"In addition, all the monuments which Maxentius had constructed in magnificent manner, the temple of the city and the basilica, were dedicated by the senate to the meritorius services of Flavius [Constantine]. He also afterwards completed the decorations on the Circus Maximus in a marvellous fashion and built a bathing establishment which was not very different from the others. Statues were erected in the busiest places and most of them are of gold or silver."

Aurelius Victor, The Caesars (XLI.26)

The soaring structure of the Basilica of Constantine (Basilica Nova or Basilica Maxentius) was begun by Maxentius in AD 306 and completed by Constantine sometime after AD 313. Much like the great imperial baths, the basilica consisted of a central nave spanned by cross vaults with the side aisles divided by wide arches supported on massive piers. It was in the semicircular aspe at the west end of the nave that fragments of the colossal statue of Constantine were found. One of the great architectural achievements of classical antiquity, only the north aisle of the basilica probably survived an earthquake in AD 847.


Surprisingly, Victor does not mention the Arch of Constantine (nor does any source save the inscription on the monument, itself).


Reference: Liber De Caesaribus of Sextus Aurelius Victor (1994) translated by H. W. Bird.

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