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previous: previous This webpage reproduces part of The Roman Forum — Its History and Its Monuments by Christian Hülsen published by Ermanno Loescher & Co Publishers to H. M. the Queen of Italy 1906 Text, maps, and black-and‑white images are in the public domain. Color photos are © William P. Thayer. next: next

 p66  II. The Arch of Tiberius

Across the Sacra Via •about five feet below the level of the pavement remains of a large foundation of concrete are to be seen: this belongs to the arch of Tiberius. When during his expeditions in Germany A.D. 15 and 16 (battle at Idisiaviso) Germanicus had won back the standards lost at the defeat of Varus, this victory, which had occurred "under the leader­ship of Germanicus under the general supervision of Tiberius" (ductu Germanici, auspiciis Tiberii), was celebrated toward the end of A.D. 16 by the erection of an arch "below the temple of Saturn". This arch, which as a matter of fact is mentioned only once — in Tacitus —, is usually called  p67 "the arch of Tiberius". Remains of its architecture were discovered, partly in 1835, partly in 1848 when the viaduct was built (ponte della Consolazione), but the foundations were not discovered until 1900. The single arch (represented in a relief on the arch of Constantine; see below fig. 29) did not cross the Sacra Via, but stood near it; fragments of it (with the beginning of the inscription SENATVS POPVLVSque romanus) lie on and around the last (most western) brick pedestal.

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