River
Fluvius Silarum
Sillaro
Listen to the story
The torrent Sillaro, which comes down from the Apennines in Emilia and crosses the old Via Aemilia at Castel San Pietro near Imola, is the Fluvius Silarum of the map, and no other ancient source records its name. The Tabula draws it running from a mountain in a short, gently winding course straight into the Po. That matched Roman times, but since 1770 the river has fed the Reno instead. Where the road meets the water, the map marks a road station named after the river, and remains of a Roman bridge survive there, with an inscription from the reign of Trajan that probably records a rebuilding.