The Arch of Hadrian (also called the "Arches of Capua" or the "Lucky Arch") is an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

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, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

located in

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, in southern Italy. Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and its proximity to the Roman amphit ...

(ancient

Capua Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...

, now in the Province of Caserta, southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

). It was originally a triple arch, but today only three pylons and one of the lateral arches survive. It spanned the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

and constituted an ideal entrance to the city, perhaps corresponding to the line of the

pomerium The ''pomerium'' or ''pomoerium'' was a religious boundary around the city of Rome and cities controlled by Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within its ''pomerium''; everything beyond it was simply territory ('' ager'') belonging to Rome ...

History

The arch was erected between the latter half of the 1st century and the former half of the 2nd century, but we are ignorant of its dedication. An inscription was reported, with a dedication to the Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

, later determined to be false. A dedication to

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

was also dubiously reported (), but this probably belonged to the podium of a statue. It was hypothesised that the arch's erection occurred under the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty, lasting from 69 to 96 CE, was the second dynastic line of emperors to rule the Roman Empire following the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Julio-Claudians, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Th ...

after the gift of the status of colonia to the city (along with the name Colonia Flavia Augusta). There was a restoration, with additions and reconstructions of the lateral structure in 1851. In 1860, it was involved in combat in the Battle of Volturnus: a commemorative plaque, with text written by Luigi Settembrini is located on one of the arch's pylons. Later, after 1893, the damage sustained during the battle was restored. Further restorations took place in both 1945 and 1953-1955 as a result of damage suffered in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Description

The arch is located between the Corso Moro and Via del Lavoro and is also known as the Arco di Adriano or Archi di Capua. The arch is constructed in

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

('' opus latericium'') and originally had an outer coating of white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, now lost. The pylons of the central vault remain and one of the lateral arches. The remains extend to a height of 10 metres and a width of 18.5 metres. There are modern extensions and restorations. The arches of the central vault and of the lateral vaults were of a moderate height (6.2 metres), but that of the central arch was wider (an opening of 4.85 metres versus an opening of 3.95 metres for the lateral arches) and it originally reached to a greater height. The pylons are coated at the base with blocks of white limestone and are lightened by niches with arched tops. The holes in the lateral structure now allow the possibility of the presence of columns which framed the niches and must have supported an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

which would have been above the vaults. It is believed the niches once held statues. On the inside of the pylons of the central passage are some niches, but these are modern recreations.

References

Sources

*Lorenzo Quilici, Stefania Quilici Gigli, "Sull'arco di Capua", in Lorenzo Quilici & Stefania Quilici Gigli (ed.s), ''Urbanizzazione delle campagne nell'Italia antica'', Roma 2001, p. 205-231. {{Archaeological sites in Campania

Capua (ancient city) Santa Maria Capua Vetere

History

Description

See also

References

Sources