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Among the historical references of the epigraph some scholars have interpreted «divine inspiration» (instin ctu divinitatis) as an allusion to Constantine’s «conversion» to Christianity and to the legend according to which he won the battle thanks to his vision of the «holy cross». The problem is actually the subject of much debate, as is the complex question of Constantine’s religious policy. In the middle of the twelfth century the monument was incorporated into the Frangipane fortress. It was restored and studied at the end of the fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth, but the most significant activity in this respect dates from 1733, when many missing parts were replaced.

The three arches are decorated by marble slabs with reliefs. It was conceived and executed during Constantine’s reign asan integrated whole, utilizing mainly materials plundered from other imperial monuments. The compositional structure can therefore be divided into distinct chronological and stylistic sections, even though the choice of scenes reveals an evident thematic unity. On the main faces and short side of the arch there are reliefs from the ages of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, while the lower part presents ones from the reign of Constantine.

They alternate according to symmetrical patterns and by juxtaposing different events in the history of the Empire provide a valuable sample of the figurative language of imperial propaganda: “a concise overview of more than two centuries of history of official Roman art.”

The four panels from Trajan’s time originally made up a continuous frieze and must have decorated the Forum of Trajan