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| Constantine's Arch |
It's located in Rome, in the section of the city where ancient roman buildings were uncovered (next to the Colosseum). Over the center arch is an inscription.
UNDERSTANDING TIME REFERENCES- The meaning of AD is Anno Domini or Year of our Lord referring to the year of Christ’s birth. The meaning of BC is Before Christ.
CE is a recent term. It refers to Common Era and is used in place of A.D. the dates are the same i.e., 2009 AD is 2009 CE. BCE means Before Common Era. For example 400 BC is 400 BCE.
WHAT IS CONSTANTINE'S ARCH? - The Arch of Constantine I, erected in c. 315 CE, stands in Rome and commemorates Roman Emperor Constantine’s victory over the Roman tyrant Maxentius on 28th October 312 CE at the battle of Milvian Bridge in Rome. It is the largest surviving Roman triumphal arch and the last great monument of Imperial Rome. The arch is also a tour de force of political propaganda, presenting Constantine as a living continuation of the most successful Roman emperors, renowned for their military victories and good government.
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| Rob and Tom at the Colosseum |
ABOUT THE STRUCTURE - The monument is an imposing 69 feet (21 meters high) and 84 feet (25.6 meters_ wide rectangular block of grey and white Proconnesian marble consisting of three separate arches: one larger central arch with a shorter and narrower arch (fornix) on either side. All three arches express the same ratio of height and width.
THE INSCRIPTION OVER THE CENTER ARCH- The inscription is repeated on both sides of the arch. The letters would originally have been inlaid with gilded bronze. It reads: To the emperor Flavius Constantine the Great pious and fortunate, the Senate and People of Rome
because by divine inspiration and his own greatness of spirit with his army
on both the tyrant and all his faction at once in rightful
battle he avenged the State dedicated this arch as a mark of triumph.
WHAT'S CARVED INTO THE ARCH? - There are 8 marble panels in total, four on each façade, showing scenes where the emperor, re-cut to resemble Constantine, is either at war (south side) or conducting his civic duties (north side). There are also 8 medallions to honor the emperor Hadrian (we talked about in a previous blog). Set in pairs, scenes they depict include a successful lion hunt, a boar hunt, a bear hunt, and sacrificial ceremonies in honour of Hercules, Apollo, Diana and Silvanus; all are carved in high relief.
FOR MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE ARCH- go to: http://www.ancient.eu/article/497/
1 MIN VIDEO: https://youtu.be/pKxqelBVya0
SOURCE Some of this info is from: Mark Cartwright, published on 09 June 2013 under the following license: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms.
