Like
many triumphal arches, the Arch of Septimius Severus depicts
that battles which it commemorates. This main depiction
has four main panels. The first panel shows the preparations
for war; this include battle scenes between Romans and
Parthians, the emperor speaking to the troops (on the
left) and the liberation of a besieged city with the flight
of the enemy king (on the right). The second panel shows
scenes from the war against the Osroeni, with the Roman
forces attacking Edessa with war machines and the surrender
of the city. The third panel shows the attack on the city
of Seleucia on the River Tigris, with the Parthians fleeing
on horseback. The fourth and final panal shows the siege
of Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthians, using war
machines, and the flight of the defeated enemy king. |
