he Etruscan Gate of Volterra it is considered the first example of an arch. Even if we know by now many Greek preceding or contemporary realisations - like the Gate of Asso in Turkey -, we believe that that only with the Etruscans did the arch reach the formal importance, besides that structural, that this example puts in light.
The Romans, helped by the technology inherited from the Etruscans , chose the arch as the dominant element of their architecture inserting it in all their buildings in order to characterise the supporting structures and the composite lines both of the inside spaces - basilicas, temples, thermal baths- but most of all of those outside- bridges, aqueducts, gates, theatres, exedra, nynpheum -. But the exaltation of this architectural element wee see above all in the realisation of the monumental arches that were built usually in occasion of the triumphs of the winning emperors who had conquered foreign countries, but also realised with other specific functions, always with the evident intent to enrich the fabric of the city with a precious work.