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- This is the largest and best conserved of all
triumphal arches in Rome. It was built in 315 by Senate and Roman people in
honour of emperor Constantine and his victory over Maxentius in the battle
at Saxa Rubra on October 28, 312. The arch is compound of the elements taken
from the other ancient monuments. The Corinthian columns of ancient yellow
stone come from the monument to Domitian; two relives inside are from the
Forum of Trajan; the statues of barbarians prisoners over the attic come
from a monument of the epoch of Trajan or Marcus Aurelius; eight medallions
on the two facades, with finely carved hunting scenes and pastoral
sacrifices belong to an unknown monument set up by Hadrian; eight
high-relives located near the inscriptions on the attic were taken from the
arch of Marcus Aurelius.
- Only the bases of the columns and the small
bas-relieves of the frieze of the minor archways belong to the Constantine's
epoch, all of them prove the degrade of artistic quality and change of the
style.
- In the Middle Ages the arch, as all the other
monument of this zone, was incorporated in the fortifications of the
Frangipane family. It was freed and restored only in the 18th century.
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