Tiber: Eternal River of Rome

by Bruce Ware Allen

Overview

In this rich history of Italy’s Tiber River, Bruce Ware Allen charts the main currents, mythic headwaters, and hidden tributaries of one of the world’s most renowned waterways. He considers life along the river, from its twin springs high in the Apennines all the way to its mouth at Ostia, and describes the people who lived along its banks and how they made the Tiber work for them. The Tiber has served as the realm of protomythic creatures and gods, a battleground for armies and navies, a livelihood for boatmen and fishermen, the subject matter of poets and painters, and the final resting place for criminals and martyrs. Tiber: Eternal River of Rome is a highly readable history and a go-to resource for information about Italy’s most storied river.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512600377
Publisher:	University Press of New England
Publication date:	11/20/2018
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

BRUCE WARE ALLEN is the author of The Great Siege of Malta, published by ForeEdge. He lives in Madison, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction • 1. GODS, KINGS, AND MEN • Father Tiber • Aeneas to Romulus and Remus • Age of Kings • Cloaca Maxima • Three Heroes of the Republic • Valesius, Ogulnius, and AsclepiusSalt • Alien Gods • Cui Bono? Roscius and the Poena Cullei • Cicero and the Woman • Caesar and Cleopatra • INTERLUDE: Tributary—Cremera • 2. RIVER OF EMPIRE • Naumachia • Villas • Augustus and His Tomb • A Million Mouths to Feed • Annona, or the Dole • Eighth Hill of Rome • Stones • How to Shift an Obelisk • Canals • Boats • Suicide • Lurid Tales of Nero • Trajan and His Port • Hadrian and His Tomb • Later Mad Emperors • INTERLUDE: Tributary—Anio • 3. CHRISTIAN TIBER • Crisis of the Third Century • Zenobia • Constantine and the Milvian Bridge • A Million More Mouths • Symmachus at Law • Julian the Apostate • Alaric the Goth • Hadrian’s Tomb Undone • Barbarians at the Gates • Sidonius Apollinaris • Belisarius’s Mills • Procopius the Tourist • Dragons • Gregory the Great • Saracens • Laban/Balan • Formosus • Pornocracy • INTERLUDE: Tributary—Nera • 4. DARKNESS AND LIGHT • Pope Joan • Copper Bottom • Prophecy of Malachy • Nero—Frogs, Nuts, and Dams • Dante at Ostia • Cola di Rienzo • Holy Years • Of Law and the River • Pontius Pilate • Martin and Eugenius • Isola Sacra • Pius II Takes a Cruise • Mattei and i Soldati Rossi • Papstesel • INTERLUDE: Tributary—Clitumnus • 5. RENAISSANCE • Death of a Borgia • Zambo • Papal Boats • The Richest Man in Rome • Water Carriers • Potabile o non potabile? • Paolo Giovio and His Book of Fish • Julius II and Urban Renewal • Bartolomeo Brandano • Cellini, the Sack of Rome, a Flood, and Prison • Two Popes, Three Bridges, Four Heads • Agnus Dei • Michelangelo and His Bridge • Grasshoppers • Sport and Spectacle • Two French Poets • Floods • La Pimpaccia di Piazza Navona • Pope Leo’s Elephant • INTERLUDE: Tributary—Chiana • 6. MODERN TIMES • Ostia and Portus Redux • Porto di Ripetta • Four French Painters • The Duchess of Kingston • Treasure • In Search of Jewish Gold • Fireworks • Airborne • Mastro Titta, Er dilettante de Ponte • Some Italian Poets • French Polish • English Rose • I Sacconi Rossi • Fishing for Wood • Pius IX • Toto Bigio • Waterborne • Airborne Two • Two War Stories • EPILOGUE. Tevere incatenato • Acknowledgments • Notes • Select Bibliography • Index

What People are Saying About This

Greg Aldrete

“This engaging book carries the reader along on an entertaining and often illuminating journey that traverses the entire course of the river’s history from antiquity until the 20th century.Allen has assembled a collection of stories that are alternately charming, scandalous, intriguing, and informative, relating how the lives of individuals—ranging from painters to Popes, shepherds to saints, and emperors to aviators—have intertwined with the Tiber.”

Editorial Reviews

09/24/2018
Allen (The Great Siege of Malta) offers readers a miscellanea of anecdotes and sketches related to the Tiber in Rome, arranged in a generally chronological order. Emperors, popes, and other nobility—both secular and clerical—rub elbows with more common folk in these pages. Some themes feature prominently, such as descriptions of military action and recurrences of the Roman mob, last seen in 1944, tossing into the river the Fascist prison warden Donato Carretta. Other executions, suicides, and deaths by misadventure are included, as are floods and vagaries of the river, and somewhat random tidbits on ancient sewers, dragons, and the Renaissance-era occupation of fishing out firewood as it floated by. Bridges that span the river make several appearances, as do things hidden by its depths, ranging from the apocryphal story that the river’s bottom was lined with bronze sheeting to assorted sunken treasures including statues and a lost train. Alas, “the river... is now cut off from easy access, and largely from view.” With this amusing and delightful compendium of historical Tiber trivia, Allen has given readers a view of the river after all. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly