Arch of Septimius Severus

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Arch of Septimius Severus from the southeast
Northwest side of the Arch of Septimius Severus

The Arch of Septimius Severus is a three-sided triumphal arch in the Roman Forum in Rome .

The arch was erected in honor of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta in 203 to commemorate the successes against the Parthians . The building was decided after the first Parthian War, but was only commissioned after the victory over Clodius Albinus and the second Parthian campaign (197-199).

The triumphal arch stands at the northwest end of the Roman Forum. The Via Sacra leads through the central arch towards the Capitol . Since the arch was included in fortifications in the Middle Ages , it is still in good condition today. As can be seen in the painting by Canaletto , the arch had partly disappeared into the ground in Goethe's time.

The three-sided arch, which is an outstanding example of Severan architecture in Rome, consists of travertine in the foundation area , the structure was made with bricks and clad with Pentelic marble . From the forum steps lead up to the arch. The monument is 20.88 meters high, 23.27 meters wide and 11.20 meters deep. The central arch reaches a height of 12 meters and a width of 7 meters, the two side arches are 7.8 meters high and 3 meters wide. The Arch of Septimius Severus was the largest arch in the Roman Forum at the time of its construction.

inscription

Dedication Inscription (Northwest Side)

On both sides of the passage there is an inscription that occupies the entire attic and indicates that the arch was erected by the Senate on the occasion of the successful campaigns of Septimius Severus in the east. On the dedication inscription, however, the name Getas was chiseled out after his murder and the damnatio memoriae imposed on him in AD 211 and replaced by other honorary titles for Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The inscription reads:

" IMP · CAES · LVCIO · SEPTIMIO · M · FIL · SEVERO · PIO · PERTINACI · AVG · PATRI PATRIAE · PARTHICO · ARABICO · ET · PARTHICO · ADIABENICO · PONTIFIC · MAXIMO · TRIBUNIC · POTEST · XI · IMP · XI · COS III PROCOS ET IMP CAES M AVRELIO L FIL ANTONINO AVG PIO FELICI TRIBUNIC POTEST VI COS PROCOS (P P OPTIMIS FORTISSIMISQVE PRINCIPIBUS) OB REM · PVBLICAM · RESTITVTAM · IMPERIVMQVE · POPVLI · ROMANI · PROPAGATVM · ​​INSIGNIBVS · VIRTVTIBVS · EORVM · DOMI · FORISQVE · S · P · Q · R ”

"To the emperor Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus, the son of Marcus, the Pius, Pertinax, Augustus, father of the fatherland, the conqueror of the Parthians, the Arabs and the Parthian Adiabene, the pontifex Maximus, who for the eleventh time bearer of the power of a tribune, appointed emperor for the eleventh time, consul and proconsul for the third time; and the emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelianus Antoninus, son of Lucius, Augustus, Pius, Felix, who for the sixth time has the power of a tribune, the consul, proconsul, father of the fatherland; the best and strongest principes , for the salvation of the state and the extension of the domain of the Roman people and for their extraordinary achievements at home and abroad. The Senate and the people of Rome. "

- CIL 06, 1033 = ILS 425

Details

Arch of Septimius Severus , painted by Canaletto , 1742
Arch of Septimius Severus , anonymous watercolor from the 19th century
Removal of a Persian prisoner of war on one of the base reliefs. The soldier is depicted with the Roman overcoat, the paenula

The attic was crowned by a quadriga with statues of the emperor and his sons. However, nothing has survived from this crowning of the statue. According to the coin images, the triumphal chariot with Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Geta was pulled by six horses.

The arch zone is divided by four pilasters with columns in front. The pillars stand on high plinths and carry composite capitals . The pedestals of the columns show sculpted prison trains on three sides. The gussets over the side arches are decorated with river gods . In the spandrels above the central arch are Victorias , the trophies carry. Season personifications are attached below the Victoria . The keystones above the side arches are decorated with deities, and Mars is depicted on the keystone above the central arch . Above the side arches there is a narrow frieze on which prisoners and the conquered of the goddess Roma are presented, soldiers, carts with spoils of war and allegories of the provinces are depicted.

Above the narrow frieze bands there are two large relief panels on both sides , which glorify the victorious campaigns of Septimius Severus against the Parthians and Arabs and give an insight into the war. The reliefs on the side facing the forum show the attacks on the cities of Nisibis (left) and Edessa (right) during the first campaign against the Parthians in 195 AD. On the side facing the Capitol are the attacks on the twin cities of Seleukia-Ctesiphon depicted on the Tigris during the second Parthian campaign (Seleukia left, Ctesiphon right). The painterly style of the reliefs is in the tradition of triumphal painting, which was an important part of art in the Roman Republic and was close to folk art. This art style is also called " map style ", because the representation in an oblique bird's eye view and by means of a greatly simplified map representation, which was filled with buildings or figures, was carried out in order to convey the events to the people.

The three-dimensional scenes of the base reliefs with prisoners of war stand out clearly in style from the four relief panels. The above-mentioned bird's eye view of the events and the linear elaboration of the reliefs give the historical war report greater importance and serve less for representation. The purpose was to make the course of the war clear to the people.

literature

  • Bernard Andreae : The Roman Art. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1999.
  • Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli : Rome. The center of power. CH Beck, Munich 1970.
  • Richard Brilliant: The Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum . American Academy, Rome 1967 (Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, vol. 29).
  • Antonino De Vita: Leptis Magna. The hometown of Septimius Severus in North Africa. In: Ancient World. Vol. 27, 1996, pp. 173-190.
  • Ernst Künzl : The Roman Triumph. Victory celebrations in ancient Rome. CH Beck, Munich 1988.
  • Ernest Nash : image dictionary on the topography of ancient Rome. Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, Tübingen 1961.
  • Lawrence Richardson Jr .: A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1992, pp. 28-29 sv Arcus Septimii Severi.
  • Eva Margareta Steinby (Ed.): Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae . Vol. 1. 1993, pp. 103-105.

Web links

Commons : Septimius-Severus-Bogen  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 34.2 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 5.1"  E