Pons Aemilius

The Pons Aemilius (Italian: Ponte Emilio), today called Ponte Rotto, is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy. Preceded by a wooden version, it was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century BC. It once spanned the Tiber, connecting the Forum Boarium with Trastevere; a single arch in mid-river is all that remains today, lending the bridge its name Ponte Rotto (“Broken bridge”). The oldest piers of the bridge were probably laid when the Via Aurelia was constructed in the mid-2nd century BC. Titus Livius recorded that a bridge in the same location existed in 192 BC. The first stone bridge was constructed by Censor Marcus Fulvius Nobilior in the year 179 BC, although it was not completed until 151 BC.[2] The bridge’s piers date from this early period, although its arches were constructed in 142 BC.[3] The bridge kept its place for several hundred years, although it was repaired and rebuilt both by Augustus, and later by Emperor Probus in 280 AD.