GALLIA ROMANA

Audiat 1889 ; Maurin 1978, pp. 71-81 ; Lemerle 2005, pp. 101-102 ; Maurin 2007, pp. 304-308

« In eo fluvio ad urbis SANTONÆ ingressum pons est lapideus, opus certe stupendum, non minus antiquitate quàm structura inusitata. Is à nonnullis rerum Gallicarum scriptoribus sermone gallico, voce multum luxata, detortáve, MONTRIBLVS, pro ponte terribili vocatur, in quo nominis antiqui velut umbra tantùm restat. Ad pontis extrema turris propugnaculi vice extructa est, quæ suburbium spectat. A Caio Jul. Cæsare verisimile est in altum evectam fuisse, memorabili supráque fidem fabrica. Nam lapides insolitæ magnitudinis ferro, cæmentóque tam affabrè commissi sunt, u t hoc opus censeatur inimitabile : pontem quoque illum, aut potius arcum triumphalem in Augusti Cæsaris honorem fuisse constructum fidem facit in saxis illius inscriptio, literis Romanis, in fragmentis saltem non mutilis, lectu non difficilis : hanc inserere hîc libuit in gratiam antiquitatis :
CÆSARI. NEP. DIVI IVLII PONTIFICI AUGVRI.
quod reliquum est characterum vix coniugi aut legi potest, propterea quod in lapidibus suo quodam senio marcescentibus nonnihil sit decisum. »
= “On this river, near the town of Saintes, is a stone bridge, remarkable as much for its exceptional construction as for its age. Some writers, abbreviating and deforming the French translation of the Latin name, have given its name as 'Montrible', which conveys little more than a shadow of its ancient name: 'Pont Terrible'. At one end of the bridge, looking towards the town, there is tower which served as a bulwark. It was probably erected by Caius Julius Caesar; the construction is memorable, even incredible. The stones, extraordinarily large, are so well cemented and ingeniously joined that the workmanship is considered to be matchless. Also, this bridge, or rather triumphal arch, was built in honour of Augustus Caesar – if, at least, one can have faith in the inscription engraved on one of the stones in Roman letters; this is fragmented, but complete enough to easily make out the sense; I am copying it here out of respect for its ancientness:
'TO CAESAR, GRANDSON OF THE DIVINE JULIUS, HIGH PRIEST AND AUGUR
It is not possible to read or decipher the rest of the letters because the stone is extremely eroded.”