The Arch of Claudius was a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing 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, cro ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

built in honour of the emperor Claudius's successful invasion of Britain in AD 43. It was dedicated in AD 51 but had already been anticipated in

commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...

s minted in AD 46–47 and 49, which depicted it summounted by an equestrian statue between two trophies. However, the real structure was a conversion of one of the arches of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct at the point where it crossed the Via Flaminia, the main road to the north, just north of the

Saepta The Saepta Julia was a building in the Campus Martius of Rome, where citizens gathered to cast votes. The building was conceived by Julius Caesar and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 26 BCE. The building replaced an older structure, called ...

MBALyon2018 - Expo Claude - Relief Pretoriens - cropped foreground

The condition of the arch appears to have deteriorated as early as the eighth century and is no longer extant. However, portions of the structure were discovered in 1562, 1641 and 1869 and include part of the principal inscription, inscriptions dedicated to other members of the imperial family, some of the foundations, and fragments of sculpture. The portions of surviving inscription survive in the

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums ( Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pal ...

and can be reconstructed with the aid of identical inscriptions on commemorative arches at

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

and

Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...

. It reads:

Primary sources

;Textual sources
Suet. Claud. 17
;Numismatic sources *''The Monuments of Ancient Rome as Coin Types'' (1989) by Philip V. Hill *Freeman & Sear Catalog No.12 (2005), item 536. *BM Claud. 29, 32‑35, 49‑50 *Cohen, Claudius 16‑24 *HJ 468‑9; LS III.125‑6 *''PBSR'' III.220‑223 ;Epigraph sources * Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) VI.920‑923 = 31203‑4 ;Archaeological sources *For reliefs discovered in the 1920s which may belong to it, see ''Notizie degli Scavi'' 1925, 230‑233; Bocconi, Musei Capitolini, 292.9; 294.14; YW 1925‑6, 112.

References

External links

''Arch of Claudius''
at ''Encyclopædia Romana'' project (

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

) Claudius Capitoline Museums collection Claudius {{AncientRome-struct-stub

Primary sources

See also

References

External links