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The Arches of ancient Rome
An architectural element that was
born in Rome, the honorary or triumphal arch was the greatest homage
the city could pay to its victors. At the end of a victorious
campaign, they had to pass underneath a sacred gate to celebrate
their undertakings and, according to a more religious meaning,
depose their potential destroyer. Already existing in the 2nd
century B.C., the arches multiplied during the Imperial Age when,
more than the victory as such, they celebrated the emperors or the
members of their family. At the end of the Empire, around 40 arches
could be counted in Rome, built at the entrance to the Forums, along
the major access roads, or in the monumental areas and squares.
Several of these are still preserved in excellent condition today.
The itinerary can star in the zone of
the Velabrum, on the eastern edges of the Forum Boarium, where we
find the great Arch of Janus, built in the 4th century A.D. in
honour of the emperor Constantine or, perhaps Constantius II.
It is the only four-fronted arch,
with four barrel-vaults, preserved in Rome. In fact, the name "Janus"
(from the Latin Ianus, which means "covered passage with four
fronts") derives from this characteristic. The monument, which in
the Middle Ages was transformed into a fortress by the Frangipane
family, remained intact up until 1830, when the attic and top were
torn down because they were erroneously believed not to belong to
the original structure. Fragments of the dedicatory inscription are
still preserved inside the nearby church of San Giorgio al Velabro.
It is said that in 1601, an abyss
suddenly opened up underneath the Arch of Janus, causing the
disappearance of a woman, swallowed by the earth as she was walking
with her daughter. Obviously, for this reason the Romans, especially
in less recent times, did not willingly pass beneath the arch.
Right behind the Arch of Janus,
against and partly incorporated into the church of San Giorgio al
Velabro, is the Arcus Argentariorum. More than an arch, it was
probably a monumental gate of the Forum Boarium opened, as indicated
by the inscription, in 204 A.D. by the local money-changers (argentarii)
and merchants (negotiantes), in honour of the emperor Septimius
Severus and his family.
The monument, almost 7 metres tall,
perhaps had statues of the imperial family on its top. Traces of
chiselling indicate that several figures, such as those of Geta,
Plautianus and Plautilla, the wife of the emperor Caracalla, were
purposely eliminated because they represented persons whom Caracalla
himself had had killed. Following the invention of the popular motto
"Tra la vacca e il toro, troverai un gran tesoro" (Between the cow
and the bull, you'll find a great treasure), which spread concerning
the riches the arch allegedly concealed, several holes were opened
in it in the past centuries, and can still be seen today.
Arco di Costantino
Walking towards the Capitol, we can enter the Roman Forum where,
near the Curia, it is possible to admire the Arch of Septimius
Severus.
The arch was erected in 203 A.D. to
celebrate the tenth anniversary of the reign of emperor Septimius
Severus, who had returned in victory from the wars in Partia (today
Iran and Iraq), fought together with his sons Caracalla and Geta.
Observing carefully the inscription on the attic, it can be seen how
at the height of the fourth line from the top the holes
corresponding to the nails which held the bronze letters, now
missing, do not coincide with the course of the current letters.
This means that already in ancient times the text had been reworked:
in fact, the fourth line initially contained the name of Geta, the
second son of Septimius Severus, whom Caracalla had killed after
their father's death in order to seize total power. On this
occasion, the very memory of Geta was condemned, and his name and
images were removed from all the public monuments in the Empire.
The arch, one of the largest in
existence, is in a good state of preservation because it was
incorporated into a fortress during the Middle Ages, against a tower
belonging to the Brachis family, who gave their name to the locality
called "Le Brache".
Also in the Roman Forum,
along the Via Sacra, going towards the Colosseum, stands the Arch of
Titus.
One of the most famous arches in
Rome, it was erected between 82 and 90 A.D. in honour of the deified
Titus. It was raised by Domitian, the emperor's brother, to
commemorate the victory against the Jews and the capture of
Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus himself.
According to tradition, the Jews have never passed underneath the
arch, in order to avoid paying homage to he who had destroyed the
temple of Jerusalem.
On the side facing the Colosseum, the
dedicatory inscription, originally bearing bronze letters, is still
preserved. The metal was stolen, and therefore today there remain
only the holes of the cramps used to hold the letters saying "Senatus
Popolusque Romanus divo Tito divi Vespasiani F(ilio) Vespasiano
Augusto" (The Senate and the Roman people to the divine Titus
Vespasian Augustus son of the divine Vespasian).
The abbreviation S.P.Q.R. comes from
the expression Senatus Popolusque Romanus, with which resolutions
were begun in ancient Rome. Today it is still one of the symbols of
Rome, together with the She-wolf. The Roman poet Belli interpreted
the abbreviation, explaining it in a sonnet, as meaning "Solo Preti
Qui Regneno" (only priests reign here), referring to the temporal
power of the Church of Rome, maintained until 1870.
One of the bas-reliefs on the inside of the arch represents the
procession preceding the emperor as he passes beneath the Triumphal
Gate, carrying the booty taken from the temple of Jerusalem: the
silver trumpets, the golden table, the ark that contained the sacred
scriptures, and the seven-branched candelabrum, the depiction of
which is probably the most ancient that has arrived up to the
present day. For this reason, in the Middle Ages it was nicknamed
"Arch of the Seven Lamps" and incorporated into the fortress of the
Frangipane family. It was freed in the 19th century during the
restoration work directed by Giuseppe Valadier.
Stendhal, on a trip to Rome in the
early 1800s, speaking of the arch, said, "It, after that of Drusus
near Porta San Sebastiano, is the most ancient arch in Rome, and was
also the most beautiful until when it was restored by Mr. Valadier.
This wretch who, notwithstanding his French name, is Roman by birth,
instead of reinforcing the arch… thought it well to rebuild it from
scratch".
There is a fascinating hypothesis
that alleges that the arch was used to keep, temporarily, the ashes
of the emperor Titus before they were laid in the family tomb
erected on the Quirinal Hill in 94 A.D.
Lastly, in piazza del Colosseo we can
see the majestic Arch of Constantine, erected in honour of
Constantine, in the tenth year of his reign (315 A.D.), to celebrate
the victory over Maxentius in the battle of Ponte Milvio (312 A.D.).
Almost 25 metres tall, it is the
largest triumphal arch preserved in Rome. It is an exceptional
example of the practice, followed systematically in Rome since
antiquity, of stripping ancient monuments for materials to build new
ones; indeed, here we can find, alongside original Constantinian
elements, reused sculptures and architectural elements coming from
monuments of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. It is interesting
to remember that the arch was completed with precious pictorial and
metal decorations. The dominating colours were gold and purple, the
colours of the Empire.
Recent studies have also raised
doubts about the fact that the arch reused pre-existing masonry
structures, perhaps of the 2nd century A.D.
Transformed into a fortification
tower by the monks of St. Gregory in the Middle Ages and later
incorporated into the Frangipane fortress, the arch was restored
several times and finally brought totally to light in 1804.
Courtesy of romaturismo.com Azienda Promozione
Turistica Comune di Roma
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