The Arch of Alexander Severus is a Roman triumphal arch in the ancient

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

of Thugga, located in Dougga, Béja, Tunisia. It was dedicated to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus (r. 222–235). The

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

was built in 228, in gratitude to the emperor for his beneficence towards the city. It functioned as one of the

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

s, at the end of a road linking to the road between Carthage and

Tébessa Tébessa or Tebessa ( ar, تبسة ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical Theveste, is the capital city of Tébessa Province region of northeastern Algeria. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important one being the w ...

. The preserved arch is the span of a single vault, about 4 metres wide, and lateral

pylons Pylon may refer to: Structures and boundaries * Pylon (architecture), the gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple or Christian cathedral * Pylon, a support tower structure for suspension bridges or highways * Pylon, an orange mar ...

with niches, which would have been framed by detached columns on tall plinths which are now lost (

fluted Fluting may refer to: * Fluting (architecture) * Fluting (firearms) *Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump See also *Flute (disambiguation) A flute is a musical instrument. ...

pilasters remain at the rear). Only a single minor trace of the entablature remains, immediately above the blocks of the archway. The arch together with the other monuments of the archaeological site of Dougga, was included in the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1997.Record on Dougga/Thugga
on UNESCO's website.

Notes

Bibliography

* M. C. Poinssot, ''Les ruines de Dougga'', Tunis 1958, pp. 61 e 71 *Mustapha Khanoussi, ''Dougga'', Agence de mise en valeur du patrimoine et de promotion culturelle, Tunis 2008, , p. 58 {{Commons category, Arch of Alexander Severus (Dougga) Ancient Roman triumphal arches Béja Governorate Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Tunisia Severus Alexander Dougga