It’s believed that Constantine did everything in his power to erase the emperor he just defeated, Maxentius, from history. In the case of the Arch of Constantine, this could be very literal. This means that history might have a completely different meaning when told by the losing camp. According to German Philosopher Walter Benjamin, history is seen through the eyes of the victor. That was also the reason the Arch of Constantine was built in the first place.ġ2. These depict the battles won by Constantine, and mainly the battle he won against Maxentius. There are some round reliefs included in the Arch, and the horizontal relief directly below those are the ones that were added during Constantine’s reign. The Arch of Constantine has 3 archways, a big one in the center, which is where the emperor would have passed when entering the city after a victory, and 2 smaller ones at the sides.ġ1. The Arch of Constantine stands about 21 meters (69 ft) tall and is about 26 meters (85 ft) wide.ġ0. In other words, flatterers thrive on fools’ credulity.ĩ. Because of this theory, and the fact that the newly created art that decorated the Arch of Constantine was in such a big contrast with each other, it got the nickname “ Cornacchia di Esopo” which translates to “ Aesop’s Crow.” This is a reference to a story in which a crow is flattered and therefore loses a piece of cheese it’s holding to the fox who devours it. Apart from the main theory of simply there being a l ack of quality artists, another one is that these pieces could have been a deliberate tribute to Roman greatness.Ĩ. There are various theories as to why other pieces of art were used to create the Arch of Constantine. These include pieces from monuments built by emperors Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), and Marcus Aurelius (161–180).ħ. To build the Arch of Constantine, various pieces of art have been assembled.
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