Who designed and oversaw the construction of Arch of Trajan in Benevento, Italy?

Apollodorus of Damascus (Damascus, Roman Syria, 50 - Rome, 130) was a Damascus-born Greek architect and engineer from Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD. As an engineer he authored several technical treatises, and his massive architectural output gained him immense popularity during his time.

He is one of the few architects whose name survives from antiquity, and is credited with introducing several Eastern innovations to the Roman Imperial style, such as making the dome a standard. He was banished by the Emperor Hadrian, because of his disagreements with him over the design of the Temple of Venus, and executed around 130.

Constructed from 114 to 117 over the Via Appia Antica, the Trajan Arch of Beneventum commemorated the completion of the Via Traiana that extended the Appia. The arch also celebrated Trajan‘s social works, conquests (such as against Dacia) and imperial divinity (illustrated in the sacrificing of bulls to the Victories) depicted on the great marble arch.

Anyone passing through the gateway into Beneventum along this thoroughfare would have been reminded of the prestige and benevolence of the emperor. Built in limestone and covered in slabs of Parian marble, the arch measured 15 metres in height and over 8 metres in width, featuring a richly sculpted facade with columns on either side.

Today, the Arch of Trajan is both a gateway to Benevento and to a greater understanding of power politics and daily lives during the Roman Empire.