The Arch of Constantine seen from the Colosseum

The arch seen from Via Triumphalis

Detail of the arch (southern side, left)

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the extant triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings. The Arch of Constantine This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... The Arch of Constantine This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1063x796, 385 KB) Rome, Arch of Constantine, by Alexander Z., 2005-01-06 File links The following pages link to this file: Arch of Constantine ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1063x796, 385 KB) Rome, Arch of Constantine, by Alexander Z., 2005-01-06 File links The following pages link to this file: Arch of Constantine ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (797x1063, 385 KB) Rome, Arch of Constantine, by Alexander Z., 2005-01-06 File links The following pages link to this file: Arch of Constantine ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (797x1063, 385 KB) Rome, Arch of Constantine, by Alexander Z., 2005-01-06 File links The following pages link to this file: Arch of Constantine ... Arc de Triomphe, Paris A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental archway, usually built to celebrate a victory in war. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban... The Colosseum by night: exterior view of the best-preserved section. ... 17th century aviaries on the hill, built by Rainaldi for Odoardo Cardinal Farnese: once wirework cages surmounted them. ... Bronze statue of Constantine I in York, England, near the spot where he was proclaimed Emperor in 306 For other uses, see Constantine I (disambiguation). ... Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( 278-28 October 312) was Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. ... Combatants Constantinian forces Maxentian forces Commanders Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius† Strength ~50000 men ~75000-120000 men Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Milvian Bridge took place on October 28, 312 between the Roman Emperors Constantine the Great and Maxentius. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... Events October 28 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine defeats Maxentius in the fight to become emperor of Rome. ... Events Eusebius becomes bishop of Caesarea (approximate date). ... For other meanings, see Spolia (disambiguation) Re-use in Roman building material in the late Roman empire(eg Arch of Janus, Arch of Constantine) of rubble and artworks from earlier Roman buildings. ...

General description

The arch is 21 m high, 25.7 m wide and 7.4 m deep. It has three archways, the central one being 11.5 m high and 6.5 m wide, the lateral archways 7.4 m by 3.4 m each. The lower part of the monument is built of marble blocks, the top (called attic) is brickwork reveted with marble. A staircase formed in the thickness of the arch is entered from a door at some height from the ground, in the end towards the Palatine Hill.

The general design with a main part structured by detached columns and an attic with the main inscription above is modelled after the example of the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Roman Forum. It has been suggested that the lower part of the arch is re-used from an older monument, probably from the times of the emperor Hadrian (Conforto et al., 2001; for a defence of the view that the whole arch was constructed in the 4th century, see Pensabene & Panella). The Arch of Septimius Severus before the excavation of the Roman Forum, painted by Canaletto in 1742 (Royal Collection, UK) Lateral arched opening between the main arch and a side archway The Arch of Septimius Severus in 2005 The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus at the northeast end of... This page refers to the main forum in the centre of Rome. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 – July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was a Stoic-Epicurean[] Roman emperor from 117 – 138, and a member of the gens Aelia. ...

The arch spans the Via Triumphalis, the way taken by the emperors when they entered the city in triumph. This route started at the Campus Martius, led through the Circus Maximus and around the Palatine Hill; immediately after the Arch of Constantine, the procession would turn left at the Meta Sudans and march along the Via Sacra to the Forum Romanum and on to the Capitoline Hill, passing both the Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. A Roman Triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly honour the military commander (dux) of a notably successful foreign war or campaign and to display the glories of Roman victory. ... The Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km² (600 acres) in extent. ... For other uses, see Circus Maximus (disambiguation). ... The Arch of Constantine seen from the Colosseum. ... The Via Sacra (Latin: Sacred Road) is the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. ... The Capitoline Hill (Capitolinus Mons), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the most famous and smallest of the seven hills of Rome. ... The Arch of Titus This article deals with the main arch of Titus on the Via Sacra. ...

During the Middle Ages, the Arch of Constantine was incorporated into one of the family strongholds of ancient Rome. Works of restoration were first carried out in the 18th century; the last excavations have taken place in the late 1990s, just before the Great Jubilee of 2000. The official logo of the Great Jubilee of 2000 features its motto: Christ Yesterday, Today, Forever. ...

Decoration

The decoration of the arch heavily uses parts of older monuments, which are given a new meaning in the context of the Constantinian building. As it celebrates the victory of Constantine, the new "historic" friezes illustrating his campaign in Italy convey the central meaning: the praise of the emperor, both in battle and in his civilian duties. The other imagery supports this purpose: decoration taken from the "golden times" of the Empire under Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius places Constantine next to these "good emperors", and the content of the pieces evokes images of the victorious and pious ruler. This article is about the Roman Emperor. ... Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (April 26, 121[1] – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death. ...

Another explanation given for the re-use is the short time between the start of construction (late 312 at the earliest) and the dedication (summer 315), so the architects used existing artwork to make up for the lack of time to create new art. As yet another possible reason, it has often been suggested that the Romans of the 4th century lacked the artistic skill to produce acceptable artwork and therefore plundered the ancient buildings to adorn their contemporary monuments. This interpretation has become less prominent in more recent times, as the art of Late Antiquity has been appreciated in its own right. It is, of course, possible that a combination of two or all three of those explanations are correct, as they are not mutually exclusive. Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ...

