Reconsidering the frieze on the Arch of Constantine

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9306623
AutoresC Brian Rose (University of Pennsylvania, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen34
Número1
Páginas175-210
Fecha de publicación2021-03-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1047759421000015
OpenAlexW3137701599
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas37

This article proposes that nearly all of the sculpted frieze of the Arch of Constantine in Rome, generally regarded as Constantinian, derives from a triumphal monument of Diocletian commissioned shortly after his Vicennalia in 303 CE. The basis of the argument is the sculptural technique evinced by the frieze, especially the separately-worked heads of the emperor in four of the frieze slabs, together with the missing legs and feet of several of the other figures. These anomalies suggest that much of the frieze was spoliated from another monument that had honored a different man; Diocletian is the only emperor whose career fits the iconography. A Diocletianic date for most of the frieze blocks necessitates a reconsideration of long-standing interpretations of the spolia on the arch and, in turn, its historiography

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Emperor · Frieze · Iconography · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History