Triumphal Arch of Orange

The Arch of Orange is conventionally dated to the reign of Augustus or Tiberius, based upon the reconstructed inscription. This triple-bay arch was erected in front of an entrance to the colony of Arausio, spanning Agrippa’s highway from Arles to Lyon.  The decorative program of the Arch of Orange is particularly complex and exhibits the horror vacui typical of later Gallo-Roman arches. Extensive relief sculpture covers the entire monument. Gallic spolia (shields, spears, and swords, cuirasses, trumpets, boar standards)- occupy the area above each of the bay of the arch. A frieze runs around the arch with scenes of combat between Romans and Gauls. The upper central section of the façade is decorated with a Galatomachia in the Hellenistic tradition. The eastern and western facades of the arch are no less decorated, each featuring three trophies decked in similar Gallic spolia with chained Gallic prisoners below.