- There was also an Arch of Drusus and Germanicus, made up of two arches built in 19 in honour of Nero Claudius Drusus and Germanicus either side of the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus, in honour of their German campaigns.
The
Arch of Germanicus is an ancient Roman triumphal arch in Saintes, Charente-Maritime in France. It was built in
18Year 18 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Caesar...
or
19Year 19 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Balbus...
by a rich citizen of the town (then known as Mediolanum Santonum), C. Julius Rufus, and dedicated to the emperor
TiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
and his adoptive sons
Drusus Caesar and
GermanicusGermanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
. It has two bays and was originally sited over the terminus of the Roman road from
LyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
to Saintes. On the proposal of
Prosper MériméeProsper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
in 1843 it was moved fifteen metres during works on quays along the river, and it was restored in 1851.
Dedication
Right next to Paule's place, you can find this very impressive Roman Arch. The dedicatory inscription on the attic (
CILThe Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
XIII, 1036 =
Inscriptions Latines des Trois Gaules, 148) is heavily worn in the area naming the emperor Tiberius and Drusus Caesar, his nephew and adoptive son. The dedication to his other nephew and adoptive son, Germanicus, is better conserved and not only allows the arch to be dated to 18 or 19 but also gives it its usual name:
GERMANICO [CAESA]R[I] TI(berii) AUG(usti) F(ilio)
DIVI AUG(usti) NEP(oti) DIVI IULI PRONEP(oti)
[AUGU]RI FLAM(ini) AUGUST(ali) CO(n)S(uli) II IMP(eratori) II
To Germanicus Caesar, son of Tiberius Augustus, grandson of the deified AugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, great-grandson of the deified Julius, augur, flamenIn ancient Roman religion, a flamen was a priest assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores , who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores...
, augustalesThe Sodales Augustales or Sacerdotes Augustales, or simply Augustales, were an order of Roman priests instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of the cult of Augustus and the Iulii....
, consul for the second time, hailed imperatorThe Latin word Imperator was originally a title roughly equivalent to commander under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen. The English word emperor derives from imperator via Old French Empreur...
for the second time.
Donor
Below the dedication the inscription in the entablature gives the name of the arch's financer, C. Iulius Rufus and his ancestors. This is repeated on all 4 sides of the arch.
C(aius) IVLI[us] C(aii) IVLI(i) OTUANEUNI F(ilius) RVFVS C(aii) IVLI(i) GEDOMONIS NEPOS, EPOTSOVIRIDI PRON(epos)
[SACERDOS ROMAE ET AUG]USTI [AD A]RAM QU[A]E EST AD CONFLUENT[E]M, PRAEFECTUS [FAB]RUM, D(at).
Caius Julius Rufus, son of Caius Julius Otuaneunus, grandson of Caius Julius Gedemo, great-grandson of Epotsovirid(i)us, priest of Rome and of Augustus at the altar at Confluens, prefect of works, gave [this arch]
The difficulties in establishing the text, which is heavily worn, have long meant that Catuaneunius has been read as the name of Rufus's father and Agedomopas as the name of Rufus's grandfather. Asserting this lineage witnesses to Rufus's aristocratic consciousness and his family's long-standing at the head of the city. Julius Gedemo was the first member of the family to receive Roman citizenshipCitizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
, probably from Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
(taking his name as his own) and possibly during the Gallic WarsThe Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
or shortly afterwards. Rufus was the first member of the family to adopt a completely Roman name rather than retaining a third name that was Celtic in origin, showing the Romanisation chosen by Gallic noblemen.
This notable Gaul, a third-generation Roman citizen, was also known as a priest of Rome and of Augustus through his dedicatory inscription found on the amphitheatre at LugdunumColonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis. To 300 years after its foundation Lugdunum was the most important city to the west part of Roman...
(Lyon), known here as Confluens.
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