Attic

Above the middle archway, the main inscription takes the most prominent place of the attic. It is identical on both sides of the arch.

Flanking the inscription on both sides, there are pairs of relief panels above the minor archways, 8 in total. They were taken from an unknown monument erected in honour of Marcus Aurelius, and show (north side, left to right) the emperor's return to Rome after the campaign (adventus), the emperor leaving the city and saluted by a personification of the Via Flaminia, the emperor distributing money among the people (largitio), the emperor interrogating a German prisoner, (south side, left to right) a captured enemy chieftain led before the emperor, a similar scene with other prisoners, the emperor speaking to the troops (adlocutio), and the emperor sacrificing pig, sheep and bull (suovetaurilia). Together with three panels now in the Capitoline Museum, the reliefs were probably taken from a triumphal monument commemorating Marcus Aurelius' war against the Sarmatians from 169 – 175, which ended with his triumphant return in 176. On the largitio panel, the figure of Marcus Aurelius' son Commodus has been eradicated after the latter's damnatio memoriae. On top of each of the columns stand marble statues of Dacian prisoners from the times of Trajan, probably taken from the Forum of Trajan. The Via Flaminia was a Roman road leading from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini), and was the most important route to the north. ... The suovetaurilia was an ancient Roman sacrifice in which a pig, a sheep, and a bull were sacrificed. ... Sarmatia and Scythia in 100 BC, also shown is the extent of the Parthian Empire. ... Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (August 31, 161–December 31, 192) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192. ... Damnatio memoriae is the Latin phrase literally meaning damnation of memory, in the sense of removed from the remembrance. ... Alternate meanings: see Dacia (disambiguation) Dacia, in ancient geography the land of the Daci or Getae, was a large district of Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathians, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisa (Tisza river, in Hungary), on the east by... The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum, although the Romans referred to it more often as the Forum Magnum or just the Forum) was the central area around which ancient Rome developed, in which commerce, business, trading and the administration of justice took place. ...

From the same time date the two large (3 m high) panels decorating the attic on the small sides of the arch, showing scenes from the emperor's Dacian Wars. Together with the two reliefs on the inside of the central archway, they came from a large frieze celebrating the Dacian victory. The original place of this frieze was either the Forum of Trajan, as well, or the barracks of the emperor's horse guard on the Caelius. Combatants Dacians Roman Empire Commanders Decebal Trajan Strength around 100,000 (based on population estimate) 70,000-80,000 Casualties Unknown Unknown The Dacian Wars (101-102, 105-106) were two short wars between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Emperor Trajans rule. ...

Main section

The general layout of the main facade is identical on both sides of the arch. It is divided by four columns of Corinthian order made of Numidian yellow marble (giallo antico), one of which has been transferred into the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano and was replaced by a white marble column. The columns stand on bases showing victory figures on front, and captured barbarians and Roman soldiers on the sides. The Corinthian order as used for the portico of the Pantheon, Rome provided a prominent model for Renaissance and later architects, through the medium of engravings. ... The late Baroque façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano was completed by Alessandro Galilei in 1735 after winning a competition for the design. ...

The spandrels of the main archway are decorated with reliefs depicting victory figures with trophies, those of the smaller archways show river gods. Column bases and spandrel reliefs are from the times of Constantine. Victoria on the reverse of this coin by Constantine II. In Roman mythology, Victoria was the goddess of victory. ...

Above each lateral archway are pairs of round reliefs dated to the times of Emperor Hadrian. They display scenes of hunting and sacrificing: (north side, left to right) hunt of a boar, sacrifice to Apollo, hunt of a lion, sacrifice to Hercules, (south side, left to right) departure for the hunt, sacrifice to Silvanus, hunt of a bear, sacrifice to Diana. The head of the emperor (originally Hadrian) has been reworked in all medallions: on the north side, into Constantine in the hunting scenes and into Licinius or Constantius I in the sacrifice scenes; on the south side, vice versa. The reliefs, c. 2 m in diameter, were framed in porphyry; this framing is only extant on the right side of the northern facade. In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or , Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), was the god of music, medicine, death dealing, and archery archery and also a sister of Artemis. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Heracles. ... Silvanus (of the woods) was a Roman tutelary spirit of woods, a genius loci that was apparently inherited from the Etruscan Selvans. ... Diana was the equivalent in Roman mythology of the Greek Artemis (see Roman/Greek equivalency in mythology for more details). ... As of Licinius Aureus of Licinius, celebrating his tenth year of reign and the fifth year of his son Licinius (on the obverse). ... Gaius Flavius Valerius Constantius (March 31, 250–July 25, 306) was an emperor of the Western Roman Empire (305–306). ... Porphyry is a very hard igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. ...

Similar medallions, this time of Constantinian origin, are placed on the small sides of the arch; on the eastern side, showing the Sun rising, and on the western side, the Moon, both on chariots.

