Arch of Augustus
Arco d'Augusto
The Arch of Augustus in April 2012
Former names	Gate of Saint Gaudentius
General information
Type	City gate and triumphal arch
Address	Corso d'Augusto
Town or city	Rimini, Emilia-Romagna
Country	Italy
Coordinates	44°03′24.83″N 12°34′16.17″E / 44.0568972°N 12.5711583°E / 44.0568972; 12.5711583
Named for	Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Year(s) built	27 BC
Height	19 metres (62 feet)
Dimensions
Other dimensions	15 metres (49 feet) (width) 4.1 metres (13 feet) (depth)
Technical details
Material	Istrian stone

The Arch of Augustus (Italian: Arco d'Augusto, Romagnol: l’Èrc d’Augóst)^[1] is a gate set in the former city wall of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, in the form of an ancient Roman triumphal arch.^[2]

Built in 27 BC in honour of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, the arch marks the northern end of the Via Flaminia,^[3][2] the road between Ariminum (Rimini) and Rome constructed in 220 BC by Gaius Flaminius.^[3][4] Under Fascist Italy, the adjoining city walls and surrounding buildings were demolished, leaving the Arch of Augustus to stand as an isolated monument.^[3][5] Along with the Bridge of Tiberius, it is one of Rimini's most-recognised symbols, and is represented on the city's coat of arms.^[4][6] It is the oldest preserved arch in Italy.^[7]

History

Antiquity

The arch was built in 27 BC, commissioned by the Roman Senate in honour of Augustus, who had become the first Roman emperor in the same year. It was built at the northern end of the Via Flaminia,^[2][3] a Roman road between Ariminum (modern Rimini) and Rome constructed in 220 BC by Gaius Flaminius,^[3][4] and at the start of Ariminum's decumanus maximus (Corso d'Augusto).^[8] The arch is functionally a city gate,^[2] and scholars deny that it was intended as a triumphal arch.^[4] The arch's construction coincided with a restoration of the Via Flaminia and the renaming of Ariminum as Colonia Augusta Ariminensis, leading the city to be associated with Augustus, a legacy that would be consolidated with the Ponte d'Augusto, completed in 21 AD, after Augustus' death, at the other end of the decumanus maximus.^[9] Outside the city walls, the arch led to a two-arched bridge onto the river Aprusa (Ausa).^[10][11] The buildings near the arch were among the most elegantly-decorated of Ariminum.^[10]

The arch likely replaced an earlier gate about which little is known.^[5][6] The earlier gate would have been buried in thick cement. At its inauguration, the Arch of Augustus was flanked on either side by defensive guard towers built at the time of Ariminum's foundation in 268 BC. Excavations in the 1980s recovered coins suggesting that the earliest yellow sandstone walls surrounding the arch dated to the 3rd century BC. In the 3rd century AD, the sandstone walls were supplanted by stone walls fitted with drainage arches. In the final phase of construction, sometime between the 3rd and 7th centuries, the original towers were replaced with seven-sided stone towers. These towers had a brick centre, composed of stone chippings mixed with mortar, and an outer stone casing.^[6]

From at least the third century, defensive gates were built immediately in front of and behind the Arch of Augustus. A 1541 report preparing the city for Pope Paul III's visit describes "two arches, one side by side, very ancient and built of large stones, and without much artistry". The fortified gates were likely demolished around the time of the visit, as part of an effort to remove ancient structures that obstructed the view of the Arch of Augustus.^[12]

Medieval era

In the Bavarian Code [it], a codex containing the church of Ravenna's investitures between the 8th and 10th centuries, the Arch of Augustus is called the Gate of Saint Gaudentius,^[13] after Gaudentius of Rimini, who was buried in a necropolis outside the city's walls.^[13][14] Among the oldest artistic depictions of the arch is a seal, of contested authenticity, which records the late-medieval Ghibelline merlons.^[5][15] A cross-shape inside the arch may indicate a double door.^[5] While local historian Luigi Tonini [it] dated the seal to the beginning of the tenth century, Gaetano Battaglini suggested that it dates to the 13th century for its familiarity with seals of neighbouring cities.^[15]

A medieval gate was built outside the Arch of Augustus, known as the Porta Romana (or the Gate of Saint Genesio or Saint Bartolo).^[5] The Porta Romana was destroyed after being seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1786.^[5] The arch was well known in the Renaissance,^[2] and probably influenced the never-completed façade of the nearby Tempio Malatestiano, designed in 1450 by Leon Battista Alberti.^[2][10]

In 1526, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger drew a sketch of the arch for an inspection of the Papal States, who had acquired Rimini.^[16] According to Cesare Clementini [it], after briefly recapturing the city, Pandolfo IV Malatesta tried "to cut down the superb Arch of Augustus" during his retreat from the city in January 1528, when the arrival of troops from the Papal States under the command of Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, marked the definitive end of Rimini's Malatestan rule.^[17]

Modern era

On 9 January 1846, Tonini led a series of archaeological excavations at the base of the arch's flanking towers. The excavations confirmed that the Arch of Augustus was inserted amid existing city walls.^[5] Restoration work in 1912 restored the inscription on the arch's battlement.^[6] The arch was damaged in the 1916 Rimini earthquakes; some merlons fell in both the 16 May and 17 August earthquakes.^[18][19] Between 1916 and 1960, the Rimini–Novafeltria railway passed in front of the arch, adjacent to the Ausa;^[20][21] the railway crossed the Via Flaminia through an incongruous level crossing.^[20] As well as passengers, the railway transported sulphur.^[20][22] For its proximity to pedestrians and road vehicles in Rimini's city centre, the railway was considered structurally dangerous and impractical.^[23]

