Arch of Augustus

The Arch of Augustus in Susa — ancient Segusio — is a single-bay marble honorary arch dating to 9/8 BCE and widely considered the best-preserved monument of its kind in northern Italy. It was commissioned not by Augustus himself but by Marcus Iulius Cottius, the Ligurian chieftain who built it to seal his alliance with Rome; the frieze inscription names all 14 peoples of his Alpine kingdom, making it a uniquely detailed epigraphic record of the region. The arch once marked a key Alpine crossing toward Gaul along what is now known as the Via Cozia. Today it stands embedded in Susa's medieval old town, approachable at close range, with much of the Latin inscription still legible to visitors.