DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0464
4oo
PONS FABRICIUS—PONS GRATIANI
parapet on each side of the bridge, the second beneath the parapet
(CILvi. 1175, 1176). One of the former 1 is still in situ. The pons Gratiani
was 48 metres long and 8.20 wide, with one central arch, 23.65 metres
in span, and a small arch on each side, 5.80 metres wide. The material
was tufa and peperino with facing of travertine, and the pedestals of
the parapet probably supported statues of the emperors as those of the
pons Fabricius did hermae. The construction was rough and charac-
teristic of the decadence, and very little of the earlier pons Cestius could
have survived in the later structure, although the general appearance and
form of the two bridges were doubtless about the same.
The pons Gratiani was restored at various times between the twelfth
century and 1834, but in 1888-1892 the building of the new embankment
and the widening of the channel made it necessary to take dotvn the
old bridge and erect a new one, 80.40 metres long, with three arches.
The central arch of the new structure reproduces the original exactly,
although only about one-third of the old material could be used again
(Jord. i. I. 418-420 ; Mitt. 1889, 282-285 J Besnier 106-119, and literature
there cited).
Pons Fabricius : the stone bridge between the left bank of the river and
the island, named from its builder, L. Fabricius, curator viarum in
62 b.c. (Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 35-36 ; and Porphyr. ad loc. ; Cass. Dioxxxvii. 45).
The erection of this bridge is recorded in duplicate inscriptions, over the
arches on each side, and a restoration in 21 b.c. aiter the flood of 23 b.c.
(Cass. Dio liii. 33) by the consuls, 0. Lepidus and M. Lollius, in another
inscription over the arch nearest the city (CIL i2. 751 =vi. 1305 = 31594)·
It is probable that this stone bridge replaced an earlier one of wood.
In the Middle Ages it was known both by its official name (Not. app. ;
Pol. Silv. 545 ; Mirab. 11) and as the pons Iudaeorum (Graphia 10)
because it was close to the Ghetto.
This is the best preserved bridge in Rome, being practically the
original structure. It is built of tufa and peperino faced with travertine,
part of which has been replaced with brick, and has two semi-circular
arches with a smaller one between. The bridge is 62 metres long, and
the arches are 24.25 and 24.50 metres wide. The present parapet was
constructed in 1679 by Innocent XI, but the original was divided into
panels by pilasters supporting four-faced hermae and connected by a
bronze balustrade. The two pilasters and hermae at the east end are
original, and from them the modern name of the bridge, Ponte dei Quattro
Capi, is derived (Jord. i. I. 418-419 ; HJ 632 ; Mitt. 1891, 135 ; Besnier
93-105 ; TF 142 ; for an erroneous identification with the pons Aemilius,
CIL i2. p. 325 ; Mayerhofer, Gesch.-topograph. Studien u. d. alte Rom,
ch. I pass.). See Ill. 32, 37.
Pons Gratiani : see Pons Cestius.
1 So also are both the latter (cf. ib. 31250, 31251).
PONS FABRICIUS—PONS GRATIANI
parapet on each side of the bridge, the second beneath the parapet
(CILvi. 1175, 1176). One of the former 1 is still in situ. The pons Gratiani
was 48 metres long and 8.20 wide, with one central arch, 23.65 metres
in span, and a small arch on each side, 5.80 metres wide. The material
was tufa and peperino with facing of travertine, and the pedestals of
the parapet probably supported statues of the emperors as those of the
pons Fabricius did hermae. The construction was rough and charac-
teristic of the decadence, and very little of the earlier pons Cestius could
have survived in the later structure, although the general appearance and
form of the two bridges were doubtless about the same.
The pons Gratiani was restored at various times between the twelfth
century and 1834, but in 1888-1892 the building of the new embankment
and the widening of the channel made it necessary to take dotvn the
old bridge and erect a new one, 80.40 metres long, with three arches.
The central arch of the new structure reproduces the original exactly,
although only about one-third of the old material could be used again
(Jord. i. I. 418-420 ; Mitt. 1889, 282-285 J Besnier 106-119, and literature
there cited).
Pons Fabricius : the stone bridge between the left bank of the river and
the island, named from its builder, L. Fabricius, curator viarum in
62 b.c. (Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 35-36 ; and Porphyr. ad loc. ; Cass. Dioxxxvii. 45).
The erection of this bridge is recorded in duplicate inscriptions, over the
arches on each side, and a restoration in 21 b.c. aiter the flood of 23 b.c.
(Cass. Dio liii. 33) by the consuls, 0. Lepidus and M. Lollius, in another
inscription over the arch nearest the city (CIL i2. 751 =vi. 1305 = 31594)·
It is probable that this stone bridge replaced an earlier one of wood.
In the Middle Ages it was known both by its official name (Not. app. ;
Pol. Silv. 545 ; Mirab. 11) and as the pons Iudaeorum (Graphia 10)
because it was close to the Ghetto.
This is the best preserved bridge in Rome, being practically the
original structure. It is built of tufa and peperino faced with travertine,
part of which has been replaced with brick, and has two semi-circular
arches with a smaller one between. The bridge is 62 metres long, and
the arches are 24.25 and 24.50 metres wide. The present parapet was
constructed in 1679 by Innocent XI, but the original was divided into
panels by pilasters supporting four-faced hermae and connected by a
bronze balustrade. The two pilasters and hermae at the east end are
original, and from them the modern name of the bridge, Ponte dei Quattro
Capi, is derived (Jord. i. I. 418-419 ; HJ 632 ; Mitt. 1891, 135 ; Besnier
93-105 ; TF 142 ; for an erroneous identification with the pons Aemilius,
CIL i2. p. 325 ; Mayerhofer, Gesch.-topograph. Studien u. d. alte Rom,
ch. I pass.). See Ill. 32, 37.
Pons Gratiani : see Pons Cestius.
1 So also are both the latter (cf. ib. 31250, 31251).