Susa - Arco di Augusto

Marcus Julius Cottius was king of the Ligurian tribes inhabiting the region now known as the "Cottian Alps", that became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Segusio (= Susa) at that time was the capital of "Alpes Cottiae".

Cottius had the "Arch of Augustus" built from white marble 9/8 BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and him. There is a (very long) dedicatory inscription to ".. Imperator Caesar Augustus son of a god, Pontifex Maximus.."

A frieze runs all around the arch - 33 meters. It depicts a suovetaurilia, a kind of ritual sacrifice of pig (sus), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus). The bull is seen to the left.