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On this page: Arcus Triumphalis

ARCUS..

of the present article by the late Sir William Gell. Thus it seems that the Greeks did under­stand the constructive principle upon which arches

are formed, even in the earliest times ; although it did not occur to them to divide the circle by a diameter, and set the half of it upright to bear a superincumbent weight. But they made use of a contrivance even before the Trojan war, by which they were enabled to gain all the advantages of onr archway in making corridors, or hollow galleries, and which in appearance resembled the pointed arch, such as is now termed Gothic. This was effected by cutting away the superincumbent stones in the manner already described, at an angle of about 45° with the horizon. The mode of con­struction and appearance of such arches is repre­sented in the annexed drawing of the walls of Tiryns, copied from Sir William GelPs Argolis. The gate of Signia (Segni} in Latium exhibits a similar example.

The principle of the true arch seems to have been known to the Romans from the earliest period: it is used in the Cloaca Maxima. It is most probably an Etruscan invention. The use of it constitutes one leading distinction between Greek and Roman architecture, for by its applica­tion the Romans were enabled to execute works of far "bolder construction than those of the Greeks

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ARCUS TRIUMPHALIS.

— to erect bridges and aqueducts, and the most durable and massive structures of brick. The Romans, however, never used any other form of arch than the semicircle. [A. R.]

ARCUS TRIUMPHALIS (a triumphal arch), was a structure peculiar to the Romans, among whom it seems to have taken its origin from the Porta TriumphaliS) the gate by which a general celebrating a triumph led his army into the city, on which occasions the gate was adorned with trophies and other memorials of the particular victory cele­brated. In process of time other arches were erected, both at Rome and in the provinces, to celebrate single victories, the memorials of which were carved upon them or fixed to them, and these remained as permanent monuments. They even came to be erected in memory of a victory for which there had been no triumph ; nay, even to commemorate other events than victories. That at Ancona, for example, was erected in honour of Trajan, when he had improved the harbour of the city at his own expense.

Triumphal arches were insulated structures built across the principal streets of the city, and, according to the space of their respective localities, consisted of either a single arch-way,, or of a central one for carriages, with two smaller ones on each side for foot passengers, which sometimes have side communications with the centre arch. Sometimes there were two arches of equal height, side by side. Each front was orna­mented with trophies and bas-reliefs, which were also placed on the sides of the passages. Both fa9ades had usually columns against the piers, supporting an entablature, surmounted by a lofty attic, on the front of which was the inscription, and on the top of it bronze chariots, war-horses, statues, and trophies.

Stertinius is the first upon record who erected any thing of the kind. He built an arch in the Forum Boarium, about b. c. 196, and another in the Circus Maximus, each of which was sur­mounted by gilt statues. (Liv. xxxiii. 27.) Six years afterwards, Scipio Africanus built another on the Clivus Capitolinus, on which he placed seven gilt statues and two figures of horses (Liv. xxxvii. 3) ; and in B. c. 121, Fabius Maximus built a fourth in the Via Sacra, which is called by Cicero (in Verr. i. 7) the Fornioe Fabianus. None of these remain, the Arch of Augustus at Rimini being one of the earliest among those still stand­ing. That these erections were either temporary or very insignificant, may be inferred from the silence of Vitruvius, who says nothing of.triumphal arches. We might be sure, from the nature of the case, that such structures would especially mark the period of the empire.

There are twenty-one arches recorded by dif­ferent writers as having been erected in the city of Rome, five of which now remain : — 1. Arcus Drusi, which was erected to the honour of Nero Claudius Drusus on the Appian way. (Suet. Claud. 1.) 2. Arcus Titi, at the foot of the Palatine, which was erected to the honour of Titus, after his conquest of Judaea, but was not finished till after his death ; since in the inscrip­tion upon it he is called Divus, and he is also represented as being carried up to heaven upon an eagle. The bas-reliefs of this arch represent the spoils from the temple of Jerusalem carried in triumphal procession ; and are among the best