In this rich history of Italy's Tiber River, Bruce Ware Allen charts the main currents, mythic headwaters, and hidden tributaries of one of the world's most renowned waterways. He considers life along the river, from its twin springs high in the Apennines all the way to its mouth at Ostia, and describes the people who lived along its banks and how they made the Tiber work for them.

The Tiber has served as the realm of protomythic creatures and gods, a battleground for armies and navies, a livelihood for boatmen and fishermen, the subject matter of poets and painters, and the final resting place for criminals and martyrs. Tiber: Eternal River of Rome is a highly readable history and a go-to resource for information about Italy's most storied river.


“This engaging book carries the reader along on an entertaining and often illuminating journey that traverses the entire course of the river’s history from antiquity until the twentieth century. Allen has assembled a collection of stories that are alternately charming, scandalous, intriguing, and informative, relating how the lives of individuals—ranging from painters to popes, shepherds to saints, and emperors to aviators—have intertwined with the Tiber.”—Gregory S. Aldrete, author of Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome

“Tiber provides a thoroughly enjoyable gallimaufry, engagingly written, [ranging] through Rome’s history from the riverside view, with much curious learning lightly displayed. Good fun, with something for everyone.”—Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile: A Biography of the World’s Greatest River

“[An] amusing and delightful compendium of historical Tiber trivia.”

—Publishers Weekly