• Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Italian Notes
  • HOME
  • PEOPLE & PLACES
    • Abruzzo
    • Basilicata
    • Calabria
    • Campania
    • Emilia-Romagna
    • Friuli-Venezia Giulia
    • Lazio
    • Liguria
    • Lombardia-Lombardy
    • Marche
    • Molise
    • Piemonte-Piedmont
    • Puglia – Apulia
    • Sicilia
    • Toscana-Tuscany
    • Trentino-Alto Adige – Trentino-South Tyrol
    • Umbria
    • Veneto
  • FOOD
    • Antipasti
    • Primi piatti
    • Secondi piatti
    • Dolci
  • PR/ADVERTISING
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

The Arch of Trajan

A Gateway to Benevento

The ancient Arch of Trajan seems slightly misplaced surrounded by modern roads and housing, but 2000 years ago it marked a triumph and brought prosperity to Benevento.



Booking.com

When the ancient Romans built their empire they made roads to facilitate a speedy transmission of supplies and soldiers in case of political unrest. One of the earliest and most strategically important roads was Via Appia connecting Rome via Taranto with Brindisi. The Appian Way follows an almost straight south-eastern line making a slim crossing over the Apennines mountain range with a short extension to the place that subsequently became Benevento.

The Alternative Way

The route of the Appian Way included a number of demanding passages, so in 114 AD the benevolent Emperor Trajan decided to construct a new road at his own expense. By crossing the Italian peninsula from Benevento to Bari most of the serious hills could be avoided. This made the new Via Traiana a good day shorter than Via Appia.

To mark the beginning of this awesome new road, Trajan erected a triumphal arch in Benevento that had become a prosperous city thanks to the massive investment in modern infrastructure.

The Arch of Trajan - A Gateway to Benevento

The monumental gateway which wasn’t an entrance as much as a passageway stood out as a symbol of power intended to elevate the image of the emperor above the ordinary world and remind the local people of their benefactor.

Glory and the Children of the Empire

Reliefs on the Arch of Trajan in Benevento tell tales of glory and ordinary practices at the time. There are panels demonstrating the rewards that came from conquering new land such as improved supply routes and land for veterans. There are military victories, where gods and the four seasons line up to support the emperor. And there is a frieze encircling the entire arch with a triumphal procession of 107 people to commemorate a specific conquest.

The most extraordinary thing about the reliefs on the Arch of Trajan are the representations of small people. Children are shown in a variety of manners, but mostly to demonstrate the public alimenta welfare system that subsidized families in large cities for having children.

So today, the Arch of Trajan is both a gateway to Benevento and to a greater understanding of power politics and daily lives during the Roman Empire.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.
6 replies
  1. Mary {The World Is A Book}
    Mary {The World Is A Book} says:
    April 8, 2015 at 6:22 am

    What a great and interesting history behind such a grand structure! That’s a beautiful photo. That would be wonderful to have a closer inspection of those reliefs of children on the arch.

    Reply
    • Mette Vaabengaard
      Mette Vaabengaard says:
      April 13, 2015 at 7:01 pm

      A grand structure indeed, though I often find it easier to study the details of such sights on photos than in real life.

      Reply
  2. RV Toledano
    RV Toledano says:
    February 13, 2018 at 12:59 am

    One of the most beautiful arches, the photo needs updating, as the arch has been cleaned to celebrate its 2000th anniversary. I have visited many times and have seen it both before and after. A true testament to ancient artifacts.

    Reply
    • RV Toledano
      RV Toledano says:
      February 13, 2018 at 1:30 am

      I will check my photos for updated ones.

      Reply
      • Mette
        Mette says:
        March 10, 2018 at 11:40 am

        Wow. I’d really appreciate that:)

        Reply
    • Mette
      Mette says:
      March 10, 2018 at 11:39 am

      I’ll will have to go back to Benevento soon and see it. It sounds wonderful.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Followon TwitterSubscribeto RSS Feed
Discover Rome - Italian Notes

Discover Rome

Discover Florence - Italian Notes

Discover Florence

Discover Venice - Italian Notes

Discover Venice

Discover Puglia - Italian Notes

Discover Puglia

Discover Sicily - Italian Notes

Discover Sicily

Discover Piedmont - Italian Notes

Discover Piedmont

Breast of guineafowl with leeksBreast of guineafowl with leeksItalian rice cakeItalian rice cake
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settingsHide notification onlySettings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Accept settingsHide notification only