Below are a few photos from the so-called Arch of the Argentarii - which might be more accurately called Porta Argentarorium - in Rome's Forum Boarium. Someday I'll get some shots of the entire structure, which appears to be travertine faced in marble. The photos below show details of the piers, revealing heavy-handed erasures of people who fell from political grace in the era of Caracalla (Antoninus).

Photo 1, the eastern pier, shows Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, Caracalla's parents. Something is obviously missing from the right side of the panel. Close inspection reveals, as was obvious to Giovanni Bellori when he inspected the piece in 1690, that Geta, Caracalla's brother, who was murdered on December 26, 211, once stood there. The third line of the dedicatory inscription on the arch originally referred to Geta, reading:

IMP CAES M AURELIO ANTONINO PIO FELICI AUG TRIB POTEST VII COS ET P SEPTIMIO GETAE NOBILISSIMO CAESARI ET

and now reads:

IMP CAES M AURELIO ANTONINO PIO FELICI AUG TRIB POTEST VII COS III P P PROCOS FORTISSIMO FELICISSIMOQUE PRINCIPI

The appearance of "COS III" in the rewrite tells us that it dates to Caracalla's third consul, a period from 208 to 213 CE, thus it was likely modified shortly after Geta's death.

Photo 2 shows the awkward recarving of Julia Domna's left hand, which was originally obscured by Geta, who likely also originally held a patera in his hand, which would have crossed in front of Julia, to participate in the action at the altar.

Photos 2 and 3, the western pier, show young Caracalla, who no doubt was once accompanied by his wife Plautilla, and probably her father, Plautianus, both carved away leaving a rough surface. References to Plautilla and Plautianus in the original inscription, ...et Fulviae Plautillae... replaced by the insertion of a reference to Julia as mater senatus et patriae. Caracalla had maintained during his fathers life that Plautilla and Plautianus conspired to have Septimius assassinated, and, upon his father's death, ordered their executions. He also claimed that his brother Geta plotted to murder him, thus the memories of all three were thoroughly cleansed from Rome during Caracalla's reign. While history - in particular, the Historia Augusta - portrays Geta as an innocent victim and Caracalla as a megalomaniac, it appears likely that Caracalla's concerns about Plautianus were justified, and that Geta may have also had murderous intentions.

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