TheArch of Augustus inFano (in theProvince of Pesaro and Urbino) is acity gate in the form of atriumphal arch with three vaults. It is the entrance to the city by thevia Flaminia, which became the inside of the wall of thedecumanus maximus. It is one of the symbols of the city.

In theRoman period it was the principal gate of Colonia Julia Fanestris, acolonia established in the town of Fanum Fortunae (temple ofFortuna) by the Roman architectVitruvius at the command of the EmperorAugustus, in commemoration of the victory over theCarthaginian generalHasdrubal Barca in theBattle of Metauro during theSecond Punic War.

It is presumed that at least two other (now lost) gates existed in Fanum Fortunae, one to the south and the other near the sea.

Constructed at the point at which theVia Flaminia met thedecumanus maximus of the city, the monument is dated to AD 9 by means of an inscription located on the frieze, with large characters carved in the rock which were once gilded inbronze. The inscription reports:

IMP. CAESAR DIVI F. AVGVSTVS PONTIFEX MAXIMVS COS. XIII TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE XXXII IMP. XXVI PATER PATRIAE MVRVM DEDITImperatorCaesar Augustus son of agod,Pontifex Maximus,Consul 13 times, recipient oftribunician power 32 times, acclaimedimperator 26 times,father of his country donated this wall.

The arch was later rededicated by the EmperorConstantine I with a new inscription on theattic which is now lost, but the earlier inscription was not erased.^[1]

In 1463, during the siege of the city in order to expel its lordSigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the artillery ofFederico da Montefeltro, destroyed the attic of the monument. The fallen fragments were reused in the construction of the adjacent church andloggia ofSaint Michael. The original appearance of the gate is recorded in theRenaissance bass relief carved on one side of the facade of the church.

Faced withopus quadratum from blocks ofIstrian stone, the monument consists of two minor lateral arches and a larger central arch; thekeystone of the latter is decorated with an image of an animal, which is no longer recognisable but which most probably depicted anelephant. The main body, still well preserved, supported a largeattic which is now lost, with aCorinthian pseudo-portico, in which there were seven arched windows separated by eight pseudo-columns. The whole monument has many stylistic similarities with the Augustan gates ofSpello,Aosta and particularly withAuthon inProvence.

• List of Roman triumphal arches

• P. M. Amiani,Dissertazione critico-lapidaria sopra l'antico Arco di Fano innalzato dall'Imperatore Cesare Augusto, Fano 1772.
• A. Aleandri,Memoria istorica sull'Arco d'Augusto esistente in Fano da "Raccolta di opuscoli scientifici e filosofici" tomo XLI, Venezia 1785.
• G. Colucci,Delle antichità di Fano della Fortuna in "Antichità Picene", IX, Fermo, 1790.
• P. Mancini,Illustrazione dell'Arco di Augusto in Fano, Pesaro 1826.
• L. Poletti,Intorno all'Arco di Augusto in Fano in "Giornale Arcadico di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti", XXXIV, Roma 1827.
• W. B. Clarke,Sull'Arco di Augusto di Rimini e sulla porta di Fano in "Annali dell'Istituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica", XIII, for 1841 (1842), pp. 116–120.
• F. Poggi,Origini e antichità di Fano, Fano 1895.
• L. A. Richmond,Commemorative Arches and City in the Augustean Age, in "Jur. Rom. Stud.", XXIII, 1933.
• F. Frigerio,Antiche porte di città italiche e romane, Como 1935.
• P. C. Borgogelli-Ottaviani,Fano e le sue vestigia romane in "Atti e memorie della Dep. di Storia Patria per le Marche", Ancona 1941.
• R. Weiss,L'Arco d'Augusto di Fano nel Rinascimento in "Italia Medioevale e Umanistica", III, Padova 1965.
• G. Berardi,Fano romana-Basilica diVitruvio Fano 1967.
• Adolfo Gandiglio,Carmen in Arcum Augusti Fanestrum ex voluminis II "Humanitatis" fasciculo I (excerptum et separatim impressum) da: Re publica Sancti Marini - typis Reffi et Della Balda - succ. Angelii et soc. - 1916.
• Giuseppe Castellani,L'Arco d'Augusto in Fano, carne Latino con la traduzione metrica, Fano 1916.
• I. Di Stefano-Manzella,Documenti inediti sugli Archi Augusteii di Fano e di Rimini (1823-1825) in "Rendiconti Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei", Serie VIII, vol. XXXII, Roma 1978.
• Valeria Purcaro,Osservazioni sulla "Porta Augustea" di Fano, in "Rendiconti Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei", Serie VIII, vol. XXXVII, fasc. 5-6, Roma 1982.
• Franco Battistelli; Aldo Deli,Immagine di Fano romana Cassa di Risparmio di Fano 1983.
• Mario Luni,Archeologia nelle Marche, Dalla preistoria all'Età tardoantica,ISBN 88-404-1175-5, pag 228
• Luciano De Sanctis,Quando Fano era romana, Fano 1999.

43°50′35″N13°0′52.5″E / 43.84306°N 13.014583°E /43.84306; 13.014583

• Ancient Roman triumphal arches in Italy
• Fano
• Augustus

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• Coordinates on Wikidata