Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine is a <a href="/facts/Triumphal_arch/L5EM57ku">triumphal arch</a> in <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a> dedicated to the emperor <a href="/facts/Constantine_the_Great/jW1q8TPp">Constantine the Great</a>. The arch was commissioned by the <a href="/facts/Roman_Senate/NXK83zU9">Roman Senate</a> to commemorate Constantine's victory over <a href="/facts/Maxentius/BG0hzPLG">Maxentius</a> at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge/pNcYBGlL">Battle of the Milvian Bridge</a> in AD 312. Situated between the <a href="/facts/Colosseum/qVdhEUV5">Colosseum</a> and the <a href="/facts/Palatine_Hill/QzCfItrB">Palatine Hill</a>, the arch spans the <a href="/facts/Roman_triumphs/e3RxnmPm">Via Triumphalis</a>, the route taken by victorious military leaders when they entered the city in a <a href="/facts/Roman_triumph/e3RxnmPm">triumphal</a> procession. Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch, with overall dimensions of 21 m (69 ft) high, 25.9 m (85 ft) wide and 7.4 m (24 ft) deep. It has three bays, the central one being 11.5 m (38 ft) high and 6.5 m (21 ft) wide and the laterals 7.4 m (24 ft) by 3.4 m (11 ft) each. The arch is constructed of brick-faced concrete covered in marble.
The three-bay design with detached columns was first used for the <a href="/facts/Arch_of_Septimius_Severus/frbfftKP">Arch of Septimius Severus</a> in the <a href="/facts/Roman_Forum/NI8yC1VI">Roman Forum</a> (which stands at the end of the triumph route) and repeated in several other arches now lost.
Though dedicated to Constantine, much of the sculptural decoration consists of reliefs and statues removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to <a href="/facts/Trajan/Q6n5uj1q">Trajan</a> (98–117), <a href="/facts/Hadrian/e1RoggvV">Hadrian</a> (117–138) and <a href="/facts/Marcus_Aurelius/b5uSRbqh">Marcus Aurelius</a> (161–180), with the portrait heads replaced with his own.

Arch of Constantine open-in-new

Arch of Constantine