Everything about The Tiber totally explained
The
Tiber (
Italian Tevere,
Latin Tiberis,
Ancient greek Tiveris,
Τιβερης) is the third-longest
river in
Italy, rising in the
Apennine mountains of
Tuscany and flowing 406 kilometres through
Umbria and
Lazio to the
Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at 18,000 km². The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of
Rome, founded on its eastern banks.
There are on the Tiber — in addition to numerous modern
bridges — several
ancient bridges (now mostly pedestrian-only) that survived in part (for example, the
Milvian Bridge and the
Ponte Sant'Angelo) or in whole (
Fabricius' Bridge).
Physical characteristics
The river rises at
Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past
Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at
Ostia. Popularly called
flavus ("the blond"), in reference to the yellowish colour of its water, the Tiber has heavily advanced at the mouth by about 3 km since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of
Ostia Antica 6 km inland. However, it doesn't form a proportional
delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast, and to slow tectonic subsidence.
Name and legends
It is probable that the name
Tiber is pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur (modern
Tivoli). It may be
Etruscan or
Italic in origin, possibly akin to the Celtic root-word
dubr, "water".
The legendary king
Tiberinus Silvius, or Thebris, ninth in the king-list of
Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the Albula River, which was subsequently renamed in his honour.
The River Tiber was also believed to be the river into which
Romulus and Remus--the former founded Rome--were thrown into as infants.
History
According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 km from the sea at Ostia. The island
Isola Tiberina in the center of Rome, between
Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Rome's founders, the twin brothers
Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, where they were rescued by a she-wolf.
The river marked the boundary between the lands of the
Etruscans to the west, the
Sabines to the east and the
Latins to the south.
Benito Mussolini, born in
Romagna, adjusted the boundary between
Tuscany and
Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna. Mussolini placed an antique Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed
QUI NASCE IL TEVERE SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ("Here is born the Tiber, sacred to the destinies of Rome").
The Tiber was critically important to Roman trade and commerce, as ships could reach as far as 100 km upriver; there's evidence that it was used to ship grain from the Val Teverina as long ago as the 5th century BC.
It was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome.
During the
Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at
Ostia became a key naval base. It later became Rome's most important port, where
wheat,
olive oil, and
wine were imported from Rome's colonies around the Mediterranean.
Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the
Campus Martius area. The Romans connected the river with a sewer system (the
Cloaca Maxima) and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city.
The heavy sedimentation of the river made it difficult to maintain Ostia, prompting the emperors
Claudius and
Trajan to establish a new port on the Fiumicino in the 1st century AD. They built a new road, the
via Portuensis, to connect Rome with Fiumicino, leaving the city by
Porta Portese ('the port gate'). Both ports were eventually abandoned due to silting.
Several
popes attempted to improve navigation on the Tiber in the 17th and 18th century, with extensive dredging continuing into the 19th century. Trade was boosted for a while but by the 20th century silting had resulted in the river only being navigable as far as Rome itself.
The Tiber was once notorious for its floods — the Campus Martius is a
flood plain and would regularly flood to a depth of several metres. The river is now confined between high stone embankments which were begun in 1876.
Because the river is identified with Rome, the term "swimming the Tiber" has come to be the
Protestant shorthand term for converting to
Roman Catholicism. This is most common if the person who converts had been
Anglican, the reverse of which is referred to as "Swimming the
Thames."
Popular culture
Popular video games series
Command and Conquer features an
extraterrestial mineral called "
Tiberium", because meteor which delivered it crashed near this river.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tiber'.
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