Search the Community

A reconstruction of the Richborough triumphal arch as it may have looked from the waterfront in about AD 120. © Historic England (illustration by Peter Lorimer) Bachground: Richborough (Rutupiae) was an important port city for the Roman conquest and control of Britain. It is the start of the Roman Watling street. Because of changing coastlines, the site is now more than two miles inland from the coast. Richborough is Britain’s only known site of a Roman triumphal arch. The arch is thought to have been in existence from 85 AD to 275 AD. It has been suggested that that the Italian Carrara marble and it’s inscriptions would not have survived well the British climate of snow and humidity, however. (SEE English Heritage volunteer Jenny below in video.) The triumphal arch would have greeted disembarking Romans as they left what was once a harbor city to travel inland. This would have been a powerful and symbolic entranceway to Britain for the arriving Romans. https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2021/10/29/holding-cell-for-gladiators-and-wild-animals-uncovered-in-excavation-of-richborough-roman-amphitheatre/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-59079284