The main piece from the time of Constantine is the "historical" relief frieze running around the monument under the round panels, one strip above each lateral archway and at the small sides of the arch. These reliefs depict scenes from the Italian campaign of Constantine against Maxentius which was the reason for the construction of the monument. The frieze starts at the western side with the "Departure from Milan". It continues on the southern, "outward" looking face, with the siege of a city, probably Verona, which was of great importance to the war in Northern Italy; also on that face, the Battle of Milvian Bridge with Constantine's army victorious and the enemy drowning in the river Tiber. On the eastern side, Constantine and his army enter Rome; the artist seems to have avoided using imagery of the triumph, as Constantine probably did not want to be shown triumphant over the Eternal City. On the northern face, looking "towards" the city, two strips with the emperor's actions after taking possession of Rome: Constantine speaking to the citizens on the Forum Romanum, and distributing money to the people. Milan (Italian: ; Lombard: Milán (listen)) is one of the biggest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. ... Verona is an ancient town, episcopal see, and province in Veneto, Northern Italy. ... Tiber River in Rome The Tiber (Italian Tevere, Latin Tiberis), the third-longest river in Italy at 406 km (252 miles) after the Po and the Adige, flows through Rome in its course from Mount Fumaiolo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, which it reaches in two branches that cross the suburbs...

Inner sides of the archways

In the central archway, there is one large panel of Trajan's Dacian War on each wall. Inside the lateral archways are eight portraits busts (two on each wall), destroyed to such an extent that it is no longer possible to identify them.

Inscriptions

The main inscription would originally have been of bronze letters. It can still be read easily, though only the recesses in which the letters sat, and their attachment holes, remain. It reads thus, identically on both sides: Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ...

IMP · CAES · FL · CONSTANTINO · MAXIMO · P · F · AVGUSTO · S · P · Q · R · QVOD · INSTINCTV · DIVINITATIS · MENTIS · MAGNITVDINE · CVM · EXERCITV · SVO · TAM · DE · TYRANNO · QVAM · DE · OMNI · EIVS · FACTIONE · VNO · TEMPORE · IVSTIS · REM-PUBLICAM · VLTVS · EST · ARMIS · ARCVM · TRIVMPHIS · INSIGNEM · DICAVIT

To the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantinus, the greatest, pious, and blessed Augustus: because he, inspired by the divine, and by the greatness of his mind, has delivered the state from the tyrant and all of his followers at the same time, with his army and just force of arms, the Senate and People of Rome have dedicated this arch, decorated with triumphs.

The words instinctu divinitatis ("inspired by the divine") have been much commented. They are usually read as sign of Constantine's shifting religious affiliation: The Christian tradition, most notably Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea, relate the story of a vision of God to Constantine during the campaign, and that he was victorious in the sign of the cross at the Milvian Bridge. The official documents (esp. coins) still prominently display the Sun god until 324, while Constantine started to support the Christian church from 312 on. In this situation, the vague wording of the inscription can be seen as the attempt to please all possible readers, being deliberately ambiguous, and acceptable to both pagans and Christians. As was customary, the vanquished enemy is not mentioned by name, but only referred to as "the tyrant", drawing on the notion of the rightful killing of a tyrannical ruler; together with the image of the "just war", it serves as justification of Constantine's civil war against his co-emperor Maxentius. Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius?) Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who wrote in Latin (c. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (c. ... Detail from The Vision of the Cross by assistants of Raphael, depicting the vision of the cross and the Greek writing εν τούτω νίκα in the sky, before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. ... Battle of the Milvian Bridge Conflict Date October 28, 312 Place Milvian Bridge (Saxa Rubra), Rome Result Defeat of Maxentius The Battle of Milvian Bridge took place on October 28, 312 between the Roman Emperors Constantine the Great and Maxentius. ... A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun. ... Just war is a specific concept of how warfare might be justified, typically in accordance with a particular situation, or scenario, and expanded or supported by reference to doctrine, tradition, or historical commentary. ...

Two short inscriptions on the inside of the central archway transport a similar message: Constantine came not as conqueror, but freed Rome from occupation:

LIBERATORI VRBIS (liberator of the city) — FUNDATORI QVIETIS (founder of peace)

Over each of the small archways, inscriptions read:

VOTIS X — VOTIS XX

SIC X — SIC XX

They give a hint on the date of the arch: "Solemn vows for the 10th anniversary – for the 20th anniversary" and "as for the 10th, so for the 20th anniversary". Both refer to Constantine's decennalia, i.e. the 10th anniversary of his reign (counted from 306), which he celebrated in Rome in the summer of 315. It can be assumed that the arch honouring his victory was inaugurated during his stay in the city. Events July 25 - Constantine I proclaimed Roman Emperor by his troops. ...

References

• Patrizio Pensabene and Clementina Panella, Arco di Costantino: tra archeologia e archeometria, Roma 1999
• Maria Letizia Conforto et al., Adriano e Costantino. Le due fasi dell'arco nella Valle del Colosseo, Milano 2001

Clementina Panella is an Italian archaeologist, a professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, where she teaches the methodology of archaeology as the director of the Department of Historical Science, Archaeology and the Anthropology of Antiquity. ...

External links

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Arch of Constantine

• The Arch of Constantine, a detailed article for scholars and enthusiasts
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