13th-Century Flood Marker
Title
Description
Walking along the bank, the Tiber gives the impression of a formidable river. During the flood season the current is swift — carrying branches and other debris down the river— and the water level can rise above the bike paths that are now populated by bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians. For the modern Roman, however, the ominous Tiber is restrained by the massive walls on each bank, the construction of which began in 1876. Medieval residents were not so lucky — vulnerable to the whims of ‘Father Tiber,’ Rome was devastated by a series of floods throughout the medieval period. While Rome no longer has to worry about floods, traces of past devastation remain in the form of flood markers.
The earliest surviving flood marker can be found under an archway on the Via dell'Arco dei Banchi, across the river from the Castel Sant'Angelo. A marble slab is embedded in the side of the now heavily-restored archway and records the height of a flood that occurred on November 6, 1277. While the script is stylized, one can clearly make out the words Huc Tiber accessit ("To here the Tiber came") right above the line indicating the flood level.
Abstract
Creator
Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Source
Aldrete, Gregory S.. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Accessed May 30, 2015. ProQuest ebrary.
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000. pp. 64, 237
Squatriti, Paolo. "The Floods of 589 and Climate Change at the Beginning of the Middle Ages: An Italian Microhistory." Speculum 85, no. 04 (2010): 799-826.
Date
Identifier
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Description
Walking along the bank, the Tiber gives the impression of a formidable river. During the flood season the current is swift — carrying branches and other debris down the river— and the water level can rise above the bike paths that are now populated by bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians. For the modern Roman, however, the ominous Tiber is restrained by the massive walls on each bank, the construction of which began in 1876. Medieval residents were not so lucky — vulnerable to the whims of ‘Father Tiber,’ Rome was devastated by a series of floods throughout the medieval period. While Rome no longer has to worry about floods, traces of past devastation remain in the form of flood markers.
The earliest surviving flood marker can be found under an archway on the Via dell'Arco dei Banchi, across the river from the Castel Sant'Angelo. A marble slab is embedded in the side of the now heavily-restored archway and records the height of a flood that occurred on November 6, 1277. While the script is stylized, one can clearly make out the words Huc Tiber accessit ("To here the Tiber came") right above the line indicating the flood level.
Creator
Francesca Arcidiacono (2016) and Tyler Spaeth (2016)Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Date
November 6, 1277Coverage
1200sSource
Aldrete, Gregory S.. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Accessed May 30, 2015. ProQuest ebrary.
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000. pp. 64, 237
Squatriti, Paolo. "The Floods of 589 and Climate Change at the Beginning of the Middle Ages: An Italian Microhistory." Speculum 85, no. 04 (2010): 799-826.