Bloody Bridge. (Ponte Sanguinario). In piazza della Vittoria, below street level. It is unclear whether this name comes from the alteration of the term Sandapilarius, which was the name of the gate to the Amphitheatre nearby, or from the persecution of the Christians which, according to many hagiogragpers, supposedly took place here. It was built in the first century B.C. with three mighty arches of square travertine blocks so that the Flaminia could cross the Tessino river. Because of the progressive shifting of the river bed in a northerly direction, the bridge itself fell into disuse. Indeed, it was not used for centuries and was eventually covered over. It was unearthed in the nineteenth century.