Via Aemilia (It. Via Emilia) is a Roman road in the north of Italy, still used, along the edge of the Po River valley and the foothills of the Apennines connecting in a straight line the towns of Piacenza with Rimini, and also passing through the towns of Fidenza, Parma, Reggio, Modena, Bologna, Imola.

The road was built by the Roman consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. The road gave the name to the Region of Emilia, that was previously known as Gallia Cisalpina or Provincia Ariminum . "Aemilia" was at first a popular usage (as in Martial's poems), but it appeared in official language as early as the 2nd century.

At Ariminum (today's Rimini), the starting point of the Aemilia, the first bridge of the road still exists, a massive and beautiful structure spanning the Marecchia River, built by Augustus and completed by Tiberius; it is complete with its twin dedicatory inscriptions.

At Bononia (today's Bologna), Milestone 78 from Ariminum was found in the bed of the Rhenus (Reno); it records the restoration of the road by Augustus, from Ariminum to the river Trebia in 2 BC. Remains of the bridge of the Via Aemilia over the river at Bologna were found in the 1890s, consisting of parts of the parapets on each side, originally 38.75 feet apart, in brick-faced concrete; they belonged to a restoration, the original construction (probably in Augustus' rebuilding) having been in blocks of Veronese red marble. A massive protecting wall slightly above it must have been of Christian date, since a large number of Roman tombstones were used in its construction. The bed of the river was found to have risen at least 20 feet since this bridge collapsed ca 1000 CE (E. Brizio in Notizie degli Scavi 1896, 125, 450; 1897, 330).

Ruins of some of the other ancient Roman bridges still exist. At Savignano sul Rubicone , Forlì province, Emilia-Romagna, the Roman bridge survived until it was blown up as recently as World War II; the current bridge is a reconstruction. The river, now named the Rubicone, may or may not be the Rubicon of Antiquity.

External link

• LacusCurtius website: Via Aemilia, a 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica entry.