Editing Roman bridge (section)

== Examples ==
Built in 142 BC, the [[Pons Aemilius]], later named Ponte Rotto (broken bridge), is the oldest Roman stone bridge in [[Rome]], with only one surviving arch and pier. However, evidence suggests only the [[abutment]] is original to the 2nd century BC while the arch and pier perhaps date to a reconstruction during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27 BC – 14 AD).<ref>Platner, Samuel Ball, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', ed. Ashby, Thomas, London: Oxford University Press, 1929 [Thayer, Bill (17 May 2020) [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Pons_Aemilius.html "Pons Aemilius"], [[University of Chicago]], Accessed 9 June 2021]</ref> The Pons Fabricius, built in 62 BC during the late Republic, is the oldest Roman bridge that is still intact and in use.<ref name="Taylor20002">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Rabun M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqMGZr4yAkQC&pg=PA141 |title=Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome |publisher=L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER |year=2000 |isbn=978-88-8265-100-8 |pages=141–}}</ref> The largest Roman bridge was [[Trajan's Bridge]] over the lower [[Danube]], constructed by [[Apollodorus of Damascus]], which remained for over a millennium the longest bridge to have been built both in terms of overall and span length.<ref>{{Citation |title=Where are the Greatest Bridges of Ancient Rome? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-ncxDpuAE8 |access-date=2023-09-05 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Large river bridging ===
Roman engineers built stone arch or stone pillar bridges over all major rivers of the Empire save two: the [[Euphrates]], which lay at the frontier in the [[Roman–Persian Wars]], and the [[Nile]], the longest river in the world, which was bridged as late as 1902 by the British [[Old Aswan Dam]].<ref>{{harvnb|O'Connor|1993|pp=193–202 (Appendices A and B)}}

[[Help:Category|Categories]]</ref> The largest rivers to be spanned by solid bridges by the Romans were the [[Danube]] and the [[Rhine]], [[List of rivers of Europe|the two largest European rivers]] west of the [[Eurasian Steppe]]. The lower Danube was crossed by least two ([[Trajan's Bridge]], [[Constantine's Bridge (Danube)|Constantine's Bridge]]) and the middle and lower Rhine by four different bridges (the [[:de:Römerbrücke (Mainz)|Roman Bridge at Mainz]], [[Caesar's Rhine bridges]], the [[:de:Römische Brücken in Koblenz|Roman Bridge at Koblenz]], the [[:de:Römerbrücke (Köln)|Roman Bridge at Cologne]]). For rivers with strong currents and to allow swift army movements, [[pontoon bridge]]s were also routinely employed.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Connor|1993|pp=133–139}}</ref> Judging by the distinct lack of records of pre-modern solid bridges spanning larger rivers,<ref name="troyano" /> the Roman feat appears to be unsurpassed anywhere in the world until into the 19th century.