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Home , Arch of Constantine, Aventine Hill, Basilica, Basilica of Maxentius, Basilica Ulpia, Baths of Diocletian

Constantine

Triumphal 313 AD of St. Peter ca. 324 ff.

Old St. Peter’s: reconstruction of , plus shrine, and . Tetrarchs from , now in Venice

Constantine defeated the rival , , at the Pons Mulvius or Milvian Bridge north of , at a place called Saxa Rubra (“Red rocks”), after seeing a vision (“In hoc signo vinces”) before the battle that he eventually associated with the protection of the Christian God. Maxentius’s Special Forces (Equites Singulares) were defeated, many drowned; the corps was abolished and their barracks given to the Bishop of Rome for the basilica.

To the Emperor Flavius Constantinus Maximus

Father of the Fatherland the Senate and the Roman People

Because with inspiration from the divine and the might of his intelligence

Together with his army he took revenge by just arms on the tyrant

And his following at one and the same time,

Have dedicated this arch made proud by triumphs INSTINCTV DIVINITATIS

TYRANNO

Reconstruction of view of colossal Sol (, ) seen through the (from E. Marlow in Art Bulletin)

Lorsch, : gatehouse in the form of a triumphal arch, 9th c.

St. Peter’s : vaulted vs. columns with wooden roofs Central of the Markets of , 3018-312, completed by Constantine after 313 Basilica of Maxentius: Vaulting in concrete Basilica of Maxentius, 3018-312, completed by Constantine after 313 Monolithic Corinthian column from the Basilica of Maxentius, removed in early 1600s by Paul V and brought to the piazza in front of

Monolithic Corinthian column from the Basilica of Maxentius, removed in early 1600s by and brought to the piazza in front of Santa Maria Maggiore

BATHS OF 298-306 AD Penn Station NY (McKim, Mead, and White) St. Peter’s basilica.

Date uncertain. Probably begun by Constantine, ca. 324, and endowed with lands in the eastern Empire, after his conquest of in the East. Constantine died 337. Constans his son reigns 337-350; it seems he finished the . Old St. Peter’s Parts explained

St. Peter’s basilica.

Date uncertain. Probably begun by Constantine, ca. 324, and endowed with lands in the eastern Empire, after his conquest of Licinius in the East. Constantine died 337. Constans his son reigns 337-350; it seems he finished the church.

James Packer reconstruction of the in the of Trajan. Basilica of Santa 425-432 on . (Restored 1914-19). Note screens of the schola cantorum at the end of the nave.

Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, Rome, destroyed by fire in 1823. Front half of nave, left standing after Plan of St. Peter’s. Note 100 columns. the demolitions of 1506. View of front half of old St. Peters, preserved after the rear half and transept were destroyed in 1509. This part of the nave was enclosed at the 11th column by the “muro divisorio” (the wall that sealed off this fragment and allowed the old nave to continue in use.) Destroyed in 1606 for the Baroque nave and façade. Necropolis of Isola Sacra, near Ostia, 2nd and 3rd century AD. Necropolis under St. Peter’s, 2nd and 3rd century, discovered 1939 and excavated during WW II.

Luxury tomb in the Vatican necropolis. May spring bestow on you her welcome offerings of flowers, and bounteous summer nod to you her gracious tresses; may autumn ever bring you Bacchus’s gifts, and earth ordain for you a gentle winter.

Tibur is my native place, Flavius Agricola my name. I’m the one you see reclining here, just as I did all the years of life fate granted me, taking good care of my little self and never going short of wine. Primitive, my darling wife, passed away before me, a chaste worshipper of Isis, attentive to my needs and graced with every beauty. Thirty blissful years we spent together… … Friends, who read this, do my bidding. Mix the wine, drink deep, wreathed with flowers, and do not refuse to pretty girls the sweets of love. When death comes, earth and fire devour everything.

Flavius Agricola Necropolis under St. Peter’s, excavated 1939-45

Christ as in the Vatican necropolis Reconstruction of the “tropaion” or trophy in the Vatican necropolis, marking the spot believed to be Peter’s grave. Ivory casket from Pola (Salmagher) in Istria, now in Venice, showing the Constantinian shrine over the tomb of St. Peter.

Artist’s reconstruction of the apse of St. Peter’s with the shrine over the tomb of the Apostle Peter. Shrine over the tomb of Peter, state in 4th century, with six spiral columns. Apse and shrine as transformed by Gregory I (“the Great”) 599-600, raising the floor in the apse, creating an annular corridor to aid circulation around the shrine, creating an over the shrine, and re-deploying the six spiral columns. Later six more spiral columns are added as a screen in front. Old St. Peter’s Parts explained Artist’s reconstruction of Old St. Peter’s Old St. Peter’s in 1606, front half of nave after the rear half, transept Forecourt and façade of Old St. Peter’s and apse were destroyed.

Old St. Peter’s: reconstruction of nave, plus shrine, transept and apse.

Martin van Heemskerck, view of old St. Peter’s, with some of the nave still standing, while the rear of the church is demolished to make way for the new church.

Columns of the nave of old St. Peter’s inserted into the façade of the new church. There are 20 columns in the Baroque porch. Ivory casket from Pola (Salmagher) in Istria, now in Venice, showing the Constantinian shrine over the tomb of St. Peter. One of the surviving spiral columns imported by Constantine from the Hellenistic east for the shrine over the tomb of Peter.

Drawing of early 17th century showing the reliquary altar housing the Veronica veil. Sudarium, or “volto santo,” or “veil” of Veronica, as imagined by Correggio and Roger van der Weyden. Francesco Mocchi, statue of Veronica in the of St. Peter’s.

Grand of Corduba, spoliate columns and capitals. S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome, 1140-43, spoliate columns and capitals Spoliate in S. Maria in Trastevere St. Denis, near , c. 1144, first Gothic church. Patron: Abbot Suger