Memorial Arches
In opus latericium, at one time covered with marble, these elegantly enclose the Forum to the north, in celebration of the imperial family. Of the two built on either side of the Temple of Jupiter, the one to the west is attributed to Augustus, the east to Nero, perhaps demolished following the death (68 AD) and sentencing of the emperor, or simply to avoid blocking the view of the other arch behind it, at the north entrance to the Forum. This has two niches on one side that once held statues of Nero and Drusus, on the other side two fountains; an equestrian statue (perhaps of the emperor Tiberius) topped this arch. The other arch, in the back at the start of Via di Mercurio, is called the Caligula Arch because an equestrian statue was found nearby, that may have depicted the emperor Caligula and probably stood on the arch.
