{"id":2178,"date":"2026-03-20T12:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=2178"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:48:07","slug":"tiber-river","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=2178","title":{"rendered":"Tiber\u00a0River\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Tiber River\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>itself is the only tangible, visible, historical, artifact left intact from the City\u2019s earliest past. Despite its many ancient historical remnants,\u00a0none\u00a0but\u00a0this\u00a0connects\u00a0the\u00a0present\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0City\u2019s\u00a0human\u00a0origins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If Rome is the mother of the Western world, then it can be said, as well, that\u00a0the\u00a0Tiber\u00a0is\u00a0its\u00a0grandmother.\u00a0While\u00a0legend\u00a0ties\u00a0the\u00a0destiny\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0City\u00a0to the\u00a0twins,\u00a0Romulus and\u00a0Remus<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0their adventure\u00a0along the\u00a0river\u00a0whose banks\u00a0they\u00a0would\u00a0later\u00a0found\u00a0their\u00a0home,\u00a0the\u00a0more likely\u00a0explanation\u00a0for\u00a0the early colony of Latins relates to their migration from the Alban Hills where they enjoyed greater access to the Mediterranean via the Tiber River. The blessings of the\u00a0river, however,\u00a0are mixed.\u00a0The City\u2019s location along its banks provided it a strategic location at the heart of the Italian peninsula, a\u00a0river easy to navigate, and ready access to the\u00a0sea. On the other hand, the river\u00a0often\u00a0causes\u00a0flooding\u00a0over\u00a0wide\u00a0areas,\u00a0and\u00a0with\u00a0it,\u00a0even\u00a0wider\u00a0areas\u00a0of damp, marshy areas which create, in their turn, \u2018mal aria\u201d (unhealthy air) which, in turn, results in illness often brought about by the mosquitos bred in those same spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly,\u00a0two springs rising from a beech forest on Mount\u00a0Fumaiolo<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0northern\u00a0Apennine\u00a0Mountain\u00a0range\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0the\u00a0province of Emilia-Romagna\u00a0become\u00a0the\u00a0modest source of the\u00a0powerful\u00a0Tiber\u00a0River. Flowing 250 miles through the central region of the country, it merges with the\u00a0Aniene\u00a0River, passes through\u00a0Rome\u00a0and empties into the Mediterranean near Ostia Antica.\u00a0Largely it\u00a0derives its fame because of ties to the City through which it runs and on whose\u00a0banks\u00a0Romulus\u00a0established\u00a0its foundations three thousand years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Its\u00a0name\u00a0originates\u00a0from a\u00a0legendary\u00a0story\u00a0told\u00a0about\u00a0the\u00a0Alba\u00a0Longan\u00a0King\u00a0Tiberus\u00a0<\/strong>who drowned in a nearby river and whose name may have become associated in the collective memory of the Italic people with the river running through the\u00a0City. In the ancient accounts of the City\u2019s history,\u00a0the twins, Romulus and Remus abandoned earlier on its waters and rescued\u00a0by\u00a0Lupa,\u00a0the\u00a0She-Wolf<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0founded\u00a0it\u00a0along\u00a0these\u00a0banks\u00a0in\u00a0753\u00a0BC.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ironically enough, during the monarchical period, Romans were very reluctant\u00a0to construct bridges across the river precisely for\u00a0giving offense to its protector deities. Ancus Marcius, its fourth king, determined to extend the\u00a0boundaries\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0City\u00a0for\u00a0defense\u00a0purposes\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0Janiculum\u00a0Hill\u00a0on\u00a0the right bank of the river, defied the taboo, but only after cautiously appeasing the gods by ritual offerings. The resultant structure,\u00a0Pons\u00a0Sublicius<\/span><\/strong>, made of wood,\u00a0required\u00a0frequent replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Tiber connects the Mediterranean port city of\u00a0Ostia Antica<\/span><\/strong>, 18 miles away, to\u00a0the\u00a0City. Seasonally navigable as far north a Orvieto, grain, stone, timber, wheat, oil and wine, necessary commodities for the life and growth of the\u00a0City, were moved by boats and barges, either rowed or manually towed,\u00a0up\u00a0and\u00a0down\u00a0the\u00a0river\u00a0for\u00a0its\u00a0sixty-mile\u00a0stretch.\u00a0Wharves\u00a0and\u00a0storage buildings lay all along its banks in the Campus Martius area. Silted up as it has become, it no longer serves as a major waterway from the\u00a0City\u00a0to the Mediterranean. As noted by one observer (Robert Burns, the poet), however, it continues to be \u2018too large to be harmless, but too small to be\u00a0useful\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0century a new port city at\u00a0Fiumicinio\u00a0emerged, together with a road\u00a0leading\u00a0to\u00a0it,\u00a0the\u00a0Via\u00a0Portuense,\u00a0whose\u00a0city\u00a0gate\u00a0remains\u00a0the\u00a0present\u00a0Porta\u00a0Portese<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For\u00a0centuries\u00a0the\u00a0Tiber\u00a0flooded<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>the\u00a0City\u00a0with\u00a0great\u00a0frequency.