ponte dei 4 capi

Janus camouflaged in the foliage

The Ponte dei Quattro Capi–also known as Ponte Fabricio, and Pons Judaeorum–is the oldest Roman bridge in the city still existing in its original state. The footbridge spans half of the Tiber River, from the Jewish ghetto on the east side, to the Isola Tiberina, the island on the Tiber. 

The 200-foot long pedestrian bridge was built in 62 B.C. to replace an earlier wooden one destroyed in a fire, and has since then endured.

Quattro Capi ("four heads") refers to the two marble pillars on the parapet each depicting a two-faced Janus on the herms–a squared stone pillar with a carved head on top, first used in ancient Greece as a boundary marker or a signpost.

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. His most prominent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January, which opens the new year. He is always portrayed as having two faces or heads, each facing in opposite directions.

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