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Bridge of Agrippa
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
Bust of Agrippa. Berlin (Germany). Photo Marco Prins.
 Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (64/63-12 BCE), shown here on a bust from the Antikensammlung in Berlin, was a close friend of the emperor Augustus, who ruled Rome between 27 BCE and 14 CE. In 21 BCE, Agrippa married the daughter of Augustus, Julia. The couple appears to have settled in a splendid villa on the opposite bank of the river Tiber. (Frescoes from this house can be seen in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome.) To connect his villa to the Field of Mars, where Agrippa had built several important monuments, a bridge was constructed. The road over this bridge is still in use and is now named Via dei Pettinari and Via di Santa Dorotea, which was probably the access to the villa.
The Pons Agrippae survived the Middle Ages but in the fifteenth century, it badly needed repairs. In 1475, pope Sixtus IV ordered the Florentine architect Baccio Pontelli (1450-1492) to reconstruct the monument, which has been called Ponte Sisto ever since. Still, the Renaissance bridge stands on ancient piers and has the same shape as its predecessor.  A satellite photo can be found here.
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