Architecturally the "triumphal arch" was a successor to the "honorific-arches" built during the Roman Republic period (circa 510-27 BCE), which were usually built (sanctioned) and financed by the senate.

Originating in ancient Rome, and spreading to other parts of the empire, the triumphal arches were usually freestanding and consisted of one or more arched passageways supported by columns or pilasters, often richly decorated with sculptural reliefs and inscriptions detailing the achievements being celebrated. The central arch, larger and more prominent, was flanked by smaller arches in more elaborate designs. Triumphal arches served both as architectural landmarks and propaganda tools, symbolizing the power and glory of the Roman state and its leaders. Some famous examples include the Arch of emperor Titus and the Arch of Constantine in the heart of Rome.

circa 20 CE

Honorary-Triumphal Arch of Tiberius or Germanicus
The Honorary–Triumphal Arch of Tiberius, sometimes attributed instead to Germanicus, stood at the northern end of Pompeii’s Forum, framing the approach from the Via del Foro and aligning with the Temple of Jupiter. Built in the early 1st century CE, it was part of a wider program of monumental renewal in the civic center following Pompeii’s integration as a Roman colony. Its precise dedicatee remains debated due to the absence of a surviving inscription: some scholars connect it to Germanicus, whose campaigns and premature death in 19 CE inspired commemorations throughout the empire, while others argue for emperor Tiberius, the reigning emperor, as the more likely honoree.

The structure was a single-bay arch in brick and stone, faced with marble and probably crowned with statuary such as an equestrian figure or a quadriga. It mirrored the Arch of Augustus on the opposite side of the Forum, creating a deliberate monumental framing of civic space that linked Pompeii ideologically with Rome. Whether honoring Germanicus or Tiberius, the arch signaled the city’s loyalty to the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the civic elite’s participation in the culture of imperial commemoration, embedding local identity firmly within the visual and political language of Roman power.

circa 81 CE

Triumphal Arch of Titus
The Arch of Titus (Arcus Titi) is one of the oldest of two remaining arches from the Roman Empire. It was built in 82 CE by Emperor Domitian as a tribute to his older brother, Emperor Titus, after his death. The identity of the architect is unknown, with no surviving documents from the arch’s construction time. This arch commemorates the military triumphs of Titus and his father Vespasian, in particular, their victory in the Jewish war which ended in 70 CE. The images carved into the stone celebrate the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and the divinity of Titus. The arch is important from a historical as well as a religious and political point of view. The arch represents the glory of the Roman Empire, with Titus being viewed in a god-like way, worshiped for his successes.

circa 100 CE

Arch of Trajan in Timgad
The Arch of Trajan at Timgad, located at the western end of the decumanus maximus, is among the most prominent surviving monuments of the Roman colony founded in 100 CE. Constructed in honor of emperor Trajan, the arch served both as a monumental gateway into the city and as a symbol of its foundation under imperial authority. Its position marked the threshold between the orderly orthogonal grid of the colony and the road leading toward the Aurès Mountains, integrating urban space with regional routes.

The structure is a triple-bay arch built of local sandstone, with a larger central passage flanked by two smaller pedestrian arches. Its architectural decoration includes engaged Corinthian columns, richly carved cornices, and niches that likely housed statues of imperial figures. Although largely preserved, traces suggest it was originally topped by additional sculptural elements, possibly a quadriga or honorific statuary. The combination of robust construction and elaborate ornament reflects the colony’s prosperity and the importance attached to its imperial patron.

As a commemorative monument, the Arch of Trajan embodied both local and empire-wide narratives. It celebrated Trajan as the benefactor and founder, linking the military veteran-settlement of Timgad to Rome’s broader expansion in North Africa. At the same time, its prominent placement and enduring visibility affirmed the colony’s Roman identity in a frontier zone, making the arch both a civic landmark and a lasting testament to imperial presence in the region.

circa 129-130 CE

Arch of Hadrian in Gerasa (Jerash)
The Arch of Hadrian at Gerasa (modern Jerash, Jordan) was erected to celebrate the emperor’s visit in 129 CE, part of his extensive inspection of eastern provinces. Situated nearly 400 meters south of the city’s main gate, the monument was placed beyond the contemporary urban perimeter, projecting a future expansion of Gerasa’s plan. This extension never materialized, leaving the structure to stand alone as a monumental marker on the approach road from Philadelphia (Amman). Its setting thus makes the arch unusual among Roman provincial commemorative monuments, since it functioned more as a symbolic threshold than as an integrated city gate.

