The Pons Cestius (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for the "Cestian Bridge"; ) is an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

connecting the right bank of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

with the west bank of

Tiber Island The Tiber Island (, Latin: ''Insula Tiberina'') is the only river island in the part of the Tiber which runs through Rome. Tiber Island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. The island is boat-shaped, approximately long and wide, and ha ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, the bridge was replaced and renamed the Pons Gratiani ("Bridge of Gratian"). It is also known as Ponte San Bartolomeo (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "Bridge of St Bartholomew"). No more than one third of the present stone bridge is of ancient material, as it was entirely rebuilt and extended in the 19th century after numerous earlier restorations.

Ancient bridges

1st-century BC bridge

The original bridge was built around the 1st century BC (some time between 62 and 27 BC), after the Pons Fabricius, which connects the other side of island to the river's left bank. The identity of the Cestius referred to in the bridge's name is unknown. He may have been responsible for building the bridge or for later restoring an existing one, and may have been a member of the ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

'' Cestia during the later

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. The Pons Cestius was the first bridge that reached the right bank of the Tiber from Tiber Island. Whereas the island was long connected with the left bank of the Tiber and the heart of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, even before the Pons Fabricius was built, the right bank ( Transtiber) remained unconnected until the Pons Cestius was constructed. Several members of the Cestii from the 1st century BC are known, but it is unknown which of them was responsible. The ''gens'' Cestia was not a prominent family until the time of Gaius Cestius Epulo, whose tomb, the Pyramid of Cestius, survives built into Rome's 3rd-century

Aurelian Walls The Aurelian Walls () are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC. The walls enclosed all the ...

. The Pons Cestius was restored during the reign of the emperor

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

(); an inscription commemorating the rebuilding was installed on the structure.

4th-century bridge

In the 4th century, the Pons Cestius was replaced by a new structure. According to the 5th century Latin historian Polemius Silvius, in 370 it was rededicated as the Pons Gratiani, to the brother-emperors

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

() and

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

() and Valentinian's son

Gratian Gratian (; ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of ''Augustus'' as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in ...

(), the reigning co-'' augusti'' of the

Valentinianic dynasty The Valentinian dynasty, commonly known as the Valentinianic dynasty, was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth ...

. The bridge was rebuilt using volcanic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

stone and peperino marble, with a facing of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

limestone. Some of the rebuilding material came from the demolished

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

of the nearby Theatre of Marcellus.Claridge, Amanda (1998).
Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide
'. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Inscriptions on marble panels commemorating the work and naming the emperors were installed on the bridge and on the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. The 4th-century bridge probably followed the architectural lines of its Republican predecessor. Before the 19th-century rebuilding, the bridge was long, with central arch spanning of flanked by two arches each spanning . The bridge was broad. Both the ''pontes'' Cestius and Fabricius were long-lived bridges. Although the Fabricius remains wholly intact, the ''Ponte Cestio'' was restored several times from the 12th century and wholly dismantled and rebuilt in the 19th century, with only some of the ancient structure preserved.

Present bridge

19th-century rebuilding

During the embankment of the Tiber's channel in 1888–1892, the building of the walls and boulevards (the ''

lungoteveri Lungotevere (Italian for ''Tiber Waterfront'') is an alley or boulevard running along the river Tiber within the city of Rome. The building of the Lungoteveres required the demolition of the former edifices along the river banks and the constru ...

'') along the river necessitated the Roman bridge's demolition and the reconstruction of a new bridge. The ancient bridge, which had two small arches either side of the wide central span, was simply not long enough. The present bridge, with three large arches, was constructed in its stead, with its central arch reusing about two-thirds of the original material. Two thirds of the present structure dates to this period, with the only around a third of the structure built from pre-modern material. After the 19th-century rebuilding, the bridge was long, with the original central arch flanked by two other arches of equal span. The Italian name Bridge of

St Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

derives from the church and

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

San Bartolomeo all'Isola The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island (, ) is a titular minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 998 by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor and contains the putative relics of St. Bartholomew the Apostle. It is located on Tib ...

("St Bartholomew of the Island") on Tiber Island.

References

Sources

External links

LacusCurtius: Pons Cestius
*
The Waters of Rome: Tiber River Bridges and the Development of the Ancient City of Rome

Tiber Island information
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cestius, Pons Bridges in Rome Roman bridges in Italy Deck arch bridges Stone bridges in Italy Bridges completed in the 1st century BC Rome R. XIII Trastevere Rome R. XII Ripa