The Arch of Germanicus was an

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

situated at the northern end of the

Circus Flaminius The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "bu ...

History and description

The

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

decreed for an arch to be constructed to celebrate the victories of the

Roman general Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

following his death in 19 CE. The arch was to display gilded figures representing the nations he had conquered, together with an inscription describing his military campaigns. Atop the arch were twelve statues, and pride of place over the arch’s centre was a statue of Germanicus in a triumphal chariot. Alongside his statue were other statues of his family; his father

Nero Claudius Drusus Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), commonly known in English as Drusus the Elder, was a Roman general and politician. He was a patrician Claudian but his mother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the s ...

, his mother

Antonia Minor Antonia Minor (31 January 36 BC – 1 May 37 AD) was the younger of two surviving daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of ...

, his wife

Agrippina the Elder (Vipsania) Agrippina the Elder (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Aug ...

, his sons and daughters (including

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

), as well as his brother

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

and his sister

Livilla Claudia Livia (Classical Latin: CLAVDIA•LIVIA; – AD 31) was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister to Roman Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus, and thus paternal aunt of emperor Caligula and mate ...

. Attached to the

, the arch was set up between the ''

Porticus Octaviae The Porticus Octaviae (Latin language, Latin for the 'Portico of Octavia'; ) is an ancient structure in Rome. The colonnaded walks of the portico enclosed the Temple of Juno Regina (Campus Martius), Temples of Juno Regina (north) and Temple of J ...

'' and the

Theatre of Marcellus The Theatre of Marcellus (, ) was an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. It is located in the modern rione of Sant'Angelo. In the sixteenth century, it was converted into a palazzo. Construc ...

, close to where the statues of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and his family had been dedicated by Gaius Norbanus Flaccus, the

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

of 15 CE, after the death of Augustus. The fate of the arch is unclear. It was almost certainly damaged in the fire that burned that part of the city, including the adjacent ''Porticus Octaviae'', in 80 CE, after which it may or may not have been restored.Gregorovius, Ferdinand, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, Vol. 1, (1894), p. 45 It is certainly not listed in the 4th century inventory of the main buildings and structures of the

Regio IX Circus Flaminius The Regio IX Circus Flaminius is the ninth 14 regions of Augustan Rome, regio of imperial Rome, under Augustus's administrative reform. Regio IX took its name from Circus Flaminius, the racecourse located in the southern end of the Campus Martius ...

(the ''Curiosum – Notitia''), so it was probably no longer extant by the 330s.

Bibliography

* Richardson, L. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 1992

References

{{reflist Ancient Roman triumphal arches in Rome Germanicus

History and description

See also

Bibliography

References