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Arcus Claudii

The triumphal arch celebrating the conquest of the province of Britannia

This grand triumphal arch was erected by decree of the Senate to celebrate the conquest of Britannia in 796 A.U.C. by the Emperor Claudius. The Emperor subdued the barbarians of that island with great success, as you can see from the inscription of the tituli operum publicorum: To Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, son of Drusus, Pontifex Maximus, holder of tribunician power eleven times, Consul five times, Imperator twenty-two times, Censor, Father of the Fatherland, by the Senate and People of Rome, because he received the surrender of eleven kings of the Britons without defeat and first brought barbarian peoples across the Ocean into the dominion of the Roman people. The arch was dedicated in 804, though a stylized representation appeared on coins issued a few years earlier. The arch was integrated into the Aqua Virgo where it spans the Via Flaminia. It is executed in blocks of travertine with a marble façade.

TI·CLAVDIO·DRVSI·F·CAISARI AVGVSTO·GERMANICO PONTIFICI·MAXIM·TRIB·POTESTAT·XI COS·V·IMP·XXII·CENS·PATRI·PATRIAI SENATVS·POPVLVSQVEROMANVS·QVOD REGES·BRITANNORUM·XI·DEVICTOS·SINE VLLA·IACTVRA·IN·DEDITIONEM·ACCEPERIT GENTESQVE·BARBARAS·TRANS·OCEANVM PRIMVS·IN·DICIONEM·POPVLI·ROMANI·REDEGERIT

Notes:
The Arch of Claudius in Rome no longer exists. The original dedicatory inscription and a few panel reliefs from this monument are now housed in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Two similar arches were also erected in Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France) and Cyzicus, with the same dedication.

Rudolfo Lanciani in Pagan and Christian Rome (p. 99) states that “In repairing a drain which runs through the Via de' Bergamaschi to the Piazza di Pietra, the foundations of an early mediæval church, dedicated to S. Stephen (Santo Stefano del Trullo) were unearthed, together with historical inscriptions, pieces of columns of giallo antico, and other architectural fragments. On a closer examination of the discoveries, I was able to ascertain that the whole church had been built with spoils from the triumphal arch of Claudius in the Piazza di Sciarra and from the Temple of Neptune in the Piazza di Pietra.”

Images:
Page and table backgrounds from Eos Development.
Reverse of an aureus struck for Claudius in 46-47 A.D. from Coin Archives. Drawing of the Arcus Claudii by Pirro Ligorio (16th Century) from Encyclopedia Romana. Drawing by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, “View of Arcus Claudii” (16th Century) from David Karmon, Restoring the Ancient Water Supply System in Renaissance Rome. Arcus Claudii area map from the Maquettes-historiques site of André Caron. Relief panel from the Tower Hill Sundial at the London Underground station of the same name depicting the founding of London following Claudius’ conquest; photo by Wally Gobetz used under a Creative Commons license. Image digitally edited.

The Articles of Arcus Claudii:

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