DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0428
The Triumphal Arch 361
the heavenly vault1, and that the triumphing general whose statue
stood upon it (fig. 25 3)2 was viewed as an embodiment of the sky-
god uplifted on his mimic sky3. This suggestion is corroborated by
a 'first brass' of Trajan, which displays (fig. 254)4 a fine triumphal
arch5 supporting the emperor's chariot and explicitly dedicated
I 0 M, 'to Iupiter Best and Greatest.' It thus appears that such
modern structures as the Arc de Triomphe or the Marble Arch have
behind them a long classical history, in which religious beliefs no
less than military and political considerations have played their part.
But the significance of the design has progressively dwindled; and
in these democratic days the monument that once stood for apo-
theosis merely marks a stage for the motor-omnibus.
1 Supra p. 428.
2 Morell. Thes. Num. Imp. Rom. ii. 99 pi. 9, 12, Rasche Lex. Num. i. 1062 f.. viii.
96, Suppl. i. 1018, T. L. Donaldson Architectura numismatica London 1859 p. 222 ft.
fig. 56, Cohen Monn. emp. rom.- i. 299 f. nos. 306—310, Stevenson—Smith — Madden
Diet. Rom. Coins p. 77 fig. Fig. 253 is from a specimen in my collection : obv.
[im]p[n]erocaesaravgpo.\tmaxtrpotp[p]. laureate head of Nero to left; rev. s c
triumphal arch. Cp. Tac. ann. 13. 4r, 15. 18.
3 Plin. nat. hist. 34. 27 columnarum ratio erat attolli (v.I. tolli) super (supra codd.
V. d.h.) ceteros mortales, quod et arcus significant novicio invento.
4 Rasche Lex. Num. i. 1065, iv. 806, viii. 1557, Suppl. i. 1019, T. L. Donaldson
Architectura numismatica London 1859 p. 228 ff. fig. 58, Cohen Monn. emp. rom."
ii. 74 f. nos. 547, 548, Stevenson—Smith—Madden Diet. Rom. Coins p. 78 f. fig. ( = my
fig- 254).
8 Cohen loc. cit. says ' Facade du temple de Jupiter, en forme d'arc de triomphe '—
w hich is absurd. Dion Cass. 68. 29 informs us that a triumphal arch was being prepared
for Trajan in his own Forum during the year 116 A. D. Excavations in 1594 (F. Yacca
' Memorie di varie antichita trovate in diversi luoghi della citta di Roma nell' anno 1594'
§ 9 published by T. Schreiber in the Ber. sacks. Gesellsch. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe
1881 p. 59, 15 ff.) and again in 1863 (A. Pellegrini ' Arco di Trajano' in the Bull. d. Inst.
1863 pp. 78—80) brought to light its foundations, together with numerous architectural
and sculptural fragments, under the old church of S. Maria in Campo Carleo, which in
the sixteenth century bore the name of Spolia Christi or Spoglia Cristo. It was formerly
assumed that the four Trajanic reliefs representing a battle with Dacians, which now
embellish the Arch of Constantine (for a convenient publication with a summary of recent
controversy see Reinach Rep. Reliefs i. 238 ff.), belonged originally to this Arch of Trajan.
The assumption, disputed by E. Petersen in the Rom. Mitth. 1889 iv. 314 ff. but reaffirmed
by R. Lanciani The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome London 1897 p. 193, may
well be sound; for on the first of the slabs in question the emperor, whose head has been
replaced by that of Constantine, is conducted by Roma and Victoria towards an Arch
(G. P. Bellori Veteres arcus Augustorum triumphis insignes Roma? 1690 pi. 42 = Reinach
,Rep. Reliefs i. 252 no. 1, Brunn—Bruckmann Denkm. der gr. und rom. Sculpt, pi. 580,
1 with text by J. Sieveking, Mrs A. Strong Roman Sculpture from Augustus to
Constantine London 1907 p. 157 ff. pi. 48, 4 from a photograph by Anderson).
