The Tiber River of Rome

The Tiber River of Rome The Tiber is one of longest rivers in  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Italy. It is about 250 miles long and varies between 7 and 20 feet deep. It is the second longest river in Italy, after the Po. The Tiber flows from the Apennines at Mount Fumaiolo through Rome and into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Ostia. Most of the city of Rome is to the east of the Tiber River. The area to the west, including the island in the Tiber, Insula Tiberina, was in Augustus XIVth region of  Rome. Origin of the Name Tiber The Tiber was originally called Albulula because it was so white, but it was renamed Tiberis after Tiberinus, who was a king of Alba Longa who drowned in the river. Theodor Mommsen says the Tiber was the natural highway for traffic in Latium and provided an early defense against neighbors on the other side of the river, which in the area of Rome runs approximately southwards. History of the Tiber In antiquity, ten bridges were built over the Tiber. Eight spanned the Tiber, while two permitted passage to the island. Mansions lined the riverside, and gardens leading to the river provided Rome with fresh fruits and vegetables. The Tiber was also a major highway for Mediterranean trade of oil, wine, and wheat. The Tiber was an important military focus for hundreds of years. During the third century B.C.E., Ostia (a town on the Tiber) became a naval base for the Punic Wars. The Second Veientine War (437-434 or 428-425 B.C.E.) was fought over control of a crossing of the Tiber. The disputed crossing was at Fidenae, five miles upstream from Rome. Attempts to tame the Tibers floods were unsuccessful. While today it flows between high walls, during Roman times it regularly overflowed its shores. The Tiber as a Sewer The Tiber was connected with the Cloaca Maxima, the sewer system of Rome, attributed to king Tarquinius Priscus. The Cloaca Maxima was built during the sixth-century B.C.E. as a canal, or channel, through the city. Based on an existing stream, it was expanded and lined with stone. By the third century B.C.E. the open channel had been lined with stone and covered with a vaulted stone roof. At the same time, Augustus Caesar had major repairs made to the system. The original purpose of the Cloaca Maxima was not to carry off waste, but rather to manage stormwater to avoid floods. Rainwater from the Forum district flowed downhill to the Tiber through the Cloaca. It wasnt until the time of the Roman Empire that public baths and latrines were connected to the system. Today, the Cloaca is still visible and still manages a small amount of Romes water. Much of the original stonework has been replaced by concrete.

Pronouncing the N in Spanish

Pronouncing the N in Spanish The n of Spanish has three sounds, which are determined by the sound that follows. Two of the sounds of n commonly appear in English in much the same way, and the third one does occasionally. The most common sound for the n is similar to the n in words such as nice and dance. For Spanish speakers, the tongue may be a bit farther forward than what it is for many English speakers, at the top of the teeth rather than on the ridge between the teeth and the roof of the mouth. When the n is followed by an m or p, it has the same sound as the m. This phenomenon occurs in a few English words during casual speech. One of them is input, which is often pronounced the way that imput would be. Since the n is pronounced as an m when an m follows it, in effect the n becomes silent. Thus, for example, inmigracià ³n is pronounced the same as if the word were imigracià ³n. You might observe that many English cognates of Spanish words where the n has the m use the m in the English version. For example, à ©nfasis is the equivalent of emphasis and inmenso is the equivalent of immense. Note that the following sound doesnt have to be in the same word as the n, only pronounced immediately afterward. So con permiso is pronounced the same as compermiso would be. This running of words together, where the sounds of one word affect those of another, is known as elision. The third sound of the n occurs when it is followed by the k or hard  g sounds. Note that the k sound can be spelled using qu or with a c that is not followed by an i or e. The sound in these cases is much the same as in English when the n is followed by the same sounds, in words such as single or sink. Note that in these words the tongue doesnt touch the front of the mouth, and the sound comes from the back of the mouth as it prepares to pronounce the following sound. Thus the n of bank and the n of banco are similar. In our brief ​audio lesson on the n sound you can hear the phrases buenos dà ­as (good morning), lo siento mucho (Im very sorry), con permiso (excuse me), encantado de conocerla (pleased to meet you), and the word inglà ©s (English). The sound of the n should not be confused with the sound of the à ±, which is a separate letter of the Spanish alphabet.