Arch of Trajan Italy

Legendary

A 15-meter tall arch built in honor of Emperor Trajan.

Photo by Carole Raddato

The Arch of Trajan in Benevento, southern Italy, is widely considered the best-preserved triumphal arch in the Roman world. Nearly 1,900 years after it was completed, the marble reliefs covering every surface are still sharp enough to read like a comic strip.

Every panel tells part of the story of Trajan's reign.

The arch was completed between 114 and 117 AD. It's built in limestone and covered in slabs of Parian marble, standing 15.6 meters high and 8.6 meters wide, with a single barrel-vaulted passageway.

It was built to mark two things at once. The first was the completion of the Via Traiana, a new road connecting Benevento to Brindisi on the Adriatic coast. The second was a celebration of Trajan's military victories, particularly his conquest of Dacia, modern-day Romania.

The reliefs on the outer faces show military triumphs: the conquest of Dacia, campaigns in Germany and Mesopotamia, and gods welcoming the victorious emperor.

The interior panels tell a different story. One shows Trajan making a sacrifice to inaugurate the new road. The other shows him distributing bread and money to poor children as part of his alimenta program, a welfare scheme that supported impoverished families across Italy.

Conquest and compassion, carved in the same stone.

During the Middle Ages, the Lombards incorporated the arch into Benevento's city walls and renamed it Porta Aurea, the Golden Gate. It stayed that way for centuries until the surrounding buildings were demolished in 1850.

Stand directly in front of it and work your way around the reliefs slowly. The detail is extraordinary for something nearly two millennia old. The Videomuseum of the Arch in the nearby church of Sant'Ilario adds context to what you're seeing.