Tibĕris
also Tibris, Tybris, Thybris, Amnis Tiberīnus or simply Tiberīnus. Now the Tiber or Tevere; the chief river in Central Italy, on which stands the city of Rome. It is said to have been originally called Albŭla, and to have received the name of Tibĕris in consequence of Tiberinus, king of Alba, having been drowned in it. It has been supposed that Albula was the Latin and Tiberis the Etruscan name of the river. The Tiber rises in the Apennines, near Tifernum, and flows in a southwesterly direction, separating Etruria from Umbria, the land of the Sabines, and Latium. After flowing about 110 miles it receives the Nar (Nera), and from its confluence with this river its regular navigation begins. Three miles above Rome, at the distance of nearly seventy miles from the Nar, it receives the Anio (Teverone), and from this point becomes a river of considerable importance. Within the walls of Rome, the Tiber is about 300 feet wide and from twelve to eighteen feet deep. After heavy rains the river in ancient times, as at the present day, frequently overflowed its banks, and did considerable mischief to the lower parts of the city (Liv. xxiv. 9, Liv. xxx. 38, Liv. xxxv. 9, 21, Liv. xxxviii. 28; Dio Cass. xxxix. 61, liii. 20). To guard against these dangers Augustus instituted the Curatores Alvei Tiberis (Suet. Aug. 37). At Rome the maritime navigation of the river begins; and at eighteen miles from the city, and about four miles from the coast, it divides into two arms, forming an island, which was sacred to Venus and called Insula Sacra (Isola Sagra). The left branch of the river runs into the sea by Ostia, which was the ancient harbour of Rome; but in consequence of the accumulation of sand at the mouth of the left branch, the right branch was widened by Trajan, and was made the regular harbour of the city under the name of Portus Romanus, Portus Augusti, or simply Portus. (See Ostia.) The whole length of the Tiber, with its windings, is about 200 miles. The waters of the river are muddy and yellowish, whence it is frequently called by the Roman poets flavus Tiberis. The poets also give it the epithets of Tyrrhenus, because it flowed past Etruria during the whole of its course, and of Lydius, because the Etruscans are said to have been of Lydian origin. See Etruria.