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The Pons Agrippae was a Roman bridge built in the first century CE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a powerful general and close ally of emperor Augustus. Although the bridge no longer stands today, it once spanned the Tiber River, linking the Campus Martius with Trastevere near the site of the modern Ponte Sisto.
Agrippa, who owned a large villa on the west bank of the Tiber, likely built the bridge to connect his estate with central Rome. It provided a convenient route for him, his household, and guests to cross the river. The bridge also carried the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct Agrippa constructed in 19 BCE, across the Tiber. In addition to serving Agrippa’s private needs, the bridge was open to the public, offering access to warehouses and religious sites on the opposite bank.
The Pons Agrippae was repaired in 147 CE under the reign of emperor Antoninus Pius. We know this from an inscription found at Ostia. The restoration likely benefited the emperor directly, as the imperial family owned brickyards along the river. Despite these repairs, the bridge fell out of use by the third century CE. Its materials were probably taken for the construction of other nearby bridges, including the Pons Aurelius and the Ponte Sisto.
Though lost for centuries, the bridge resurfaced in 1887 when unusually low water levels exposed four of its original piers at the bottom of the Tiber. Around the same time, archaeologists also discovered an inscription from the reign of emperor Claudius that mentioned the bridge by name, confirming its existence and identity.
Bibliography:
- Dey, Hendrik. (2011) “The Pons Agrippae and the Pons Aureli: A Tale of Two Bridges.” In The Aurelian Wall and the Refashioning of Imperial Rome, AD 271–855. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 310–314.
- Lloyd, R. B. (1979). The Aqua Virgo, Euripus and Pons Agrippae. American Journal of Archaeology, 83(2), 193–204. https://www.jstor.org/stable/504901
- Platner, Samuel. (1929). “Pons Agrippae.” In A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (p.398). Retrieved from: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Pons_Agrippae.html
- Taylor, Rabun. (2002). “Tiber River Bridges and the Development of the Ancient City of Rome.” The Waters of Rome. https://waters.iath.virginia.edu/taylor_bridges.html
Pons Agrippae: a bridge 160 metres above the Ponte Sisto, known from an inscribed cippus set up by the curatores riparum in the principate of Claudius (CIL VI.31545, see Trigarium), and the discovery of the remains of four piers at the bottom of the river (NS 1887, 323; BC 1887, 306‑313; 1888, 92‑98, pls. IV, V; Mitt. 1889, 285‑286; 1891, 135‑136).
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Pons Agrippae (Bridge of Agrippa),” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 06/17/2025. https://ancientromelive.org/pons-agrippae-bridge-of-agrippa
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