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Ancient monumentCharente-Maritime

Arc de Germanicus de Saintes

Saintes

Dimensions
On the right bank of the Charente, at the end of the bridge that leads to the old town, on the esplanade André-Malraux, next to the archaeological museum; the arch can be seen from the quays and from the bridge
Period
Arch raised around AD 18–19 by Caius Julius Rufus in honour of Tiberius, Germanicus and Drusus, at the entrance to the bridge of the Via Agrippa; restored in 1666; dismantled and re-erected twenty-eight metres further on, on the bank, in 1843, on the advice of Prosper Mérimée; restored in 1851; listed as a historic monument in 1905
What stands there
The arch of a Gaul become Roman, priest of the altar of Lyon, at the entrance to his town

Mediolanum, the town of the Santones, was under Augustus the first capital of Aquitaine, at the end of the road that the Via Agrippa brought from Lyon by way of Clermont and Limoges. The road crossed the Charente on a bridge, and at the entrance to this bridge a notable of the city, Caius Julius Rufus, had raised around AD 18–19 an arch with two bays, dedicated to the emperor Tiberius, his son Drusus and his nephew Germanicus. It is not a triumphal arch: it is a road arch, a gateway of honour, and a calling card. The inscription gives the genealogy of the donor: his great-grandfather, Epotsoviridus, and his grandfather, Agedomopas, bear Gaulish names; this grandfather was the first of the family to receive citizenship, under the name of Caius Julius; his father is still called Catuaneunius; he himself, Rufus, bears a wholly Roman name and the title of priest of Rome and Augustus at the altar of the confluence at Lyon, where the delegates of the sixty cities of the Three Gauls met every 1 August. The same year, or almost, he offered that sanctuary its amphitheatre. In three generations, a family of Gaulish chiefs had become the elite of the Empire: the arch tells this better than a book. It remained on its bridge until 1843, when the rebuilding of the quays made it necessary to dismantle it; Prosper Mérimée obtained that it be re-erected, stone by stone, twenty-eight metres further on, on the bank, where it still stands.

Wikipédia — Arc de Germanicus ↗

Further reading

Getting there : Esplanade André-Malraux, on the right bank, a stone's throw from the bus station and the Pont Bernard-Palissy; car parks on the quays. The arch is freely accessible at any hour. The neighbouring archaeological museum, place Bassompierre, which presents the sculptures and inscriptions of Mediolanum, is paid and closed on Mondays. From there, you can reach on foot, on the other bank, the amphitheatre and the basilica of Saint-Eutrope, in half an hour.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Arc de Germanicus de Saintes
GO69 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

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In the same department

All places — Charente-Maritime (12).