Description of the attraction
It is one of the largest arches ever built in Rome. Its height reaches 21 meters, its width is almost 36 meters, and the thickness of its walls exceeds 7 meters. The arch was built in 315 on the basis of a decree of the Senate and the Roman people in honor of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of Constantine's reign and the victory he won in 312 at the battle of Pont Milvio against Maxentius. Many bas-reliefs and sculptures taken from other monuments were used to decorate this arch. On both large pillars of the arch there are four columns, dating back to the era of Trajan's rule; above the columns there are eight Dacian statues of white marble with purple veins of Asia Minor.
Above the side arches are eight medallions from the Hadrian period, grouped two above each arch. Four scenes depicted in them reproduce scenes of a hunt, four others - sacrifices. On either side of the inscription, repeated on two strips of the attic, one can see eight bas-reliefs from the era of Marcus Aurelius, which at one time adorned another triumphal arch and are also placed two on each side. The bas-reliefs depict the solemn moment of the "Return of the Emperor" in 173 after victorious battles with the Germanic tribes of the Marcomannians and Quads. The large marble frieze from the Trajan era is also a borrowing. It is divided into four parts: two fragments are placed above the small arches, and two are inside the central span. The sculptural reliefs reproduce scenes from Trajan's military campaigns against the Dacians (101-102 and 105-106).
