Additional source material

• Ancient Library Sources (from Peter Aicher, Rome Alive: A Source Guide to the Ancient City, vol. 1, Bolchazy-Carducci: 2004) [Works cited]

  116. The Pons Aemilius and the Pons Sublicius (“The Pile Bridge”). Commentary. Intact until C16 floods demolished most of it, the Pons Aemilius across the Tiber exists today in the form of one archway, called the Ponte Rotto (“the Broken Bridge”), located just upstream of the Ponte Palatino and below Tiber Island. The information about the bridge contained in Livy [116.1] and Plutarch [117.3] has led to a variety of interpretations. One difficulty is that the name of the bridge does not accord with the chief builder Fulvius (although it does apply to his rival Aemilius); Plutarch names a different Aemilius, a quaestor, as the bridge's builder [117.3]. Another question is the exact nature of the work done in 142 BC: did this complete the bridge, or was a rebuilding involved? The Pons Sublicius (a sublica is a wooden pile) had special status as Rome's first bridge across the Tiber. It was further distinguished by a religious ban against the use of metal, including nails, in its structure. The bridge is also famous as the scene of Horatius's heroic stand against Etruscan troops. Although no remains have been found to indicate the bridge's precise position on the river, traces of ancient roads place it downstream of the Pons Aemilius and upstream of the Aventine Hill, and in some sources not quoted here, it figures as the bridge with the most direct route between the Aventine Hill and the Transtiber region. 117. Pons Sublicius. Sources. 117.1. [Under the king Ancus Marcius, trad. 640-616 BC] the Janiculum hill was also added to the city, not from lack of space but to prevent its becoming the elevated stronghold of an attacking enemy. It was decided not only to join the Janiculum to the city with a wall but to facilitate traffic across the river in each direction with the Pons Sublicius, the first bridge built on the Tiber. Livy, History 1.33.6 117.2. [Lars Porsenna, an Etruscan ruler near Rome, attempted in 508 BC to retake Rome for the expelled Etruscan king Tarquinius.] When the enemy appeared, all the Romans left the fields of their own accord and came into the city and ringed it with guards. The city appeared secure, protected by the walls in some spots and by the Tiber in others. The Pons Sublicius, however, very nearly gave the enemy a passage into the city—an event prevented by one man alone: Horatius Cocles. On him did the City of Rome rely for her defense that day. Horatius happened to be stationed on the bridge when he witnessed the Janiculum captured in a surprise attack, the enemy rushing down to the river, and the panicked mob of his fellow soldiers abandoning their weapons and posts on the far bank. He took hold of one man after the other, preventing his retreat, and swearing by the good faith of gods and men that if they abandoned their posts all flight would be in vain: if they left the bridge standing behind them after they crossed, there would soon be more enemy soldiers on the Palatine and Capitoline hills than on the Janiculum. And so warning them of this danger, he commanded them to demolish the bridge with iron and fire and any force possible; he himself would hold off the enemy, as much as one man could. Then he strode to the far side of the bridge, conspicuous among the other men who were so obviously shunning combat, and there took his stand, armed and ready for hand-to-hand combat. The Etruscans were stunned by his audacity, and shame kept two of his own men by his side, Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, distinguished by both their family names and their deeds. For a short while the three of them together withstood the first wave of attackers and the initial, most violent onslaught. Then, with the bridge behind them scarcely still standing, and with those who were demolishing it calling for them to come back, Horatius made his two companions retreat to safety. Casting aggressive, threatening glances at the Etruscan leaders, he challenged them individually and ridiculed them all: slaves to arrogant kings and forgetful of their own liberty, here they were trying to stamp out the liberty of others. For some time the soldiers hesitated, each of them looking around to encourage someone else to start the fight. Shame then provoked the attack, and raising a shout they threw their javelins from all sides against a single enemy. After all of the missiles simply stuck in his shield, and the obstinate Roman still occupied the bridge with his massive stance, the soldiers were attempting to dislodge him with a charge when in one instant both the loud crash of the falling bridge and the shout of the Romans cheering their success halted the Etruscan attack with sudden dismay. Then Cocles spoke: “Father Tiberinus, I call on you in solemn prayer: receive these arms and this thy soldier in your merciful stream.” Then fully armed as he was, he jumped off into the Tiber and swam beneath a shower of javelins to arrive safely by his comrades. Thus did Horatius dare to perform an act of heroism that would find more fame among posterity than credence. The grateful city placed a statue of him in the Comitium, and gave him as much farmland as he could plough in a day. Livy, History 2.10.1-12 117.3. Most writers explain the origins of the word “pontifex” with a ridiculous etymology, claiming it refers to men who were called “bridge doers” because they did [Latin: fac-] sacrifices of great sanctity and antiquity at the bridge across the Tiber (pont being the root for “bridge” in Latin). Moreover, the safe-keeping and repair of the bridge, as with other inviolate and ancestral rites, belongs to the priests, and the Romans consider the destruction of the wooden bridge not only illegal but sacrilegious. It is also said that, in accordance with some oracle, the entire bridge contains no iron and is joined together by wooden dowels. The stone bridge was built much later by the quaestor Aemilius. The wooden bridge itself, it is said, was finished not under Numa but when Ancus Marcius (the grandson of Numa) was king. Plutarch, Numa 9.2-3 117.4. [Pliny is speaking of wonders of architecture.] At Cyzicus [a town near Troy] there is a large building they call the Council House; built without any iron nails, it is framed in such a way that beams can be removed and replaced without the aid of scaffolding. The same conditions are a religious requirement at the Pile Bridge in Rome, ever since it proved difficult to dismantle during its defense by Horatius Cocles. Pliny the Elder, Encyclopedia 36.100