The Pons Fabricius is the oldest bridge in Rome still standing and in continuous use. It dates to 62 BCE and was commissioned by Lucius Fabricius, the curator of roads. The bridge is approximately 62 meters (200 feet) long and 5.5 meters (18 feet) wide, and it connects the eastern side of Tiber Island to the Campus Martius.
Constructed primarily of tufa and peperino stone with a travertine facing, parts of which were later replaced with brick, the Pons Fabricius likely replaced an earlier wooden bridge at the same location. It features two wide arches, each spanning about 12 meters (40 feet), which connect the riverbanks to a central pier. This pier includes a small arched opening designed to relieve pressure from floodwaters.
We know that Lucius Fabricius oversaw the construction because an inscription appears on both sides of both arches. It reads:
L. FABRICIVS. C. F. CVR[ATOR] VIAR[VM] / FACIVNDVM COERAVIT / IDEMQVE / PROBAVIT
(Lucius Fabricius, son of Gaius, superintendent of the roads, took care that it be built and approved it)
A second inscription, dated to 21 BCE, records a later restoration of the bridge. It names the consuls Marcus Lollius and Quintus Lepidus and refers to repairs carried out after the great flood of 23 BCE, which destroyed the nearby Pons Sublicius and likely damaged the Pons Fabricius as well. The inscription reads:
M. LOLLIVS. M. F. Q. LEPI[DVS M. F. C]OS / EX. S. C. PROBAVERVNT
(Marcus Lollius, son of Marcus, and Quintus Lepidus, son of Marcus, consuls, approved this in accordance with a decree of the Senate)
In modern Italian, the bridge is known by two names: Ponte Fabricio and Ponte dei Quattro Capi. The latter refers to two marble herms (pillars) set into the balustrade, each carved with four heads of the god Janus. These sculptures were added in the fourteenth century after being moved from a nearby church.
A final inscription commemorates a restoration carried out in 1679 under Pope Innocent XI. During this period, some of the original travertine facing was replaced with brick, which remains visible today.
In antiquity, the bridge supported carts and everyday traffic, but today it is reserved for pedestrians. Its longevity highlights the effectiveness of Roman engineering, especially the use of the arch, which has allowed the Pons Fabricius to withstand centuries of flooding and remain intact.
Bibliography:
- Grout, James. “Pons Fabricius.” University of Chicago. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/romanurbs/ponsfabricius.html
- Harmanşah, Ömür. “Pons Fabricius.” Digitial Augustan Rome. https://www.digitalaugustanrome.org/records/pons-fabricius
- Platner, Samuel. (1929). “Pons Fabricius.” In A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (p.400). Retrieved from: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Pons_Fabricius.html
- “Rome, Bridge of Fabricius.” Livius. https://www.livius.org/articles/place/rome/rome-photos/rome-bridge-of-fabricius/
- Rossetto, Paola Ciancio. (2022). Ponte Fabricio: Nuove Acquisizioni dal Restauro. Bullettino Della Commissione Archeologica Comunale Di Roma, 123, 9–28. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27308402
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. Dio xxxvii. 45).
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The erection of this bridge is recorded in duplicate inscriptions, over the arches on each side, and a restoration in 21 B.C. after the flood of 23 B.C. (Cass. Dio liii. 33) by the consuls, Q. Lepidus and M. Lollius, in another inscription over the arch nearest the city (CIL ia. 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. II) 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 2. p. 325; Mayerh6fer, Gesch.-topograph. Studien ii. d. alte Rom, ch. I pass.). See ill. 32, 37.
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Pons Fabricius,” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 01/24/2026. https://ancientromelive.org/pons-fabricius/
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