The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest
river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the
Apennine Mountains in
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
and flowing through
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
,
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, ...
, and
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, where it is joined by the River
Aniene, to the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...
, between
Ostia and
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
. It
drains a basin estimated at . The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, which was founded on its eastern banks.
The river rises at
Mount Fumaiolo
Mount Fumaiolo ( it, Monte Fumaiolo) is a mountain of the northern Apennines range of Italy located in the southernmost corner of the Emilia-Romagna region, c. 70 km from the town of Cesena. It is at the border Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. ...
in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...
and Rome to meet the sea at
Ostia. Known in ancient times (in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
) as ''
flavus
Flavus is the Latin word for yellow or blond and has given the name to many, more or less yellow, objects:
* Subrius Flavus, a failed Roman conspirator against the Emperor Nero
* Flavus, brother of Arminius
See also
* Flavius
* Flava (disambi ...
'' ("the blond"), in reference to the yellowish colour of its water, the Tiber has advanced significantly at its mouth, by about , since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a derivation ...
inland.
["Tiber River". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006] However, it does not form a proportional
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast, and to slow
tectonic subsidence
Tectonic subsidence is the sinking of the Earth's crust on a large scale, relative to crustal-scale features or the geoid. The movement of crustal plates and accommodation spaces created by faulting create subsidence on a large scale in a variet ...
.
Sources
The
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
of the Tiber consists of two
springs away from each other on
Mount Fumaiolo
Mount Fumaiolo ( it, Monte Fumaiolo) is a mountain of the northern Apennines range of Italy located in the southernmost corner of the Emilia-Romagna region, c. 70 km from the town of Cesena. It is at the border Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. ...
. These springs are called ''le Vene''. The springs are in a
beech forest above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
. During the 1930s,
Benito Mussolini had an antique
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
Roman column built at the point where the river rises, inscribed
QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ("Here is born the river / sacred to the destinies of Rome"). An
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
is on the top of the column, part of its
fascist symbolism
Fascist symbolism is the use of certain images and symbols which are designed to represent aspects of fascism. These include national symbols of historical importance, goals, and political policies. The best-known are the fasces, which was the or ...
. The first miles of the Tiber run through
Valtiberina
Valtiberina is a valley crossed by the upper course of the Tiber (which originates from Monte Fumaiolo in Emilia-Romagna), unfolding between Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
before entering Umbria.
Etymology
The genesis of the name ''Tiber'' probably was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur (modern
Tivoli), and may be specifically
Italic in origin. The same root is found in the Latin ''
praenomen'' ''
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
''. Also,
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
** Etrusca ...
variants of this praenomen are in ''Thefarie'' (borrowed from
Faliscan ''*Tiferios'', lit. '(He) from the Tiber' < ''*Tiferis'' 'Tiber') and ''Teperie'' (via the Latin hydronym ''Tiber'').
["Tiber". ''Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names''. John Everett-Heath. ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
2005.
Legendary king
Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of
Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the River Albula, which was afterward called ''Tiberis''.
The myth may have explained a memory of an earlier, perhaps
pre-Indo-European name for the river, "white" (''alba'') with sediment, or "from the mountains" from
pre-Indo-European word "alba, albion" mount, elevated area. ''Tiberis/Tifernus'' may be a pre-Indo-European substrate word related to
Aegean ''tifos'' "still water", Greek