It once spanned the Tiber, connecting the Forum Boarium, the Roman cattle market, on the east with Trastevere on the west.

[3] The bridge's piers date from this early period, although its arches were constructed by Scipio Aemilianus and L. Mummius in 142 BC.

[2][4] The bridge kept its place for several hundred years, although it was repaired and rebuilt both by Augustus,[5] and later by Emperor Probus in AD 280.

[3][6] Finally, floods in 1575 and 1598 carried the eastern half away, resulting in its abandonment as a functioning bridge for several centuries.

[8] In 1853, Pope Pius IX had the remnants of the bridge connected to the mainland via an iron footbridge, but the heavy metal weakened the structural integrity of the stone.