The present bridge was built by Pope Sixtus IV., who laid the
foundation stone, April 29, 1473, on the site of an older bridge
which was destroyed in the flood of A.D. 792, it having been built by
Symmachus, prefect of Rome under Valentinian (A.D. 365), "under whose
government the most sacred city enjoyed peace and plenty in an unusual
degree; being also adorned with a magnificent and solid bridge which
he constructed, and opened amid the great joy of his ungrateful
fellow-citizens" (Ammianus Marcellinus, xxvii. iii. 3). In 1878, in
making the new embankment for the Tiber, the remains of the left arch
were found at the bottom of the river, upon which was part of the
inscription, one foot seven inches high--VALENTINIAN. Pedestals which
formed part of the decorations were also found, and part of an
inscription--VALENTINIANI AU COSTI. At the Campus Martius end was a
triumphal arch dedicated to Valens and Valentiniani--
DEDICANDI . OPERIS . HONORE . DELATO . INDICIO . PRINCIPUM .
MAXIMORUM . LUCIO . AURELIO . AVIANIO . SYMMACHO . VIRO .
CLARISSIMO . EX . PREFECTIS . URBI.
Remains of a bronze statue were also found.
The Via Giulia, _on the left_, and the Via Mascherone, _on the right,
lead to_