Ponte d'Augusto

History

Ariminum (modern Rimini) was founded as an ancient Roman colonia in 268 BC, when the Roman Senate sent 6,000 settlers to the bank of the river Ariminus (Marecchia). Construction of the Ponte di Tiberio started during the reign of Roman emperor Augustus in 14 AD and finished under his successor, Augustus' adoptive son Tiberius, in 21 AD.

The bridge lies at the southern terminus of two Roman roads: the Via Aemilia, running northwest to Placentia (Piacenza), and the Via Popilia, running north along the Adriatic coastline reach Atria (Adria), where it joined the Via Annia. The Ponte di Tiberio crossed the Ariminus, known for its torrential nature, and connected the end of Ariminum's decumanus maximus (the present-day Corso d'Augusto) on the Ariminus' right bank to the present-day Borgo San Giuliano on the river's left bank. Given this strategic location, the Ponte di Tiberio presumably replaced an earlier bridge; it was most likely wooden, and excavations and maps suggest that it was located c. 500 metres (1,600 feet) further upstream.

The bridge was the final major project of Augustus in Ariminum, which included the construction of the Arch of Augustus, the renovations of the Via Flaminia and Via Aemilia, and the renaming of the colonia as Colonia Augusta Ariminensis. Until the 19th century, the bridge was called the Bridge of Augustus (Italian: Ponte d'Augusto): it has only recently been commonly called the Bridge of Tiberius (Ponte di Tiberio).

The bridge may have been the site of an ancient Roman port. An underwater wall on the river's right bank intersects the bridge, which local historian Giovanni Rimondini has suggested may have been the supporting structures of the port. The wall was uncovered in the 1970s interventions, but was not photographed or surveyed before being submerged in concrete. Other scholars believe that the wall postdates Roman Ariminum. …

Architecture

Sited on a major thoroughfare, the bridge was built to showcase the impressiveness of Roman monumental infrastructure. It is the oldest surviving Roman bridge to be decorated with Greek orders, though its lower parts are typical of republican or Etruscan architecture, suggesting a confused or transitional style, or the work of a provincial architect intending to undermine the bridge's monumental purpose. The bridge's religious-theological decorations intended to render the crossing of the bridge a quasi-religious act, sanctifying a traveller's passage between the central Italian regions and Cispadania.

The bridge is slightly humpbacked. Due to military history, the bridge is visibly less well-preserved on its San Giuliano end.

The bridge's stones do not come from local quarries, and were likely transported to Ariminum by sea. The exterior cladding, with an average thickness of 40 centimetres (16 inches), is of white limestone from the Roman quarry in Aurisina, known as Istrian stone. The stones were laid by opus quadratum, using iron clamps to minimise the distance between stones, between which a lead coating was placed. The tongs used to lay the stones in place left extant marks on unseen stones. Once placed, the stones were worked to achieve their fineness. The interior core of the piers and arches are made of fragments bound with mortar, the same technique used to construct the Arch of Augustus.

Extant brickwork on the bridge's downstream-side on the city end are remains of the medieval San Pietro gate, which was demolished in the 19th century. The base of one of the structures includes the relief of a four-petalled rose; this was the base of the medieval tower, and the rose is from a Roman cemetery on the Via Aemilia. On the San Giuliano end, archaeological surveys suggest that the bridge originally extended for over ten metres further. A nearby row of stones may have been Roman blocks later repurposed for a medieval fortification.

The bridge features five semicircular arches, in Doric style, made of white Istrian stone, with an average span length of c. 8 metres (26 feet). …

Devil legend

The bridge is nicknamed the Devil's Bridge (Italian: Ponte del diavolo, Romagnol: Pont de 'e Dievul), following two recesses resembling the marks of devil-like hooves or horns on the bridge's upstream-side coping. The recesses were likely used to fix pulleys so that material could be hoisted from boats underneath the bridge.

In one account of the legend, the bridge's construction was hampered by stones that continually collapsed, leading Tiberius to make a pact with the devil, who could claim the first soul crossing the bridge if he ensured its construction. The devil built the bridge overnight, and cheating the devil, Tiberius sent a dog over the bridge. The devil kicked the bridge in an attempt to destroy it, but could only leave marks as he had constructed it so well.

In another variant, Jupiter told Tiberius that the best boulders for the bridge could be found in Perticara, but could only be transported to Rimini by the devil, who constructed it in return for the first soul crossing the bridge. Jupiter, sending a dog across the bridge first, angered the devil, who left the final stone in Perticara, known as the Devil's Stone (Sasso del Diavolo).

In another variant, instead of a soul, the devil was promised an anma, which at the time could either mean a soul (anima) or a cheese, which was instead rolled over the bridge.

Depictions and legacy

With the Arch of Augustus, the Ponte di Tiberio is considered one of Rimini's defining symbols, appearing on its public seals and coats of arms since the medieval era. In the Tempio Malatestiano, a plaque by Agostino di Duccio appears to be a stylised depiction of the bridge. The Diocese of Rimini's local newspaper, Il Ponte, takes its name from the bridge.

Because of its location between Rimini's city centre and the Monumental Cemetery of Rimini, the Ponte di Tiberio has been on the route of many of Rimini's notable funeral processions, including those of Anacleto Ricci, a boy scout killed in the fire that engulfed the Grand Hotel Rimini in 1920, the first victims of the Second World War in 1940, and filmmaker Federico Fellini in 1993.

In 2014, the governments of both Italy and San Marino, which neighbours Rimini, celebrated the bridge's bimillenary. On 2 May, the Italian Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato released two million postage stamps, designed by Rita Fantini, depicting the Ponte di Tiberio. The stamp, which measured 48 millimetres (1.9 inches) by 40 millimetres (1.6 inches), carried a value of €1.90. On 21 June, the Sammarinese Azienda autonoma di Stato filatelica e numismatica unveiled a €10 proof coinage in Rimini's Museo della Città, which depicted the bridge on the reverse face. 6,000 copies of the silver coin were minted, which were intended as a collector's item and had an issue price of €37.

The bridge has been depicted by several notable artists. A boccale jug made of local majolica and paste, and therefore likely dating to the mid-14th century, depicts a stylised version of the Ponte di Tiberio; it was recovered from Borgo San Giuliano, which was known for its taverns and wine merchants. In St Jerome in the Desert (c. 1480), preserved in the Uffizi, Giovanni Bellini painted the Ponte di Tiberio alongside Ravenna's San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Theodoric and Verona's Sant'Anastasia. …