 Submission of the Germans, one of the reliefs that are believed to have been from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius and today preserved in theCapitoline Museums in Rome. | |
   Arch of Marcus Aurelius Shown within Augustan Rome | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Location | Regio IX Circus Flaminius |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°54′5.4″N12°28′49.7″E / 41.901500°N 12.480472°E /41.901500; 12.480472 |
| Type | Triumphal arch |
| History | |
| Builder | Commodus |
| Founded | late 2nd century |
TheArch of Marcus Aurelius (Latin:Arcus Marci Aurelii) was a Romantriumphal arch inRome, probably in the region of theCampus Martius, near the modernPiazza Colonna and theColumn of Marcus Aurelius.
The Arch of Marcus Aurelius, dedicated to theemperorMarcus Aurelius by theRoman Senate is known through literary sources and aninscription.[1] It was decreed by the Senate at the end of the first phase of theMarcomannic War which ended with atriumph celebrated by the emperor and his sonCommodus over theMarcomanni andSarmatians in December 176.[2][3]
The existence of an arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius is based on a cycle of twelvereliefs that would have been used to decorate it, eight of which were reused in theArch of Constantine, three that are preserved in thePalazzo dei Conservatori (Capitoline Museums) and a final one that was destroyed and of which only a fragment remains, currently preserved inCopenhagen. The reliefs, carved in two tranches in 173 and 176, were previously attributed to an"arcus aureus" or the"arcus Panis Aurei in Capitolio". This arch was quoted in medieval sources and which would have been located at the foot of theCapitoline Hill, at the intersection of theVia Lata and theClivus Argentarius not far from the church ofSanti Luca e Martina, the location where the three reliefs now in the Capitoline Museums had been reused.[4]
Another possible location where the arch may have originally been is near theColumn of Marcus Aurelius, serving as a monumental entrance to theportico that surrounded the column and theTemple of Marcus Aurelius in the Campus Martius.[5]
The reliefs that would have been part of the Arch of Marcus Aurelius depict the story of the emperor's military victories during theMarcomannic Wars. The emperor appears in all of them, and always in the company of a character who has been identified as his son-in-law and, for a time, his successorin pectore,Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus. The existence of both figures across all of the reliefs has been used to support the premise that there was a common origin for the reliefs.[6]
