Gretel Rodriguez

Freestanding honorific arches were one of the defining features of ancient Roman cities and served a multiplicity of functions that ranged from the public commemoration of military victories to private celebrations of individuals and families. This project is a comparative study of Roman arches, seen as an essential form of communication between ancient patrons and viewers. The analysis focuses on the making and viewing of arches as interdependent processes, revealing how diverse patrons living throughout the Roman world channeled the unique flexibility of the arch form to fulfill multiple commemorative needs, and to reach the diverse audiences of the ever-growing empire. By bringing attention to how local communities responded to an architectural type imported from the capital, this book offers a reconsideration of well-known Roman monuments from a postcolonial perspective.