Bridge at Oinoanda

The Bridge at Oinoanda (or Oenoanda), or Bridge of Kemerarası, is an Ottoman arch bridge over the Xanthos river close to the Lycian site of Oinoanda in modern-day Turkey. It stands on or near the spot of a Roman bridge, whose existence became known in the 1990s through the find of an ancient bridge inscription.

Roman bridge

Inscription stone

The Latin inscription stone was found at the antique site at Kemerarası, which lies at the foot of the Oinoanda hill (Urluca). Since ancient times, the place has been an important junction of the upper Xanthos valley. The existing Ottoman bridge runs parallel to the modern highway bridge. Lying face upwards, and largely intact, the limestone block measures 130 cm high, 64 cm wide and c. 42 cm thick. At the right side of the front face, a medium-sized chip makes textual additions necessary. Further difficulties arise from a number of peculiar spelling mistakes, which leads to the assumption that the mason was probably a Greek speaker.^[1]

Dating

The inscription, and thus also the construction of the bridge, are dated to the reign of the Roman governor in Lycia, Eprius Marcellus, who is known to have held the office in the year 54 AD.^[2] By comparing its contents with the known chronology, Milner dates the construction more precisely to 50 AD, making a connection with road building activities which started in the wake of the Roman annexation of Lycia seven years earlier under the supervision of Marcellus’ predecessor Quintus Vernanius. Probably, the Roman bridge should be understood as part of the Roman efforts to consolidate their hold on to the newly acquired province by improving the road system to move troops around more swiftly.^[3]

Inscription text

Transcription (with additions):^[2]

TI CLAVDIVS DRVSI F

CAESAR DEVS AVG GER

MANICVS PONTIFE[x]

MAX TR[I]BVNICIAE P[ot]

X COS V IMP X II DES[ig]

P P PONTEM PER T [CL?]

EPRIVM MARCELLVM

[l]EG AVG PROPR SO A

(Corrected and amended) translation:^[2]

Ti(berius) Claudius son of Drusus Caesar, God, Augustus, Germanicus, chief pontiff, with tribunician power for the 10th time, consul for the 5th time, with imperatorial acclamation for the '12th' (18th) time, co(n)s(ul) des[ig(nate)], Father of the Fatherland, (built) the bridge by the agency of T(itus) [Cl(odius)?] Eprius Marcellus, praetorian [l]egate of the Aug(ustus), so(dalis) A(ugustalis).

References

↑ All data: Milner 1998, p. 117f.
1 2 3 Milner 1998, p. 118
↑ All data: Milner 1998, p. 119f.

Sources

Milner, N. P. (1998), "A Roman Bridge at Oinoanda", Anatolian Studies (British Institute at Ankara) 48, pp. 117–123, doi:10.2307/3643051, JSTOR 3643051

Roman bridges

England	Chesters Bridge Piercebridge Roman Bridge Pons Aelius

France	Pont Ambroix Pont de Bornègre Pont Flavien Pont du Gard Pont Julien Pont sur la Laye Pont des Marchands Pont Serme Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry) Roman Bridge (Vaison-la-Romaine)

Germany	Caesar's Rhine bridges Roman Bridge (Trier)

Iran	Band-e Kaisar

Italy	Pons Aemilius Pons Agrippae Ponte Altinate Pons Cestius Pons Fabricius Pons Neronianus Pons Probi Pons Sublicius Pont d'Aël Pont de Pierre (Aosta) Pont-Saint-Martin Ponte d'Augusto (Narni) Ponte di Tiberio (Rimini) Ponte Corvo Ponte del Gran Caso Ponte Milvio Ponte Molino (Padua) Ponte Nomentano Ponte Pietra (Verona) Ponte di Pioraco Ponte di Quintodecimo Ponte Salario Ponte San Lorenzo Ponte Sant'Angelo Susegana Bridge

Lebanon	Leontes Bridge

Portugal	Ponte de Rubiães Ponte Nova da Cava da Velha Roman Bridge (Chaves)

Romania	Constantine's Bridge (Danube) Trajan's Bridge

Spain	Acueducto de los Milagros Alcántara Bridge Alcántara Bridge Alconétar Bridge Pont de les Ferreres Puente Romano (Mérida) Segovia Aqueduct Bridge

Syria	Bridge at Nimreh Gemarrin Bridge Kharaba Bridge

Turkey	Aesepus Bridge Arapsu Bridge Bridge at Oinoanda Constantine's Bridge (Mysia) Eurymedon Bridge (Aspendos) Eurymedon Bridge (Selge) Karamagara Bridge Kemer Bridge Limyra Bridge Misis Bridge Macestus Bridge Nysa Bridge Penkalas Bridge Pergamon Bridge Sangarius Bridge Severan Bridge Taşköprü (Adana) Valens Aqueduct Bridge White Bridge (Mysia)

Full list of Roman bridges

Bridges in Turkey

Abdal Bridge Akköprü Altıgöz Bridge Aspendos (Eurymedon) Bridge Atatürk Bridge Birecik Bridge Boğaziçi Bridge Demirköprü Dicle Bridge Fatih Bridge Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge Fırtına River bridges Galata Bridge Gazi Mihal Bridge Golden Horn Metro Bridge Haliç Bridge Hasankeyf Old Bridge İzmit Bay Bridge Kanuni Bridge Kanuni Sultan Suleiman Bridge Kemerarası Bridge Kömürhan Bridge Malabadi Bridge Meriç Bridge Misis Bridge Nissibi Euphrates Bridge Penkalas Bridge Saraçhane Bridge Severan Bridge Silifke Bridge Selge (Eurymedon) Bridge Taşköprü Uzunköprü Varda Bridge Yalnızgöz Bridge Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge Yeni Imaret Bridge

Bridges in italic are under construction

Coordinates: 36°49′31″N 29°33′43″E / 36.82528°N 29.56194°E / 36.82528; 29.56194

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, October 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.