This is northern Italy's oldest surviving triumphal arch, marking the entrance to Rimini for travellers on the Flaminian Way built by Consul Flaminius in 220 BC to link Rimini and Rome.

The arch was erected in 27 BC by order of the Senate to honour Caesar Augustus, as shown by the inscription above the archway. The monument was part of the earliest ring of defensive walls, the remains of which, made in local stone, can still be seen to the sides of the arch, now isolated, following the demolition of the walls and buildings around it in the 1930's.


The original construction, which stood between two polygonal towers, of which only a few traces still remain, was surmounted by an attic storey that probably supported a statue of the emperor on horseback or on a quadriga chariot. The top of the arch, perhaps destroyed by earthquakes, was replaced by battlements in the Middle Ages. The structure of the arch is embellished with a rich variety of decorations of great political significance. The particularly wide opening of the arch itself, impossible to close with doors, is a reference to the new peace achieved after a long period of civil wars. The gods seen in the round elements, with Jupiter and Apollo on the external side and Neptune and Rome on the inner side, celebrate the grandeur of Rome and the power of Augustus.


The Augustus Arch and the Tiberius Bridge, part of an urban expansion programme enacted by Augustus, were incorporated in Rimini's arms in the Middle Ages.