Measuring over 20 meters in height and 37 meters in width, the triple-bayed arch was executed in finely dressed local limestone. The central opening, intended for wheeled traffic, was nearly twice the size of the flanking pedestrian passages, producing a pronounced visual hierarchy. Decorative treatment concentrated on the façades: engaged Corinthian columns rested on tall pedestals, framing niches crowned with broken triangular and segmental pediments. Rich floral motifs, acanthus scrolls, and geometric patterns enlivened the surfaces, aligning the design with Hadrianic architectural taste while also reflecting local craftsmen’s ornamentation practices.

The monument’s upper register originally carried sculptural groups, now lost, which would have completed the visual program. These may have included quadriga figures, imperial statuary, or allegories of provincial loyalty. Their absence does not diminish the effect of the surviving structure, which still conveys an impression of grandeur through mass and articulation. The arch’s technical execution, with precise jointing of massive stone blocks and sophisticated moulding profiles, points to the availability of both skilled labor and ample resources in Gerasa during the early 2nd century CE.

In a broader sense, the Arch of Hadrian expressed Gerasa’s ambitions within the Decapolis and its alignment with imperial ideology. The city’s elites demonstrated civic pride by dedicating a monument of metropolitan scale to the emperor, reinforcing both loyalty to Hadrian and the city’s self-image as a thriving polis under Roman rule. Its survival in substantial form allows it to remain one of the most striking provincial commemorative arches in the eastern Mediterranean, embodying the intersection of local aspiration and imperial representation.

circa 129-130 CE

Hadrianic Arch of Jerusalem
The Hadrianic Arch of Jerusalem, more widely known as the Ecce Homo Arch, was constructed in 135 CE as part of the urban redesign of the city following the suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Hadrian refounded Jerusalem as Colonia Aelia Capitolina, transforming the destroyed city into a Roman colony with a new orthogonal street grid, public buildings, and imperial monuments. The arch was positioned on the eastern branch of the cardo, serving both as a triumphal marker of Rome’s victory and as a monumental entrance to the eastern forum.

Originally, the structure was a triple-bayed arch built of large limestone blocks, with a dominant central opening and two smaller lateral passages. Only the central span survives substantially, incorporated into the later Church of the Sisters of Zion. The smaller flanking arches were dismantled or subsumed into subsequent medieval construction, but their outlines can still be reconstructed from surviving foundations and early reports. Decorative elements included Corinthian pilasters, moulded cornices, and engaged columns, features consistent with Hadrianic monumental style elsewhere in the empire.

The later Christian tradition reinterpreted the arch within the context of the Passion narrative. By the medieval period, it had come to be identified as the site where Pontius Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd with the words “Ecce Homo” (“Behold the man”), although historically this association has no foundation in 1st-century Jerusalem. This shift in meaning illustrates how a Roman imperial monument was transformed into a sacred Christian landmark, acquiring layers of religious symbolism that obscured its original political and urban function.

Today, the Ecce Homo Arch survives as one of the few visible remnants of Hadrianic Aelia Capitolina. While its original commemorative role was to proclaim Roman victory and reassert imperial order after one of the most violent Jewish revolts, its enduring presence testifies equally to the way architectural monuments can be re-signified across centuries, from Roman propaganda to Christian devotion.

circa 131-132 CE

Hadrianic Arch of Athens
The Arch of Hadrian in the historic city of Athens, better known as Hadrian’s Arch, was erected circa 131–132 CE to honor Emperor Hadrian’s benefactions to the city. Positioned on the ancient road linking the old Agora with the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, the arch marked a symbolic boundary between the “ancient city of Theseus” and the “new city of Hadrian”. An inscription on the western side proclaimed “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus”, while the eastern face declared “This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus”, making the monument a rare example where a Roman arch explicitly juxtaposed local mythic identity with imperial patronage.

