triumphal arch discovered at Circus Maximus in Rome

On Friday (29th May), the discovery of a triumphal arch at the curved end of the Circus Maximus in Rome was reported on Twitter and an article was also posted on The Telegraph web-site. It is a triumphal arch in honour of the Roman emperor Titus, one of two known in Rome: the other stands at the entrance to the Forum. It is remarkable that archaeologists are still making discoveries in Rome, and very interesting for the Trust, as we uncovered the first evidence of Colchester’s Roman circus only in 2000 and first identified it as a circus in 2004. We are also interested in the plans to reconstruct the triumphal arch at the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was the first and, when its final structure was completed, the largest Roman circus in the Roman empire. It stood in the heart of Rome itself, between the River Tiber and the Colosseum.

‘… The arch, which was built immediately after the emperor’s death in 81AD, would have formed a magnificent entrance to the Circus Maximus, where charioteers competed against each other in races that were depicted in the 1959 Hollywood epic Ben Hur.
Authorities in Rome now hope to reconstruct the imposing, 17-metre-wide, 15-metre-long marble arch, in a project that would cost at least €1 million (£718,000).
They have already starting building a detailed digital image of what the monument probably looked like, based on their findings.
The remains of the arch were found at a depth of around 10ft below ground at the eastern end of the Circus Maximus, which is located between the Colosseum and the Tiber River.
Its existence had been known only from historical records from the medieval period …
They discovered the bases of the four giant columns that formed the front of the arch, as well as the plinths on which they rested and traces of the original travertine pavement…
Until the money to reconstruct the arch can be raised, its foundations will be reburied in order to protect them from the elements …’ – at  www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11638975/Massive-triumphal-marble-arch-built-by-Romans-to-honour-Emperor-Titus-discovered.html .

There are a large number of Roman circuses around Europe, but Colchester’s is the only one known in Britain. It would have had a large entrance archway (porta pompa) at the eastern, curved end, which may have been in the form of a monumental triumphal or ceremonial arch, but we have not yet uncovered any evidence of it. The site of the porta pompa lies under part of the Flagstaff complex compound, almost at the boundary of the Napier Road car-park. News of the discovery at the Circus Maximus seems appropriate, as we moved in to Roman Circus House three years ago today (1st June 2012), and we have recently completed various projects here for the interpretation of the Roman circus: the reconstructed stumps of starting-gates and entrance archway, the line of the circus marked on the ground, two earthen banks, the walkway over the exposed remains of part of the circus, and our very own archway – that is, the digital information archway on the site of one of the public entrance archways into the circus seating-stand, which our visitors can walk through…

Also see www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/II-5-W1/61/2013/isprsannals-II-5-W1-61-2013.pdf for reconstructions of the arch of Titus at the Circus Maximus before the discovery of its remains, in an essay on the virtual Anastylosis of elements based on 3-d modelling of fragments deriving from the arch (September 2013).

For further information on the circus site, centre and café, opening times, access, parking, etc, please go to www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=6879 .

The images show two views of our digital information archway with the site of the circus at Roman Circus House today.

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