The Arch of Constantine

The arch stands beside the Colosseum, on the route of the triumphal processions. The same inscription is carved on both faces of the attic. It says that the senate and people dedicated the arch to Constantine because, instinctu divinitatis mentis magnitudine, “by the prompting of the divinity and by greatness of mind”, he and his army avenged the state on the tyrant and all his faction at one stroke with just arms. Shorter inscriptions in the central passage hail him as liberator of the city and founder of peace. The holding institution dates the dedication to 25 July 315, the start of the tenth year of his reign.

It is a public statement about the victory at the Milvian Bridge made within three years of it, and it comes from the senate of Rome and not from a Christian writer. It agrees with the Christian writers that the victory was owed to divine help. It does not say which divinity, and the monument carries no Christian symbol; its sculpture, much of it taken from older monuments, shows the emperor in traditional scenes, including sacrifice.