Chap. IV.

ROMAN.

157

island of St. Bartholomew. The first was repaired in 1680, by Pope Innocent XI . ; thesecond, in 380, by the emperors Valcns and Valentinian . The Pons Cestius consists ofa single arch, 78 feet 9 inches span : the width is 49 feet 3 inches; the two arches of thePons Fabricius are 82 feet span. In the pier which separates them is a passageaccompanied with pilasters: the cornice which surmounts the bridge is ornamented withmutules ; the breadth is 49 feet 3 inches. The Ponte Rotto , in its present state, occupies theleft of the view.

These two bridges were founded, it is said, on a bad soil, by means of a mass of masonry,consisting of right and inverted arches, carefully cut in freestone. Piranesi gives thedetails of this remarkable construction, but does not pretend to guarantee its authenticity.

Bridge at Rimini , built by Augustus , was regarded by Palladio as the finest he hadseen, and most of his designs are copies of it. It consists of five semicircular arches; thetwo outer are 23 feet 5 inches span, the three intermediate 28 feet 9 inches. The thicknessof the piers is nearly equal to half the void of the arches; they are formed by a pedestalrising 13 feet 1 inch above the water; this is surmounted by niches, accompanied bycolumns which support an entablature; the cornice which crowns the bridge is sustainedby modillions in very good taste.

Bridge of St. Angelo -This splendid monument, which formerly bore the name of Pons

yElius, from the pramomen of Hadrian , was constructed by him in a. n. 138, opposite the tombwhich he had erected. The piers were surmounted by eight colossal columns bearingbronze statues; these columns were destroyed during the troubles in Italy , when a greatcrowd occasioned by the procession of the jubilee thrust the parapets into the Tiber : Pope

:27m];

Fig.174.

Clement IX. restored them in 1668, according to Bernini ’s designs. It was then decoratedwith pedestals of white marble, bearing ten colossal statues of angels. The semicirculararches, from 26 feet 3 inches to 62 feet 4 inches span, have archivolts around them :they form a water-way of 370 feet 7 inches. The breadth of the bridge is 50 feet 9 inches.Pons Mammea, on the Teverone, four miles from Rome, * consists of three arches, 53 feet

2 inches and 64 feet span. It was erected by Antoninus Pius , about a. d. 147, and restoredin 229 by Mammea, mother of Alexander Severus , whose name it bears. The centre archis ornamented wdth a Roman eagle holding a thunderbolt in his claws, surrounded by alaurel crown. The cornice is sustained by large consoles; the breadth of the arch is 29 feet

3 inches. 9

The Berghette Bridge , on the Tiber , consists of three arches, 83 feet 4 inches span. Theupper part of the piers is pierced, and presents semicircular arcades.

Bridge on the Bachiglione , near Vicenza , consists of three arches, one of which is 68 feet11 inches, and the two others 55 feet 5 inches ; it is one of the finest bridges in Italy .The piers are decorated with niches containing statues, and two composite columns, which