Milvan Bridge, Rome Italy
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Exodus 15:1-2
Early Christian church historian Eusebius of Caesarea quotes this verse from Exodus in his work “The Life of The Blessed Emperor Constantine” when describing the Battle of Milvan Bridge. We know Eusebius painted a rosy picture of the “Blessed Emperor”. We can of course never know the heart of the Emperor. But his claim of a vision of the cross before the battle at the bridge, his victory there leading to his eventual role as sole emperor did pave the way to the legalization of Christianity in 313 AD and to the first counsel of Nicea in 325 AD (The 1700th anniversary is this May). The Milvan Bridge still stands in the same place over the Tiber River in Rome. Obviously often renovated, but there are still foundation stones in the river today. When Maxentius prepared to take his stand against Constantine at this bridge, he had unfortunately already damaged much of it. His troops built a sort of wooden pontoon bridge next to it and this where Maxentius drown in the river. He was dragged from the river, beheaded, and paraded through the streets of Rome.
Today the Ponte Milvio is used only for pedestrian and bike traffic. It is north of central Rome, There is a large central stone arch with 2 smaller arches on either side. The SE end of the bridge has statues of St John of Nepomuk and the Virgin Mary. At the NW end of the bridge are statues of John the Baptist and Jesus - statues that were to have been placed in a nearby church. We were not able to get down to the river bank and look more closely at the bridge and into the water due to work crews making improvements to the paths on both sides. Next time…
Ponte Milvio. Site of the Battle of Milvan Bridge between Constantine and Maxentius in AD 312. Occasion of Constantine’s vision of the cross.