H. Kiepert et C. Huelsen Formae urbis Romae antiquae Berolini 1912 p. 54 regard
the coin illustrated in my fig. 254 as the Arch of Trajan in regio i recorded by the curiosum
urbis regionum xiv and notitia regionum urbis xiv reg. 1 (H. Jordan Topographic der
Stadt Rom im Alterthum Berlin 1871 ii. 542). But that was originally a triple arch
(H. Jordan—C. Huelsen Topographic der Stadt Rom im Alterthum Berlin 1907 i. 3. 216 f).
the heavenly vault1, and that the triumphing general whose statue
stood upon it (fig. 25 3)2 was viewed as an embodiment of the sky-
god uplifted on his mimic sky3. This suggestion is corroborated by
a 'first brass' of Trajan, which displays (fig. 254)4 a fine triumphal
arch5 supporting the emperor's chariot and explicitly dedicated
I 0 M, 'to Iupiter Best and Greatest.' It thus appears that such
modern structures as the Arc de Triomphe or the Marble Arch have
behind them a long classical history, in which religious beliefs no
less than military and political considerations have played their part.
But the significance of the design has progressively dwindled; and
in these democratic days the monument that once stood for apo-
theosis merely marks a stage for the motor-omnibus.
1 Supra p. 428.
2 Morell. Thes. Num. Imp. Rom. ii. 99 pi. 9, 12, Rasche Lex. Num. i. 1062 f.. viii.
96, Suppl. i. 1018, T. L. Donaldson Architectura numismatica London 1859 p. 222 ft.
fig. 56, Cohen Monn. emp. rom.- i. 299 f. nos. 306—310, Stevenson—Smith — Madden
Diet. Rom. Coins p. 77 fig. Fig. 253 is from a specimen in my collection : obv.
[im]p[n]erocaesaravgpo.\tmaxtrpotp[p]. laureate head of Nero to left; rev. s c
triumphal arch. Cp. Tac. ann. 13. 4r, 15. 18.
3 Plin. nat. hist. 34. 27 columnarum ratio erat attolli (v.I. tolli) super (supra codd.
V. d.h.) ceteros mortales, quod et arcus significant novicio invento.
4 Rasche Lex. Num. i. 1065, iv. 806, viii. 1557, Suppl. i. 1019, T. L. Donaldson
Architectura numismatica London 1859 p. 228 ff. fig. 58, Cohen Monn. emp. rom."
ii. 74 f. nos. 547, 548, Stevenson—Smith—Madden Diet. Rom. Coins p. 78 f. fig. ( = my
fig- 254).
8 Cohen loc. cit. says ' Facade du temple de Jupiter, en forme d'arc de triomphe '—
w hich is absurd. Dion Cass. 68. 29 informs us that a triumphal arch was being prepared
for Trajan in his own Forum during the year 116 A. D. Excavations in 1594 (F. Yacca
' Memorie di varie antichita trovate in diversi luoghi della citta di Roma nell' anno 1594'
§ 9 published by T. Schreiber in the Ber. sacks. Gesellsch. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe
1881 p. 59, 15 ff.) and again in 1863 (A. Pellegrini ' Arco di Trajano' in the Bull. d. Inst.
1863 pp. 78—80) brought to light its foundations, together with numerous architectural
and sculptural fragments, under the old church of S. Maria in Campo Carleo, which in
the sixteenth century bore the name of Spolia Christi or Spoglia Cristo. It was formerly
assumed that the four Trajanic reliefs representing a battle with Dacians, which now
embellish the Arch of Constantine (for a convenient publication with a summary of recent
controversy see Reinach Rep. Reliefs i. 238 ff.), belonged originally to this Arch of Trajan.
The assumption, disputed by E. Petersen in the Rom. Mitth. 1889 iv. 314 ff. but reaffirmed
by R. Lanciani The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome London 1897 p. 193, may
well be sound; for on the first of the slabs in question the emperor, whose head has been
replaced by that of Constantine, is conducted by Roma and Victoria towards an Arch
(G. P. Bellori Veteres arcus Augustorum triumphis insignes Roma? 1690 pi. 42 = Reinach
,Rep. Reliefs i. 252 no. 1, Brunn—Bruckmann Denkm. der gr. und rom. Sculpt, pi. 580,
1 with text by J. Sieveking, Mrs A. Strong Roman Sculpture from Augustus to
Constantine London 1907 p. 157 ff. pi. 48, 4 from a photograph by Anderson).
H. Kiepert et C. Huelsen Formae urbis Romae antiquae Berolini 1912 p. 54 regard
the coin illustrated in my fig. 254 as the Arch of Trajan in regio i recorded by the curiosum
urbis regionum xiv and notitia regionum urbis xiv reg. 1 (H. Jordan Topographic der
Stadt Rom im Alterthum Berlin 1871 ii. 542). But that was originally a triple arch
(H. Jordan—C. Huelsen Topographic der Stadt Rom im Alterthum Berlin 1907 i. 3. 216 f).