Editing Benevento (section)

===Ancient remains===

'''The Arch of Trajan'''
[[File:Arch of Trajan (Benevento) 01.jpg|thumb|Arch of Trajan.]]
The importance of Benevento in classical times is vouched for by the many remains of [[Ancient history|antiquity]] which it possesses, of which the most famous is the [[Arch of Trajan (Benevento)|triumphal arch]] erected in honour of [[Trajan]] by the [[Roman Senate|senate]] and people of [[Rome]] in 114, with important reliefs relating to its history. Enclosed in the walls, this construction marked the entrance in Benevento of the [[Via Traiana]], the road built by the Spanish emperor to shorten the path from Rome to [[Brindisi]]. The reliefs show the civil and military deeds of Trajan. A great part of the arch is decorated with scenes in bas relief: particularly the pillars directed to the town represent scenes of peace and military scenes.  The two faces of the Arch are identical in the arrangement of the reliefs. That the reliefs are for the most part not merely fanciful, nor chiefly conventional and decorative in theme and treatment, is also clear at first sight. They plainly refer to actual events and actions in the life of Trajan, whose effigy, sometimes decapitated, appears in all but two of them, one of which is the only one on all the Arch that is substantially defective.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Truesdell Merrill|first=Elmer|date=1901|title=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association – Some Observations on the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum|journal=The Johns Hopkins University Press|volume=32|pages=43–63}}</ref> The height of the monument is of {{Convert|15.6|m|ft}}, with an arch of {{Convert|8|m|ft|abbr=on}}, a structure composed of limestone rocks and a marble covering. The arch was put during the Middle Age in the fenced area of the town, in order to represent the ''Porta Aurea,'' on account of its fair proportions and the wealth and excellence of its sculptural adornments.<ref name=":0" />

'''Other considerable remains'''

[[File:Arco del Sacramento.jpg|thumb|Arch of the Sacrament.]]
There are other considerable remains from ancient era:
* The well-preserved [[Roman Theatre, Benevento|ancient theatre]], next to the Cathedral and the Port'Arsa gate. This grandiose building was erected by [[Hadrian]], and later expanded by [[Caracalla]]. It is a testimony of the presence of different Hellenic tendencies, in opposition to the previous art of Traiano. The theater, oriented toward the Taburno, has a diameter of {{Convert|90|m|ft|abbr=on}} and could house up to 10,000 spectators; it was covered with polychrome marble decorated with plaster and mosaics. During the 18th century on one extremity of the hemicycle was built the church of Santa Maria della Verità. The archaeologist Almerico Meomartini at the end of the 19th century promised the restoration but the works ended only in 1957; from that moment the theater is used for theater, dance, and opera performances. But has been lost a part of the marble cover; until today have survived the cavea, the scenery and the first two arches. 
* A large [[cryptoporticus]] {{Convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, known as the ruins of ''Santi Quaranta'', and probably an [[Marketplace|emporium]]. According to Meomartini, the portion preserved is only a fraction of the whole, which once measured {{Convert|520|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length.
* A brick arch called ''Arco del Sacramento''.
* The ''Ponte Leproso'', a bridge on the Via Appia over the Sabato river, below the city center.
* [[Thermae]] along the road to [[Avellino]].
* The ''Bue Apis'', popularly known as ''Aufara'' ("buffalo"). It is a basement in the shape of an ox or bull coming from the Temple of Isis.

Many inscriptions and ancient fragments may be seen built into the old houses. In 1903 the foundations of the Temple of Isis were discovered close to the Arch of Trajan, and many fragments of fine sculptures in both the Egyptian and the Greco-Roman style belonging to it were found. They had apparently been used as the foundation of a portion of the [[city wall]], reconstructed in 663 under the fear of an attack by the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Constans II (Byzantine Empire)|Constans II]], the temple having been destroyed by order of the bishop, [[St Barbatus]], to provide the necessary material (A. Meomartini, 0. Marucchi and L. Savignoni in ''Notizie degli Scavi'', 1904, 107 sqq.).