Ponte Salario in the Gothic Wars

[Eleatic Guest]

Did Narses or Belisarius (re)built the Ponte Salario with the tower atop? And when? I have found conflicting information on this:

Belisarius: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/R ... /18C*.html

When Witigis reached the Ponte Salario, where the road crosses the Anio, a few miles from the city, he found himself arrested by a fort which Belisarius had built on the bridge with the object of gaining time in order to procure more provisions.

Narses: http://books.google.com/books?id=y5L8gL ... &ct=result

see p.570-571

What did Procopius say on this bridge and the neighbouring Ponte Nomentano?

[Eleatic Guest]

Well, Narses or Belisarius?

[sonic]

I've got to admit that I'm not sure what you mean here. The quote from Bury is regarding a fortified bridge several miles from Rome. Prior to the siege of Rome by the Goths, Belisarius built a tower here and garrisoned it with troops - who then ran away as the Goths arrived (Procopius V.xvii. 12f.) In the translation and notes Dewing identifies this as the Milvian Bridge (Proc. Vol. III. p.169, n.1.)

Are you confusing this with the Porte Salaria (Salarian Gate) at Rome itself?

[Eleatic Guest]

I've got to admit that I'm not sure what you mean here. The quote from Bury is regarding a fortified bridge several miles from Rome. Prior to the siege of Rome by the Goths, Belisarius built a tower here and garrisoned it with troops - who then ran away as the Goths arrived (Procopius V.xvii. 12f.) In the translation and notes Dewing identifies this as the Milvian Bridge (Proc. Vol. III. p.169, n.1.)

Are you confusing this with the Porte Salaria (Salarian Gate) at Rome itself?

Hmm, but Bury at Lacius speaks explicitly of the Ponte Salario ("When Witigis reached the Ponte Salario, where the road crosses the Anio..."), doesn't he?

I found this info from Galliazzo (I ponti romani):

Infine al tempo della guerra tra Goti e Bizantini subì gravi danni per mano di Totila che sembra abbia abbattuto quasi tutta l'arcata centrale fino all'acqua e buona parte delle soprastruuure; poco dopo tuttavia il bizantino Narsete lo ricostruì integralmente nel 565 d.C. in migliore stato di prima, dopo aver dragatO l'alveo del fiume parzialmente interralo. A ricordo di tale impresa avvenuta sotto l'imperalore Giustiniano furono incise due iscrizioni sulla faccia interna di due lastre uguali e contrapposte dei parapetti, proprio sopra la chiave dell'arcata centrale del ponte.

My Italian is lousy, and OCR does not help, either, but he speaks of Narses, too, not Belisarius. So Belisarius defended the bridge (in vain), and Narses later rebuilt it, or what?

[sonic]

I think maybe Bury believed that the bridge was fortified by Belisarius prior to the siege of Rome, and that it was then destroyed by Witigis as he crossed it. Later, the 'Pons Salarius' (the bridge where the Via Salaria crosses over the river Anio) was rebuilt and a parapet added by Narses in the year 565 (ref. Fauber, Narses Hammer of the Goths p.147.)

For the inscription, see Bury, [url:2t2j815y]http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19D*.html#note126[/url]

Possibly two different traditions of building at the same bridge?

[Eleatic Guest]

Possibly two different traditions of building at the same bridge?

To make matters worse, there is another fortified Roman bridge at Rome's gates with a very similar story, the Ponte Nomentano, which is also said to be destroyed by the Goths and restored by Narses. Unfortunately, Procop's history does not seem to be online ...

[Robert Vermaat]

Unfortunately, Procop's history does not seem to be online ...

But it is: http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/Procopius/index.htm

I can't seem to find the passage referring to a Salarian bridge - just to the gate with that name..

[sonic]

Thought you might all be interested in this:
[url:183hj428]http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi83.htm[/url].

I can't find the reference in Procopius either - which is why there is the confusion, with Dewing thinking it was the Milvian Bridge ...

Maybe it's in Agathias?

[Eleatic Guest]

Thanks for the links.

Probably I confused the Ponte Salario with the neighbouring Ponte Nomentano, both of which cross the Aniene (Latin:Anio) north of Rome, but carry different roads.

Ponte Nomentano

La tradizione vuole, interpretando Procopio (Beli. Goth., 3, 24), che i Goli di Totila lo abbiano distrullo intorno al 547 d.C., ma che il bizantino Narsete l'abbia poi immediatamente ricostruito nel 552 d.C. anche se non vi sono prove sicure di ciò. (Galliazzo: I ponti romani)

As for the Ponte Salario, the evidence of Narses reconstruction seems to rest solely on an inscription on the bridge:

Infine al tempo della guerra tra Goti e Bizantini subì gravi danni per mano di Totila che sembra abbia abbattuto quasi tutta l'arcata centrale fino all'acqua e buona parte delle soprastruuure; poco dopo tuttavia il bizantino Narsete lo ricostruì integralmente nel 565 d.C. in migliore stato di prima, dopo aver dragatO l'alveo del fiume parzialmente interralo. A ricordo di tale impresa avvenuta sotto l'imperalore Giustiniano furono incise due iscrizioni sulla faccia interna di due lastre uguali e contrapposte dei parapetti, proprio sopra la chiave dell'arcata centrale del ponte. (Galliazzo: I ponti romani)

So, it seems that Procop refers only to the Ponte Nomentano, but I still can't track the exact passage down.

[Eleatic Guest]

This is so cool. Ponte Nomentano: [url:ycny8eba]http://maps.google.de/maps?ll=41.933611,12.5325&spn=0.01,0.01&t=h&q=41.933611,12.5325[/url] I can see the Goths lurking from the shadows of the trees. :mrgreen:

[Eleatic Guest]

So, it seems that Procop refers only to the Ponte Nomentano, but I still can't track the exact passage down.

Looked again, still can't find anything in De Bello Gothico, 3.24. Created meanwhile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Nomentano

[Eleatic Guest]

Evidence for the East Roman reconstruction of the Ponte Salario rests on an excavated bridge inscription by Narses. Procopius himself does not seem to have mentioned the bridge, only the Ponte Nomentano.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Salario