaco, Vicovaro, and Tivoli to join the Tiber in northern Rome. It formed the pr ...
, to the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian p ...
, between
Ostia and
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-b ...
. It
drains a basin estimated at . The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of
Rome, which was founded on its eastern banks.
The river rises at
Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past
Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at
Ostia. Known in ancient times (in
Latin) as ''
flavus
Flavus is the Latin word for yellow or blond and has given the name to many, more or less yellow, objects:
* Subrius Flavus, a failed Roman conspirator against the Emperor Nero
* Flavus, brother of Arminius
See also
* Flavius
* Flava (disamb ...
'' ("the blond"), in reference to the yellowish colour of its water, the Tiber has advanced significantly at its mouth, by about , since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a derivation ...
inland.
["Tiber River". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006] However, it does not form a proportional
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast, and to slow
tectonic subsidence
Tectonic subsidence is the sinking of the Earth's crust on a large scale, relative to crustal-scale features or the geoid. The movement of crustal plates and accommodation spaces created by faulting create subsidence on a large scale in a variet ...
.
Sources
The
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...
of the Tiber consists of two
springs away from each other on
Mount Fumaiolo. These springs are called ''le Vene''. The springs are in a
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
forest above
sea level. During the 1930s,
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
had an antique
marble Roman column built at the point where the river rises, inscribed
QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ("Here is born the river / sacred to the destinies of Rome"). An
eagle is on the top of the column, part of its
fascist symbolism
Fascist symbolism is the use of certain images and symbols which are designed to represent aspects of fascism. These include national symbols of historical importance, goals, and political policies. The best-known are the fasces, which was the or ...
. The first miles of the Tiber run through
Valtiberina
Valtiberina is a valley crossed by the upper course of the Tiber (which originates from Monte Fumaiolo in Emilia-Romagna), unfolding between Tuscany, Umbria and Romagna, parallel to the Casentino.
Geography
Valtiberina is bordered to the west by ...
before entering Umbria.
Etymology
The genesis of the name ''Tiber'' probably was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur (modern
Tivoli), and may be specifically
Italic in origin. The same root is found in the Latin ''
praenomen'' ''
Tiberius''. Also,
Etruscan variants of this praenomen are in ''Thefarie'' (borrowed from
Faliscan ''*Tiferios'', lit. '(He) from the Tiber' < ''*Tiferis'' 'Tiber') and ''Teperie'' (via the Latin hydronym ''Tiber'').
["Tiber". ''Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names''. ]John Everett-Heath
John Everett-Heath is a British author, former civil servant, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. John Everett-Heath. Oxford University Press 2005 Everett-Heath was a military diplomat in Bel ...
. Oxford University Press 2005.
Legendary king
Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of
Alba Longa
Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was d ...
, was said to have drowned in the River Albula, which was afterward called ''Tiberis''.
The myth may have explained a memory of an earlier, perhaps
pre-Indo-European name for the river, "white" (''alba'') with sediment, or "from the mountains" from
pre-Indo-European word "alba, albion" mount, elevated area. ''Tiberis/Tifernus'' may be a pre-Indo-European substrate word related to
Aegean ''tifos'' "still water", Greek