For other similar structures, see Arches of Trajan

Arches of Trajan

The Arches of Trajan were built in the manner of triumphal arches in a number of places in the Roman Empire during the reign of Trajan, probably constructed by his chief architect, the engineer Apollodorus of Damascus...

The Arch of Trajan is an ancient Roman triumphal arch

Triumphal arch

A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...

 in Benevento

Benevento

Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...

, southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It was erected to celebrate emperor Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

  across the Via Appia, at its entrance in the city.

History

The arch was built between 114 and 117.

In Lombard

Duchy of Benevento

The Duchy and later Principality of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy, centred on Benevento, a city central in the Mezzogiorno. Owing to the Ducatus Romanus of the popes, which cut it off from the rest of Lombard Italy, Benevento was from the first practically...

 times, it was enclosed in southern sector of the city walls and became known as Porta Aurea ("Golden Gate"). The church of Sant'Ilario, now housing the Videomuseum of the Arch, was built nearby. The arch was studied by Sebastiano Serlio

Sebastiano Serlio

Sebastiano Serlio was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau...

 in Renaissance times and drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...

 in the 18th century.

It was restored several times due to ageing and earthquakes: under Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...

, then in 1661, 1713 (when the marble architrave crumbled down) and 1792. In 1850, in the occasion of Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX

Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

's visit in Benevento, it was isolated with the demolition of the annexed structures and houses.

Description

The arch has a single, barrel-vaulted archway, and is 15.60 m-high and 8.60 m wide. Each façade has four semicolumns in correspondence of the two side pillars, supporting an entablature

Entablature

An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...

. Above the architraves is an attic

Attic style

In classical architecture, the term attic refers to a story or low wall above the cornice of a classical façade. This usage originated in the 17th century from the use of Attica style pilasters as adornments on the top story's façade...

 which, like the latter, juts out above the archway.

The arch is built in limestone covered by opus quadratum

Opus quadratum

Opus quadratum is an ancient Roman construction technique, in which squared blocks of stone of the same height were set in parallel courses, often without the use of mortar.-Technique:...

 with Parian marble

Parian marble

Parian marble is a fine-grained semitranslucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures...

 slabs. It has a rich sculpted decoration on the two main façades. The attic features a dedicatory inscription and, at the sides, two base-relief panels: the left one on the external sides, not entirely preserved, represented the homage the provincial countryside divinities, while the right one the deduction of provincial colonies. On the internal side, on the left, was the depiction of Trajan welcomed by the Capitoline Triad

Capitoline Triad

In ancient Roman religion, the Capitoline Triad was a group of three supreme deities who were worshipped in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill, the Capitolium. Two distinct Capitoline Triads were worshipped at various times in Rome's history, both originating in ancient traditions...

 and, on the right, Trajan in the Forum Boarium

Forum Boarium

The Forum Boarium was the cattle forum venalium of Ancient Rome and the oldest forum that Rome possessed. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. Here, too, is where the first bridges were built...

.

The frieze of the entablature portrays the triumph of Trajan against Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...

. On each of the pylons, between the angular semicolumns, are two superimposed panels with scenes and allegories of imperial activities (advent of Trajan, the concession of Roman citizenship

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....

 to the auxiliaries

Auxiliaries

An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...

, Trajan welcomed by the Senate, the Roman People and the Equestrian order and others). They are separate by lower decorative panels with Victories during sacrifices of bulls in the center and Amazons at the top.

The pendentives of the archway depict personifications of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 and of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

 in the external side, and the Victory and Military Loyalty on the city one, accompanied by the genii of the Four Seasons. In the arch's keys are other personification: Fortune on the external, and Rome on the city side. The internal side of the archway has two wide sculpted panels, portraying scenes of Trajan in Benevento: on the left (from inside the city) is the Sacrifice for the opening of the Via Traiana

Via Traiana

300px|thumb|Via TraianaThe Via Traiana was an ancient Roman road. It was built by the emperor Trajan as an extension of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium by a shorter route...

, with the emperor sided by lictor

Lictor

The lictor was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium, the right and power to command; essentially, a bodyguard...

s; on the right is instead the institution of the alimentaria (a beneficent institution created by Trajan to help children in Roman Italy), symbolized by pieces of bread on the table in the center, with personifications of Italic cities with children. The vault has a coffered ceiling, with, in the center, a personification of the emperor crowned by a Victory.