Emperor Constantine 306-337, first Christian Emperor
The Secrets of the Arch of Constantine
Emperor Constantine 306-337, first Christian Emperor
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Constantine's Arch has always puzzled and intrigued scholars. Recent archeological discoveries have uncovered many of its secrets. Constantine ordered that an existing Arch, dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian, be rebuilt in his honor. The picture below is a sketch of the original Arch. Little has yet appeared in English on these developments. The picture is taken from Adriano: Architettura e progetto (Milano: Electra, 2000). This book gives a good summary of the latest work and a complete bibliography of the literature. Mark Wilson Jones, "Genesis and Mimesis: The Design of the Arch of Constantine in Rome," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 56 (2000) 50-77, has presented the arguments for the traditional fourth-century date.
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Constantine built his arch using a pre-existing arch that Hadrian had built in the second century. Constantine added a story to Hadrian's arch and placed the rectangular scuptural panels that pictured Marcus Aurelius on it. The transformation was completely unknown until very recently. Click on the picture for a diagram of what Constantine added to Hadrian's Arch.
