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Primary sourceArtifactc. 312-315

Arch of Constantine

Roman Senate · c. 312-315

A triumphal arch built by the Roman Senate in Rome to honor Constantine's victory over Maxentius, reusing older imperial reliefs.

The Senate built this arch to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius, celebrating him as Rome's ruler.

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Photo of the south-facing attic inscription on the Arch of Constantine in Rome: a large carved Latin inscription in two rows of capital letters on pale marble, flanked by two statues of captive or attendant figures, with a blue sky above.
Arch of Constantine, dedicated by the Roman Senate, c. 312-315. Rome, near the Colosseum.

About this source

What it is

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, near the Colosseum, built by order of the Roman Senate around 312–315 to celebrate Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentius. It reuses sculpted reliefs from earlier emperors' monuments alongside new carvings.

Why it matters

The arch's inscription credits Constantine's victory to the vague phrase "instinctu divinitatis" (by inspiration of divinity), avoiding naming any specific god. This ambiguity shows how uncertain or cautious Constantine's religious messaging still was at this stage, even as Christianity was gaining imperial favor. The monument also reveals how the Senate, not Constantine himself, shaped his public image.

Look closer

  • Why might the Senate have chosen a vague phrase about divinity rather than naming a specific god?
  • What does reusing older reliefs from earlier emperors suggest about how Romans thought about continuity and tradition?
  • What does the arch's inscription leave out about the civil war it commemorates?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Constantine the Great on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Manuscript page of handwritten Greek text in brown ink on cream parchment, with a decorated red and gold initial letter at the left margin. A dark ink blot is visible in the middle of the text block. The script is a cursive Greek hand, and the page appears to be from a 16th-century codex.Document

Secondary source

Edict of Milan

Constantine the Great · 313 AD

Woodcut-style medallion portrait in profile of a man in a plumed helmet with a laurel wreath, holding a spear, with the inscription CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG around the rim. Above it a Roman-numeral heading and German text; below, German text and a monogram M 2 on a book page.Artifact

Secondary source

Woodcut Portrait of Constantine the Great

Josse van Gietleughen

Medieval illuminated manuscript page with four framed scenes in gold and blue panels. Bottom left shows a bishop with halo baptising a nude figure in a font of flames, while a crowned figure looks on. Other panels show standing saints and a scene of a figure with a torch.Painting

Secondary source

Constantine the Great Baptised by St Sylvester

c. 1200

Title page of a book reading 'Ecclesiastical History: The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, in four books, from 306 to 337 A.D., by Eusebius Pamphilus', London, Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1845. Includes a library stamp and a publisher's ornament.Book

Secondary source

Life of Constantine

Eusebius of Caesarea · 345

Title page of a 1684 printed book: 'L. Caecilii Firmiani Lactantii, De mortibus persecutorum, liber; cum notis Johannis Columbi ad Gisbertum Cuperum', printed at Aboae by Johannes Winter in Finlandia. Below the text is a woodcut of a pelican-like bird with young on a branch, and a faded library stamp reading 'Bibl. Collegii ... Augsburg'.Book

Secondary source

De mortibus persecutorum

Lactantius · after 316

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