ARCH OF CONSTANTINE

Description

Essentials about the Arch of Constantine in brief

It is the most famous of all Roman triumphal arches and is one of Rome’s most recognizable landmarks. Standing in a prominent position between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine is the youngest but largest of the three remaining imperial triumphal arches in Rome (the other two being the nearby Arch of Titus and Arch of Septimius Severus). Because of its location, size, and ostentatious decoration, almost every visitor to Rome casts a glance at the Arch of Constantine.

The history of the Arch of Constantine

The arch was built in honor of the Roman emperor Constantine, who defeated counter-emperor Maxentius, who had illegally come to power, in 312 at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. To celebrate this victory, the Senate of Rome awarded Constantine a triumphal arch. It was consecrated only three years later, on July 25, 315. On this day Constantine celebrated the beginning of his tenth year of reign. The triumphal arch was erected at its present location, since this was the route traditionally taken by all triumphalists coming from the Circus Maximus, going around the Palatine Hill, then via the Via Sacra and the Roman Forum to reach the Capitoline Hill.

Originally, the structure is said to have been crowned by a quadriga, but this is said to have been lost during the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 or the sack of Rome by the Vandals in 455. In the Middle Ages, the arch of triumph, like the Colosseum, was integrated into the city’s fortifications. At the beginning of the 19th century it was finally restored to its current structural state.

The architecture of the Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine is 21 meters high, 25.7 meters wide and has a passage depth of over seven meters. However, it differs from other structures mainly in the fact that quite a few reliefs, columns and statues come from older monuments and buildings. The facade decoration of the arch is really pieced together. This can be explained by the fact that the lack of state commissions in the previous century had driven many sculptor’s workshops to ruin or forced them to keep their heads above water with undemanding works. Thus, above-average sculptures were scarce in early 4th century Rome.

The statues at the top of the arch come from Trajan’s Forum. They depict captured Dacian soldiers who were defeated by Trajan’s army. The reliefs between the statues were made for Marcus Aurelius, while the circular reliefs date from the time of Emperor Hadrian. Some figures in the reliefs were modified to resemble Constantine. The decorations on the central and lower parts were created especially for this triumphal arch. The frieze shows Constantine’s army driving Maxentius’ troops into the Tiber. These decorations are visibly of a much lower quality than those from the time of Hadrian and Trajan, which – as explained above – testifies to the fact that the artistic level during Constantine’s time was much lower than in the past.

Constantine, by the way, believed that his victory over the numerically superior army of Maxentius, which was considered almost impossible, was the result of the help of the Christian God. As a result, persecution of Christians ended during Constantine’s reign and Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Only ten years after the consecration of the Arch of Constantine, Constantine moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 325 AD.