before him, composing the so-called Arcus Novus on Via Lata with plundered decorations.

The images of the past – the wars and triumphs of the great protagonists of the Empire – were the sign of an authority to which Constantine had to appeal to legitimize his power and guarantee the solidity of his government and his political consensus. The events taken from the victorious campaigns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius celebrated the present (the victory over Maxentius) in the context of a solid tradition of glory and power. In the constant dialogue between past and present, the memory of the great figures of the Empire suggested a temporal continuity between Constantine and the optimi principes of the golden age.

Arch of Constantine: The Reliefs of the Arch

South Façade

**Thanks to EricKohen for drawings.

The tall bases of the columns of the two façades display carved Victories with trophies and prisoners, while on the sides of the central and smaller arches there are respectively Victories with trophies, seasonal genii and fluvial deities. The low frieze that runs above the smaller arches and all around the sides of the monument narrates Constantine’s campaign against Maxentius, which will be read in sequence after the description. Analyzing the upper part of the arch and beginning with the south façade, the section immediately over the frieze of Constantine is occupied by a series of four roundels from the age of Hadrian arranged in pairs over the side arches and portraying the emperor and his train engaged in hunting and sacrificial scenes. From left to