River
Mataurum Flumen
Fiume Metauro ~ Madonna del Ponte
Listen to the story
Mataurum Flumen, a river on the coast road between Fanum Fortunae and Sena Gallica, probably stands here for the bridge, or the road station beside it, where travellers crossed near the modern Madonna del Ponte. The map gives just the name, with no picture. This form with an a belongs to later times and turns up only on inscriptions and on the Tabula; the river is now the Metauro, flowing from the Umbrian Apennines to the Adriatic near Fano. Its banks saw a turning point of the war with Hannibal: in 207 BC the Romans defeated his brother Hasdrubal there, and Hasdrubal fell in the battle.