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Arch of Constantine
The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between
the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate
Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on
October 28, 312 AD. Dedicated in 315 AD, it is the latest of the extant
triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by the extensive re-use
of parts of earlier 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 revetted 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 Forum Romanum. 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 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 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. 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.
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. 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 one. 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.
Attic
Above the middle archway, the main inscription (see below) 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. 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. 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.
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
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. 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 medaillons: 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. Similar medaillons, 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 here has avoided to use the 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.
Inner sides of the archways
In the central archway, there is one of the large panels of Trajan's
Dacian War on either wall. Inside the lateral archways, eight portraits
busts (two on each wall), destroyed to such an extent that it is not
possible to identify them any more
From: www.wikipedia.org
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