Roman Bridge At Alcantara

We got this far off the beaten path--within meters of Portugal--because of my long-standing desire to see the great Roman bridge at Alcantara. It is not the greatest of Roman engineering feats, not even of those still functioning. It is a stone arch bridge, 600 feet long, 230 feet above the gorge of the Tegas river, wide enough for tractor-trailers to pass each other. And they do, since it is still rated with a capacity of 50-some tons. What is significant about the bridge at Alcantara, ordered by Trajan in 98AD, is the inscription by its architect, Caius Julius Lacer: Pontem perpetui mansurum in saecula, "I have built a bridge that will last forever." That speaks volumes to us dilettante classicists, especially those with 4 years of high school Latin. It is also a great statement of Roman engineering and architecture, and attitude.

The terrain around Alcantara, for miles and miles, was some of the most unusual
we have seen: rolling green hills, but strewn with humongous boulders and rock
out-croppings, polished, often suggesting the passage of a glacier or ice-field

The bridge at Alcantara

Wider view

From the other shore; note the dam in the background; it's a pretty big one,
perhaps a mile up-river; I hope it lasts forever too...

Roman temple and road in the background

Me driving across the bridge (Vicki would not set foot on it)

Marcus presents: the Roman bridge at Alcantara, its triumphal arch and inscriptions

Here, many miles in another direction, more of same boulder-strewn terrain