Pons
A bridge (built from wood or stone) that spans across Roman rivers; generally are built with the famous Roman arches
Pons (plural pontes) is a Latin word referring to bridges in the Roman world. Just as they are used today, pontes in the ancient world allowed people to cross rivers, ravines, and other such obstacles; allowing the movement of people, goods, technology, and ideas over larger distances. The Romans were certainly not the first ancient people to construct pontes, but they were known for employing the use of arches frequently in their construction of pontes, and these arched pontes built from stone allowed the Romans to build increasingly large and sturdy pontes throughout the Roman world. Ever-evolving Roman construction techniques allowed them to build pontes wider and across longer distances, which allowed larger loads to be carried over longer distances without being stopped by a river (fluvius). Earlier pontes would have been built of wood and without the use of arches, as was the case with the Pons Sublicius, which was the first pons built over the Tiber by the fourth king of Rome in the seventh century BCE (Murray, 1875). Rome had numerous pontes constructed over the Tiber at various points throughout the Classical period, and some of these ancient pontes are still in use today, such as the Pons Fabricius, built in 62 BCE (Platner & Ashby, 1929).
Bibliography
Latin Dictionary Entry
Pons - Perseus Digital Library
Jay Brodzeller, 2022