Between 1937 and 1939,^[5] the buildings adjacent to the arch were demolished,^[3] including the flanking towers,^[5] which were already in a state of advanced deterioration. Only some casing of the eastern tower remains visible today.^[6] The isolation works were envisaged as part of the creation of an "imperial road" between the city centre and the new Stadio Romeo Neri on the Via Flaminia, and representing it as a triumphal arch served the political and ideological propaganda of Fascist Italy.^[24] The isolation works revealed that the arch was attached to the city walls on both sides.^[7]

In the Second World War, during the Battle of Rimini, the Arch of Augustus narrowly avoided destruction by the retreating German forces:^[4] Marshal Willi Trageser of the 2nd Parachute Division defied orders from Lieutenant Kenneth Renberg to blow up the monument to slow down the advancing Allied forces.^[25][26][27] Trageser said after the war:^[28]

I personally gave the order not to blow up the arch, taking full responsibility for it. It seemed absurd to me to destroy a historical monument of this kind to achieve no result, given that the arch was isolated in the middle of a square and, therefore, traffic could have continued perfectly well, both to the right and left of the monument itself.

— Marshal Willi Trageser

It was through the Arch of Augustus that the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade entered Rimini on the morning of 21 September.^[26][27] After Rimini's liberation, the Arch of Augustus faced further threats of demolition: firstly, by British technicians, who wanted to use the arch's stones to repave destroyed roads;^[25] and secondly, by a company of engineers from South Africa and the Mauritius,^[4][25] who mistook the Arch of Augustus for Rimini's Porta Montanara, which they were ordered to destroy to allow vehicles to pass through the city.^[25] After the story of Trageser's work in saving the monument was reconstructed by Amedeo Montemaggi [it],^[29] Trageser's widow was welcomed by Rimini's municipal government at an event in 1981.^[28][29]

Until the 1950s, the arch was accessible to vehicles.^[24] In 1972, the Ausa's diversion into the Marecchia was completed, allowing the redevelopment of its former riverbed in front of the Arch of Augustus.^[30] From 1997, the car parks surrounding the arch were redeveloped into green spaces and urban gardens.^[24]

Appearance

The arch measures 19 metres (62 feet) in height and 15 metres (49 feet) in width.^[6] Its external covering is in Istrian stone,^[6][7] while its centre is composed of rocks, stones, and pebbles bound with mortar.^[6] Despite its elaborate decorations, scholars deny that it was built as a triumphal arch,^[4] and its isolation as a monument in the late 1930s was motivated by the political and ideological motivations of the fascist government.^[24]

Opening and keystone

The arch's opening spans 8.84 metres (29.0 feet) across. It is 10.4 metres (34 feet) in height, with a depth of 4.1 metres (13 feet).^[7] The arch's keystone on each side holds a projecting bull's mouth. While it is often interpreted to represent the strength and power of Rome,^[4][5] the bull is uncommon among symbols of ancient Rome. Alternative hypotheses propose that the bull represents the rule of man over nature, one of several Roman legions connected to Augustus,^[5] a purificatory rite symbolising the gate's sacredness,^[5][31] or an early symbol of Ariminum as a colonia.^[5][7]

The arch's large size would have made inserted doors impractical, symbolising the Pax Romana, a period of relative peace and order inaugurated by Augustus.^[4][5][9] The symbolism would have been particularly important given Rimini's proximity to the Rubicon, infamous for the crossing of Julius Caesar, which precipiated Caesar's civil war.^[5] In a local Romagnol idiom, someone undertaking a senseless and impossible ambition is said to want to make a door in the arch (e vliva fé la porta ma l'Èrc),^[32] but whether the arch ever had a door inserted is contested among local historians.^[5][32]

Columns and pediment

The arch's opening is flanked by two engaged columns with fluted shafts and Corinthian capitals.^[5] The four clipei (shields) placed next to the capitals depict Roman divinities. On the outside face, Jupiter is represented with his bolt of lighting, and Apollo with a lyre and raven. Facing the city, Neptune is represented with a trident and dolphin,^[7][9] and a final figure – either Minerva or Roma – is represented with a sword and trophy.^[5][7][9] Ariminum had a well-documented cult of Apollo, while Neptune recalled the city's maritime importance.^[9]

Above the opening, there is a rather low triangular pediment. The pediment does not extend to cover the tops of the columns, but is "poised uneasily between them".^[33]

Battlement

Originally, the arch would have been surmounted by an attic.^[7][3] According to Cassius Dio, above the attic would have been a statue of Augustus,^[2] likely on horseback or driving a quadriga.^[3][5][31] Two artworks have been hypothesised as part of the statue: a foot of white marble that Abbot Giovanni Battista Gervasoni Angelini said was found near the battlement, which passed into the collections of Giovanni Bianchi; and a horse's head, which shows signs of gilded bridles, indicating a possible chariot.^[34]

An alternative hypothesis by local historian Danilo Re proposes that the arch was topped by the Cartoceto Bronzes, an ensemble of ancient Roman gilt bronzes discovered in 1946 near Pergola, along the Via Flaminia, which Re suggests may have represented Caesar, Augustus, Augustus' mother, and Augustus' grandmother.^[5]

The merlons above the arch, with their distinctive Ghibelline form,^[2] were added in the late medieval era.^[2][7] The oldest extant merlons likely date to the 13th century.^[6]

Inscription