Augustus built his Parthian Arch at the eastern end of the Roman Forum between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Caesar. Constructed around 17 BC, it celebrated the recovery of the legionary standards lost in the Battle of Carrhae over 30 years earlier. #LostRome

The loss of multiple 'aquila' standards at Carrhae and later another lost by Antony was a huge blow to Rome and a lingering source of shame many years after. The recovery of the standards through tough diplomatic negotiation was a foreign policy triumph for Augustus. #LostRome

The Parthian Arch can be reconstructed through detailed numismatic depictions; they show a three-gated arch with Augustus riding a triumphal chariot surmounting the central attic, flanked by two subjugated Parthians offering him standards above the side gates. #LostRome

This coin type not only shows the general structure of the arch but may also give us its inscription through the legend: CIVIB(us) ET SIGN(is) MILIT(aribus) A PART(his) RECVP(eratis) - "To the citizens and military standards, having taken them back from the Parthians." #LostRome

An imaginative reconstruction placing the viewer in the portico of the Temple of the Divine Julius, looking across the face of the Parthian Arch towards the Temple of Castor and Pollux, three columns of which still stand famously in the Forum. Art by Gil Gorski #LostRome

The Parthian arch is the best attested of three triumphal arches built in the city by Augustus, the others being the Naulochian arch and the Actian arch both celebrating famous military victories. The location and appearance of these others monuments remains tenuous. #LostRome

Augustus would later display the recovered military standards in his nearby Temple of Mars Ultor. The foundations of some piers from his Parthian arch and a few sculpted elements are all that remains to be seen in the Roman Forum today. #LostRome