Latest / Marcus Aurelius: Rome's Philosopher King — Fexingo History / Marcus Aurelius and the Triumphal Arch of Lucius Verus
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- Lucas: You know, when we think of triumphal arches in Rome, the ones that come to mind are usually the Arch of Titus or the Arch of Septimius Severus. But there was another, built for Lucius Verus after his Parthian victories in the 160s. And it's virtually disappeared. Luna: Wait, an arch for Lucius Verus? I don't think I've ever seen or heard of it. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the mystery. The Arch of Lucius Verus was definitely standing in the fourth century — it appears in the Regionary Catalogues, which list monuments in the fourteen districts of Rome. But by the Renaissance, it was gone. Probably dismantled for its stone, like so many ancient structures. Luna: So how do we know it existed? Lucas: We have several clues. First, the literary sources: the Historia Augusta mentions that the Senate decreed an arch to Verus for his Parthian successes. Cassius Dio also notes a triumphal arch, though his account is fragmentary. But the most vivid evidence comes from the Forma Urbis Romae — the Severan marble plan of the city, dating to about 203–211 CE. Luna: The giant map that was carved into a wall? I've heard of it. Lucas: Right. It originally covered an entire wall of the Temple of Peace, showing the ground plan of every building in Rome. Only fragments survive, but one fragment clearly shows a triple arch with an inscription base — and its location is right near the Via Lata, the modern Via del Corso. That matches the description of the Arch of Lucius Verus. Lucas: The arch was positioned on the Via Flaminia, the main road north from the Campus Martius, just inside the Porta Fontinalis — a gate in the Servian Wall. It was a prominent spot, where triumphal processions would have passed on their way to the Capitoline. Luna: So it was like a gate monument, commemorating his Parthian campaign. Lucas: Exactly. The inscription likely celebrated Verus's capture of Ctesiphon and Seleucia in 165 CE, and the installation of a new client king in Armenia. But here's the thing: after Verus died in 169 CE, Marcus Aurelius didn't exactly erase his memory, but he didn't champion it either. The arch might have fallen into neglect. Luna: Was there any damnatio memoriae against Verus? Lucas: Not officially. He was a legitimate Augustus, and Marcus deified him after his death. But later emperors, especially Septimius Severus, emphasized their own Parthian victories and may have allowed the arch to be overshadowed. By the time of the Severan dynasty, the monument was already nearly a century old. Lucas: Archaeologically, we have some fragments that may belong to the arch: a relief showing a battle scene and a panel with a personification of a captured province. But they're hard to attribute with certainty because so many Roman monuments were recycled. Luna: Where exactly was it located? Lucas: Based on the Forma Urbis fragment, it was near the modern Piazza Venezia, just north of the Capitoline Hill. That area was a major intersection in ancient Rome, where the Via Flaminia met the Via Lata. It's now buried under layers of medieval and Renaissance construction. Luna: So it's possible parts are still underground? Lucas: Certainly. The area around Piazza Venezia is incredibly deep — the ancient ground level is about 5 to 10 meters below the modern street. Excavations for the metro or building foundations have turned up fragments of other arches, like the Arcus Novus of Diocletian. But systematic excavation is difficult because the zone is so built up. Lucas: There's also a possibility that some of the arch's decorative sculptures were reused in later buildings. For instance, the so-called 'Arch of Portugal' — a medieval structure that incorporated ancient reliefs — may have included pieces from Verus's arch. Luna: The Arch of Portugal? I've never heard of that either. Lucas: It was a triple arch built in the 15th century on the Via del Corso, near the Church of San Marcello. It was demolished in the 19th century, but drawings and descriptions survive. It incorporated a number of imperial reliefs, some of which have been tentatively linked to the Parthian campaigns of Lucius Verus. Luna: So historians are playing detective with these scattered clues. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a fascinating puzzle. The arch itself may be gone, but its story tells us a lot about how imperial memory worked in Rome. Not every emperor got a lasting monument. Some arches were dismantled within decades, while others stand for millennia. The Arch of Verus fell somewhere in between — honored in its own time, but gradually lost to the city's relentless transformation. Lucas: There's also a literary echo: the fourth-century historian Eutropius mentions that Verus built a 'noble' arch. But by the sixth century, the Regionary Catalogues still list it, so it survived at least that long. Somewhere in the early Middle Ages, it was taken down for building materials. Luna: I guess when you need stone for a church, a pagan arch is an easy target. Lucas: Exactly. The marble would have been burned for lime or carved into blocks for new construction. It's a fate that befell countless Roman structures. But the fact that we can reconstruct its existence at all is a testament to the Roman love of public records and inscriptions. Luna: So what's the takeaway? That even a triumphal arch can disappear? Lucas: Partly. But also that history is full of these lost monuments — things that were once central to Roman identity but are now just notes in a source. The Arch of Lucius Verus reminds us that imperial glory was as fragile as the stone it was carved from, and that even the most permanent-looking structures can vanish. Lucas: And maybe, one day, a new excavation in Rome will bring some of its fragments back to light. Until then, it lives on in the Forma Urbis, in the Historia Augusta, and in the patient work of historians piecing together the puzzle.