Arch of Septimius Severus

Arch of Septimius Severus, West end of the Roman Forum

This triumphal arch was dedicated in AD 203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta.
During the Middle Ages repeated flooding of the Forum washed in so much debris that when Canaletto painted it in 1742, only the upper half of the Arch showed above ground. The arch was incorporated into the structure of a Christian church, and when the church was refounded elsewhere, the arch was preserved as ecclesiastical property.