Ponte Neroniano, Rome

Ponte Neroniano marks the course of an ancient Roman bridge, also called the Pons Neronianus. It carried the Via Triumphalis across the Tiber, joining the Campus Martius with the Vatican fields, where the imperial household held land. The crossing offered Nero a more convenient route to Agrippina the Younger’s gardens beside the river.

Its association with Nero is less certain than the name suggests: no direct proof identifies him as its builder, and medieval Romans may have named the ruined bridge for the nearby Plain of Nero. When the river runs low, a foundation from a pier can emerge near Ponte Vittorio Emanuele the Second. The structure once had four piers, but their visible remains were removed during the nineteenth century so boats could travel the river more freely.