The Arch of Gallienus is a name given to the

Porta Esquilina The Porta Esquilina (or Esquiline Gate) was a gate in the Servian Wall,Platner, S.B. and Ashby, T. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University, Press. 1929 of which the Arch of Gallienus is extant tod ...

, an ancient Roman arch in the

Servian Wall The Servian Wall ( la, Murus Servii Tullii; it, Mura Serviane) was an ancient Roman defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was built of volcanic tuff and was up to in height in places, wide ...

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 ...

. It was here that the ancient Roman roads

Via Labicana The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have su ...

and

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) and then, with the via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin, Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius Maxi ...

started.

History

The arch was rebuilt in monumental style in the Augustan period.Thein, Alexander. "Porta Esquilina" i
''Digital Augustan Rome''
/ref> It was not intended to be 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 ...

but to serve as a gateway in the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

city wall of Rome. In 262, the

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

(Marcus) Aurelius Victor,Mennen, Inge. "Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284" in Volume 12 of ''The Impact of Empire'', Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands, 2011. Page 230. member of the imperial household, rededicated the arch to the emperor

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...

and his wife, Salonina, by replacing the original inscription. The purpose of the rededication was to balance the negative publicity which Gallienus had earned due to the various setbacks the Empire had suffered during his reign.

Site

It still stands in the Via San Vito, the ancient

Clivus Suburanus The Clivus Suburanus was a street in ancient Rome. It was an irregular continuation from the Subura valley, rising between the Oppian Hill and the Cispian Hill as far as the Porta Esquilina on the Servian Wall The Servian Wall ( la, Murus Servii ...

– the sequel, the Via S. Martino ai Monti, follows the course of the ancient

Argiletum The Argiletum (Latin ''Argīlētum''; it, Argileto) was a street in ancient Rome, which crossed the popular district of Suburra up to the Roman Forum, along the route of the current Via Leonina and Via della Madonna dei Monti. On its eastern s ...

, the main road to the Roman Forum. Already in the Augustan period the Porta Esquilina was taken as included in the Esquiline Forum, which included the market called the

Macellum Liviae __NOTOC__ Macellum Liviae ("market of Livia") was a shopping complex built by Augustus in the name of his wife Livia built on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Literary evidence Probably to be identified with τὸ τεμένισμα τὸ Λίουιο ...

. When these buildings were abandoned in late antiquity, the

diaconia A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

and monastery of San Vito took them over, as recorded in the Einsiedeln Itinerary. It is this church against which the arch's remains now rest.

Architecture

The surviving single arch is of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

, 8.80 metres high, 7.30 wide, and 3.50 deep. It is supported by piers which are 1.40 metres wide and 3.50 deep. Outside these piers, there are two

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s of the same depth, topped by

Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

s. The pillars support a horizontal entablature which is 2 metres high and contains a dedicatory inscription on the architrave. There is a simple cornice on each side of the arch, beneath its spring. A drawing of the 15th century shows small side arches. These pedestrian arches were demolished during the 15th century.

Inscription

: These two surviving lines represent the end of an inscription.CIL VI.1106; ILS 548 The large rectangular blank space above them had marble slabs fixed onto it, with the beginning of the inscription – the drilled holes for these slabs' metal fixings are still visible. The missing part of the inscription probably named the emperor Valerian, father of Gallienus who was captured by the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

Persians in

260 __NOTOC__ Year 260 ( CCLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus (or, less frequently, year 1013 ''Ab ...

History

Site

Architecture

Inscription

See also

References

Sources

External links