Aternum was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

town, on the site of Pescara, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Some historians also refer to Aternum with the name of ''Ostia Aterni'',Giuseppe Quieti, ''Pescara antica città'' due to its location at the mouth of the river Aternus. Being connected to Rome through the

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) and then, with the via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin, Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius Maxi ...

and its extension the

Via Valeria The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina from Tibur. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, censor in 154 BC. The route It ran first up the Anio valley past ...

, Aternum played a crucial in connecting the capital to the Eastern provinces of the Empire. Its harbour, largely occupied by commercial and fishing ships, was supposedly also used for military purposes. The main building was the temple of ''Jovis Aternium'' but there are traces of other temples dedicated to Roman and even Egyptian divinities. Moreover, there are reports about the construction of a monumental

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

by the emperor

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 ...

Footnotes

Roman towns and cities in Abruzzo {{Abruzzo-geo-stub