Pons Cestius

The stone bridge that connected the Tiber island to *Trans Tiberim (Reg. Cats., Cur.: pontes VIII ... Cestius, Not.: Gestius; Degrassi, Inscr. Ital. 13.1, 207: - - - IMP. ANTONINVS] AVG(VSTVS) PONTEM CESTI[ - - - R]ESTITVIT, of A.D. 152, with Degrassi 238, favoring PONTEM CESTI[ - - - over the traditional PONTEM CESTI[VM- - -). General scholarly opinion attributes its construction to members of the late-Republican Cestius clan, most possibly C. Cestius, builder of the Pyramid of Cestius (s.v. *Sepulcrum: C. Cestius), praetor in 44 B.C., or L. Cestius, praetor of the following year (Degrassi, LTUR 109), suggesting a construction date between 49 and 43 B.C. (Degrassi 1987, 525). Even though it is not known whether Cestius’ construction was an original building or a restoration (Richardson), the stone bridge should be considered within the historical context of the wide-scale building activity on the island at that period (s.v. *Insula Tiberina; Degrassi 1987). The modern bridge, Ponte S. Bartolomeo (L. 80 m), that stands at its site today is a late 19th-c. rebuilding of the Pons Cestius. The ancient structure, which was partly incorporated in the central arch of the modern bridge, must belong to the 4th-c. A.D. rebuilding of the pons, which then was dedicated as the PONS GRATIANI (preserved in an inscription on the bridge, CIL VI 1175-76; Degrassi, LTUR 109). The ancient bridge was much shorter than the modern one (L. 48.50 m, W. 8 m) and rested on a single arch (Richardson; Degrassi, LTUR). Taylor (80-82) recently suggested that the *Pons Fabricius and the Pons Cestius might also have served as aqueduct-crossings, but there seems to be no conclusive evidence for that.