Tibĕris
also
Tibris, Tybris, Thybris, Amnis Tiberīnus or simply
Tiberīnus. Now the Tiber or Tevere; the chief river in Central
Italy, on which stands the city of Rome. It is said to have been originally called
Albŭla, and to have received the name of
Tibĕris in consequence of Tiberinus, king of
Alba, having been drowned in it. It has been supposed that Albula was the Latin and Tiberis
the Etruscan name of the river. The Tiber rises in the Apennines, near Tifernum, and flows in
a southwesterly direction, separating Etruria from Umbria, the land of the Sabines, and
Latium. After flowing about 110 miles it receives the Nar (Nera), and from its confluence with
this river its regular navigation begins. Three miles above Rome, at the distance of nearly
seventy miles from the Nar, it receives the Anio (Teverone), and from this point becomes a
river of considerable importance. Within the walls of Rome, the Tiber is about 300 feet wide
and from twelve to eighteen feet deep. After heavy rains the river in
ancient times, as at the present day, frequently overflowed its banks, and did considerable
mischief to the lower parts of the city (
Liv. xxiv. 9,
Liv. xxx. 38,
Liv. xxxv. 9, 21,
Liv. xxxviii. 28; Dio Cass. xxxix. 61, liii.
20). To guard against these dangers Augustus instituted the
Curatores Alvei
Tiberis (
Suet. Aug. 37). At Rome the
maritime navigation of the river begins; and at eighteen miles from the city, and about four
miles from the coast, it divides into two arms, forming an island, which was sacred to Venus
and called Insula Sacra (Isola Sagra). The left branch of the river runs into the sea by
Ostia, which was the ancient harbour of Rome; but in consequence of the accumulation of sand
at the mouth of the left branch, the right branch was widened by Trajan, and was made the
regular harbour of the city under the name of Portus Romanus, Portus Augusti, or simply
Portus. (See
Ostia.) The whole length of the Tiber,
with its windings, is about 200 miles. The waters of the river are muddy and yellowish, whence
it is frequently called by the Roman poets
flavus Tiberis. The poets also give
it the epithets of
Tyrrhenus, because it flowed past Etruria during the whole
of its course, and of
Lydius, because the Etruscans are said to have been of
Lydian origin. See
Etruria.
