July 25, 315: Arch of Constantine completed

On this day in 315, Emperor Constantine the Great finished his eponymous Arch, commemorating one of the most important battles in human history.

The Arch of Constantine was built in honor of the emperor’s victory over his fellow tetrarch Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The most recent of the triumphal arches in Rome, it contains reliefs from previous emperors’ reigns, including Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius.

Prospects had looked grim for Constantine at that 312 battle, but victory followed an apparition in which he saw a cross and the phrase in hoc signo vinces – “in this sign, you will conquer.” Constantine, now the sole ruler in the western empire, issued the Edict of Milan in 313, accepting Christianity.

The arch stands astride the Via Triumphalis, the route of parading emperors. It was also just past the finish line of the marathon at the 1960 Olympics, won by a shoeless Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila. (Ethiopia-Italy relations are a post for another time.)

Image: Wikimedia Commons, User:Alexander Z. (2005)