The structure is built of Pentelic marble and stands about 18 meters high. It consists of a single passage framed by Corinthian pilasters, above which rises a second story with engaged Corinthian columns and a central aedicula-like opening. The clarity of its proportions, refined marble finish, and carefully carved inscriptions suggest that the monument was commissioned by the Athenian citizen body, rather than the emperor himself, as a civic expression of gratitude. Its architectural style is notably restrained compared to provincial arches of the same era, emphasizing elegant balance over sculptural complexity.

More than a gateway, the arch served as an ideological statement. By inscribing the monument with references to Theseus and Hadrian, the Athenians effectively wove their legendary past into their Roman present, presenting the emperor not as a foreign ruler but as a successor and benefactor integrated into the city’s identity. The arch’s placement near the Olympieion further reinforced Hadrian’s role as the finisher of monumental projects long left incomplete, while also creating a processional link between civic and sacred zones. The Hadrianic Arch remains one of the best-preserved triumphal arches of the Roman world and a key testimony to the negotiation between local tradition and imperial authority. Its survival in the modern city of Athens, visible against the backdrop of the Athenian Acropolis and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, underscores both the endurance of its original urban symbolism and its layered reception as part of Athens’s classical landscape.

circa 203 CE

Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus
The Arch of Septimius Severus was constructed on the Via Sacra in the Forum Romanum in the heart of ancient Rome. The arch is composed of three archways. The Arch of Septimius Severus is adorned with numerous detailed designs. The designs include battle scenes in Parthia, people being taken into slavery, nature scenes, other military victories, and numerous deities important to Romans. The overall style of the sculptures is very similar to that of the Column of Marcus Aurelius. Other sculptures that adorn the Arch of Septimius Severus are Mars, the Roman god of war, Bacchus, Hercules, and various other Roman gods.

circa 228 CE

Arch of Alexander Severus
The Arch of Alexander Severus at ancient Dougga, dedicated in 228 CE, occupies a prominent position near the city’s forum and Capitolium, underscoring its role as both a ceremonial marker and an urban focal point. Rather than framing the external boundary of the settlement, as many earlier arches did, it was integrated into the civic core, ensuring that imperial honorific imagery was woven into the daily movements of the population. Its inscription records the dedication to Alexander Severus, reflecting both the emperor’s policies of provincial inclusion and the enthusiasm of Dougga’s municipal elite to affirm loyalty publicly.

Built of locally quarried limestone, the arch rose in three passages, with the central opening raised above the lateral bays to create a pronounced hierarchy. Attention was lavished on its façades: Corinthian pilasters set upon tall plinths structured the elevation, while a strongly profiled entablature carried dedicatory texts. Surviving fragments suggest the upper level supported statuary, possibly imperial portraits in bronze, which would have been visible against the skyline. The quality of masonry and refinement of the decorative scheme point to the resources available in Dougga during the Severan period, when the city enjoyed considerable prosperity.

The monument belongs to a later phase of Roman triumphal architecture in North Africa, where the commemorative emphasis shifted away from conquest narratives to the celebration of imperial presence and benefaction. By situating the arch within its civic center, Dougga’s community expressed both its wealth and its alignment with Rome’s imperial house, ensuring that Alexander Severus’s name was materially inscribed into the city’s most frequented space. Today, despite partial damage, the arch remains one of the most legible Severan-period honorific structures in the region, attesting to the durability of both form and political message.

circa 300 CE

Arch of Diocletian or Tetrarchy
Built in the late 3rd century CE during the reign of emperor Diocletian (reigned 284–305 CE), the arch at ancient Sufetula marks the southern entrance to the city. It is closely associated with the period of the Tetrarchy, and is sometimes called the Triumphal Arch of the Tetrarchy.

Structurally, the arch is not a triple-portal arch. Rather, it is a single-arched gateway, with a large central opening framed by pilasters and topped by an entablature, whose dedicatory inscriptions once stood prominently. The simplicity of the passage — just one arch — distinguishes it from many imperial arches made of three or more passages. The masonry is of local stone; decorative detail includes engaged Corinthian columns (or pilasters), mouldings, and inscriptional panels.

