Arco di Augusto

The Arch of Augustus marks the former entrance of the Via Flaminia into the Roman colony of Fanum Fortunae, now Fano. Erected in 9 CE as a city gate rather than a triumphal arch, it still bears the inscription commemorating Augustus's gift of the city wall.

Why it matters

The inscription identifies the arch as the principal gate of Colonia Iulia Fanestris and records Augustus's role in providing the wall. The monument stood where the Via Flaminia entered the colony and met the decumanus maximus, making it a prominent feature of Augustan urban planning.

What to notice

Three openings pierce the gate: a broad central arch and two narrower pedestrian passages. Its masonry uses local limestone from Monte Nerone, laid in close-fitting blocks. Above the surviving structure was an attic with a pseudo-portico of Corinthian half-columns and seven arched windows. The attic was largely destroyed by artillery in 1463 during the conflict between Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. Some of the broken stone was reused in the neighbouring church of San Michele, whose façade relief preserves the arch's former silhouette.

Context and history

The gate was built in 9 CE as part of the Augustan wall circuit. It served as the threshold between the Via Flaminia and the city's main street. A fourth-century inscription records repair under the urban prefect Lucius Turcius Secundus Apronianus. The right-hand tower was later dismantled to make way for the church of San Michele; foundations are the surviving trace of that structure. The arch remains a landmark of Fano's Roman history.