The costs of building and repairing the bridges, known as opus pontis ("bridge work"), were the responsibility of multiple local municipalities. The shared costs show that the Roman bridges belonged to the region as a whole, and not to a single city (or two, if they were on the border). The Alcántara Bridge in Lusitania, for example, was built at the expense of 12 local municipalities, whose names were added in an inscription.[11] Later, in the Roman Empire, local lords of the land were required to pay tithes to the empire as opus pontis.[12][13] The Anglo-Saxons continued this practice with bricg-geworc, a literal translation of '"opus pontis*.[14]*.

Construido en el año 142 a. C., el Puente Aemilius, posteriormente llamado Ponte Rotto (puente roto), es el puente de piedra romano más antiguo de Roma, Italia.

El mayor puente romano fue el de Trajano sobre el bajo Danubio, construido por Apolodoro de Damasco, que siguió siendo durante más de un milenio el puente más largo que se ha construido tanto en términos de longitud total como de vano. En la mayoría de los casos, se encontraban al menos dos metros por encima de la masa de agua.

Un ejemplo de construcción de puentes militares temporales es el Puente de Julio César en el Rin.

Great river bridges

Roman engineers built stone arch or stone pillar bridges over all the major rivers of their Empire, except two: the Euphrates, which lay on the border with rival Persian empires, and the Nile, the longest river in the world, which was "bridged" until 1902 by the ancient British Aswan Dam.[15]​.

The largest rivers crossed by solid bridges by the Romans were the Danube and the Rhine, the two largest European rivers west of the Eurasian steppe. The lower Danube was crossed by at least two (Trajan's Bridge, Constantine's Bridge) and the middle and lower Rhine by four different bridges (Roman Bridge of Mainz, Julius Caesar Bridge on the Rhine, Roman Bridge of Koblenz, Roman Bridge of Cologne). For rivers with strong currents and to allow rapid movement of the army, pontoon bridges were also commonly used.[16] Considering the absence of records of pre-modern solid bridges crossing large rivers,[17] the Roman feat appears to be unparalleled anywhere in the world until well into the 20th century.

The costs of building and repairing the bridges, known as opus pontis ("bridge work"), were the responsibility of multiple local municipalities. The shared costs show that the Roman bridges belonged to the region as a whole, and not to a single city (or two, if they were on the border). The Alcántara Bridge in Lusitania, for example, was built at the expense of 12 local municipalities, whose names were added in an inscription.[11] Later, in the Roman Empire, local lords of the land were required to pay tithes to the empire as opus pontis.[12][13] The Anglo-Saxons continued this practice with bricg-geworc, a literal translation of '"opus pontis*.[14]*.

Construido en el año 142 a. C., el Puente Aemilius, posteriormente llamado Ponte Rotto (puente roto), es el puente de piedra romano más antiguo de Roma, Italia.

El mayor puente romano fue el de Trajano sobre el bajo Danubio, construido por Apolodoro de Damasco, que siguió siendo durante más de un milenio el puente más largo que se ha construido tanto en términos de longitud total como de vano. En la mayoría de los casos, se encontraban al menos dos metros por encima de la masa de agua.

Un ejemplo de construcción de puentes militares temporales es el Puente de Julio César en el Rin.

Great river bridges

Roman engineers built stone arch or stone pillar bridges over all the major rivers of their Empire, except two: the Euphrates, which lay on the border with rival Persian empires, and the Nile, the longest river in the world, which was "bridged" until 1902 by the ancient British Aswan Dam.[15]​.

The largest rivers crossed by solid bridges by the Romans were the Danube and the Rhine, the two largest European rivers west of the Eurasian steppe. The lower Danube was crossed by at least two (Trajan's Bridge, Constantine's Bridge) and the middle and lower Rhine by four different bridges (Roman Bridge of Mainz, Julius Caesar Bridge on the Rhine, Roman Bridge of Koblenz, Roman Bridge of Cologne). For rivers with strong currents and to allow rapid movement of the army, pontoon bridges were also commonly used.[16] Considering the absence of records of pre-modern solid bridges crossing large rivers,[17] the Roman feat appears to be unparalleled anywhere in the world until well into the 20th century.