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Campus Martius area, nicknamed \u201cregina aquarium\u201d in Imperial times (\u201cqueen of the waters),\u00a0<\/strong>served as a plain to collect flood water which\u00a0at\u00a0times\u00a0could\u00a0reach\u00a0six\u00a0feet,\u00a0a\u00a0long-term\u00a0issue\u00a0resolved\u00a0only\u00a0the\u00a0late 19th<\/sup>\u00a0century when the Italian government lined the river with\u00a0great stone\u00a0embankments<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Romans built the best and most durable bridges in the ancient world.\u00a0Across\u00a0their\u00a0Empire\u00a0the\u00a0Romans\u00a0constructed\u00a0many\u00a0hundreds\u00a0of\u00a0bridges<\/span><\/strong>, some of which still stand.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They\u00a0constructed\u00a0the\u00a0remarkable\u00a0Pons\u00a0Fabricius<\/span>,\u00a0<\/strong>used\u00a0uninterruptedly since its construction in the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0century BC.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emperor Hadrian built the attractive bridge, the\u00a0Ponte\u00a0Aelio<\/span><\/strong>, as the approach\u00a0to\u00a0his\u00a0own\u00a0Mausoleum in\u00a0the\u00a02nd<\/sup>\u00a0century\u00a0AD.\u00a0It\u00a0rests\u00a0on\u00a0seven magnificent stone arches, three of which are original.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mounted\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0parapets\u00a0sit\u00a0ten\u00a0Bernini\u00a0statues\u00a0of\u00a0angels<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>each\u00a0bearing\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

instruments of Christ\u2019s Passion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Monte Testaccio<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>stands\u00a0<\/strong>on the right bank of the river, south of Trastevere,\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0City\u2019s\u00a0ancient\u00a0port\u00a0and\u00a0warehouse\u00a0district,\u00a0a\u00a0huge,\u00a0but artificial, mound of shards (testae) of broken and discarded pottery jars (amphorae). These once\u00a0contained\u00a0oil, wine, and other imports,\u00a0largely from\u00a0Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Its\u00a0huge\u00a0space\u00a0<\/strong>houses\u00a0under\u00a0its\u00a0surface\u00a0over\u00a0fifty\u00a0million\u00a0fragments \u2013\u00a0five acres rising to a height of one hundred twenty feet and constructed over carefully fitted layers of debris set to stabilize the\u00a0ever- growing mound<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0Nineteenth\u00a0and\u00a0twentieth\u00a0century\u00a0excavations\u00a0have\u00a0provided\u00a0archeologists with new and\u00a0important information\u00a0about the economy and commercial activity of the ancient City. Abandoned after the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0century collapse of the Empire, it turned into a wasteland until the Middle Ages when it became a recreational area and the site of games and tournaments.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Milvian Bridge<\/span>,\u00a0<\/strong>as important as it is historically,\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the City\u2019s least visible bridges,\u00a0located\u00a0far from the\u00a0City\u2019s center. Built over the Tiber by the Consul\u00a0Gaius Claudius Nero\u00a0<\/strong>in the 3rd century BC, this became\u00a0in\u00a0312\u00a0AD,\u00a0the\u00a0site\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0famous\u00a0and historically\u00a0decisive\u00a0Battle\u00a0of the\u00a0Milvian\u00a0Bridge.\u00a0Here the\u00a0armies\u00a0of\u00a0the two\u00a0claimants\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0Imperial throne, Constantine\u00a0and Maxentius, clashed.\u00a0<\/strong>Maxentius drowned in\u00a0the\u00a0river,\u00a0Constantine\u00a0acquired\u00a0the throne, and the destiny of the Empire forever changed. Ultimately because of Constantine, its religion would be Christian and the City its capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Tiber River\u00a0itself is the only tangible, visible, historical, artifact left intact from the City\u2019s earliest past. Despite its many ancient historical remnants,\u00a0none\u00a0but\u00a0this\u00a0connects\u00a0the\u00a0present\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0City\u2019s\u00a0human\u00a0origins.\u00a0 If Rome is the mother of the Western world, then it can be said, as well, that\u00a0the\u00a0Tiber\u00a0is\u00a0its\u00a0grandmother.\u00a0While\u00a0legend\u00a0ties\u00a0the\u00a0destiny\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0City\u00a0to the\u00a0twins,\u00a0Romulus and\u00a0Remus\u00a0and\u00a0their adventure\u00a0along the\u00a0river\u00a0whose banks\u00a0they\u00a0would\u00a0later\u00a0found\u00a0their\u00a0home,\u00a0the\u00a0more likely\u00a0explanation\u00a0for\u00a0the early colony of Latins relates to their migration from the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2178","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}