Arco di Augusto

The Arch of Augustus, erected by the Roman Senate in 27 BC to honour Octavian, stands where the via Flaminia from Rome entered Ariminum. Its wide, doorless opening, deity medallions and medieval battlements mark the ancient gateway.

Why it matters

The Arch of Augustus was erected by the Roman Senate in 27 BC, the year Octavian received the title Augustus. The Senate commissioned it to honour the ruler for restoring the via Flaminia, the road built in 220 BC between Rome and the Adriatic. Its broad opening was not designed to be closed with doors, expressing peace rather than a defensive function. Medallions depict Jupiter and Apollo on the countryside face and Neptune and deified Roma on the city face.

What to notice

The arch's four medallions depict Jupiter with his thunderbolt and Apollo on the outer face, and Neptune with his trident and the armed figure of Roma on the city side. Corinthian capitals and the arch ring frame the clipei. Brick battlements crowning the arch are medieval and later additions; the original attic, probably crowned by a statue of the emperor on horseback or in a quadriga, has disappeared. Blocks from the oldest city wall remain beside the arch, along with traces of polygonal towers that once flanked it.

Context and history

Ariminum, founded in 268 BC at the junction of the via Flaminia and via Aemilia, developed a southern gateway at the start of the Flaminia. The arch was conceived in the same period as the bridge at the opposite end of the decumanus; the two monuments became emblems of the city. As a gate it controlled the Flaminia approach and formed part of the earliest circuit of walls. After Rome's fall it retained a defensive role and gained the battlements visible today. In the 1930s the municipality removed buildings that had accumulated against its sides, leaving the arch standing in an open piazza.