The arch functioned both practically and symbolically. It acted as a formal entrance into Sufetula, especially for those approaching from the south. Visually, it frames the viewer’s perspective toward the forum and the Capitoline temples of the city. Its erection under Diocletian (or during the early Tetrarchic era) reflects the city’s prosperity at that time — Sufetula was an important centre of olive oil production and had become a prominent locale in Roman.

Politically, the arch participates in the broader shift of late Roman architecture from triumphs of conquest to demonstrations of imperial order, stability, and legitimate authority under the Tetrarchy. It stands not in isolation but as part of Sufetula’s monumental heart, which includes the forum, three adjoining temples (to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva), baths, churches in Late Antiquity, etc. The city used its architecture to express loyalty to the imperial regime and to showcase its own civic identity.

circa 315 CE

Triumphal Arch of Constantine
The Arch of Constantine, dates to 312-315 CE. It is located along the Via Triumphalis but between the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum) and the Temple of Venus and Roma. The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch made in the honor of Constantine the Great, emperor of Constantinople; also commemorating past great emperors like Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, and Trajan. The triple-arched triumphal arch erected in his honour was built near the Colosseum and at the time there were statues also on the top. It was mostly decorated with elements from earlier rulers’ monuments; only the narrow frieze above the arch openings was sculpted as new.

circa 10 BCE

Triumphal Arch of Augustus
The Arch of Augustus (Arco di Augusto) was the triumphal arch of emperor Augustus, located in the Roman Forum. It spanned the Via Sacra, between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Caesar, near the Temple of Vesta, closing off the eastern end of the Forum. It can be regarded as the first permanent three-bayed arch ever built in Rome. The archaeological evidence shows the existence of a three-bayed arch measuring 17,75 x 5.25 meters between the Temple of Caesar and the Temple of Castor and Pollux, although only the travertine foundations of the structure remain. Ancient sources mention arches erected in honor of Augustus in the Forum on two occasions: the victory over Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE, and the recovery of the standards lost to the Parthians in 20 BCE.

circa 16 CE

Triumphal Arch of Tiberius
The Arch of Tiberius (Arcus Tiberi) was a triumphal arch built in 16 CE in the Forum Romanum to celebrate the recovery of the eagle standards that had been lost to Germanic tribes by Varus in 9 CE. The Roman general Germanicus had recovered the standards in 15 or 16 CE. The Arch spanned the Vicus Jugarius between the Temple of Saturn and the Basilica Julia. It was dedicated to the emperor Tiberius because in the Imperial period only the emperor could celebrate a Triumph, so the victory of Germanicus was celebrated as a triumph of Tiberius. Very little is known about this monument. It is mentioned in literary sources, and it is known from a relief on the Arch of Constantine.

circa 300 CE

Palmyra Monumental Arch
The monumental Arch of Palmyra, also known as the Arch of Triumph, was erected in the 3rd century CE during the reign of Septimius Severus. It stood at the junction between the colonnaded street of ancient Palmyra and the smaller transverse axis, forming a monumental transition between different sectors of the city. Its placement made it both an architectural focal point and a visual device that drew attention to the Temple of Bel at one end of the colonnade.

Architecturally, the arch was a single, barrel-vaulted passage more than 20 meters high, flanked by two smaller walkway arches and richly ornamented façades. It combined decorative features from different phases of Palmyrene building: floral and geometric motifs, stepped mouldings, and engaged Corinthian columns. The design cleverly accommodated the slight bend in the colonnaded street, aligning the approaches from both sides while still preserving the axial perspective. Reliefs included representations of vegetal scrolls, acanthus, and military trophies, integrating local stylistic preferences with Roman triumphal vocabulary.

The arch celebrated Roman authority and the flourishing prosperity of Palmyra as a caravan city, but it also reflected a hybrid identity. Its ornamental repertoire and layout were distinctly local, while the very concept of a triumphal arch was Roman. In this way the monument embodied the cultural duality of Palmyra: loyal to the empire yet rooted in its own artistic traditions.

Although severely damaged during the conflict in Syria in 2015 CE, large sections of the monumental arch have been preserved and documented, and there are ongoing efforts to digitally reconstruct and eventually restore it. As both a Roman imperial statement and a Palmyrene civic emblem, it remains one of the most iconic architectural symbols of the ancient Near East.