Bust of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great
Flavius Valerius Constantinus
* on a February 27 between 272 and 285 in Naissus, Moesia Prima; † May 22, 337 in Anchyrona, a suburb of Nicomedia.
Rome at the time of Emperor Constantine
In the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire had fallen into a crisis of enormous proportions. Hostile peoples threatened its borders from all sides, and within it there was constant unrest, most of which ended in bloodshed and always produced a newly proclaimed soldier emperor. During this period, the emperor based his entire power on his army, lineage became visibly less important, and unstable leadership positions inevitably arose. In this environment, Emperor Diocletian implemented some important reforms, from which a new form of rule, the tetrarchy, emerged. From now on the empire was led from two different bases by four leaders - one Augustus each, who chose and trained a Caesar as his successor during his lifetime.
Constantine the Great
The future emperor Constantine was born into these troubled times in the last decades of the 3rd century AD. From the year 306 AD, he took an active part in the government of the empire - and shaped the future of his people as never before. Emperor Constantine is considered the last ancient emperor of Rome. Best known is the tradition of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD, in which he defeated his fellow emperor Maxentius, claiming that he had previously had a divine appearance. The interesting thing is that he was not referring to a pagan Roman god, but rather to the new god of Christianity. Whether Emperor Constantine felt attracted to the Christian religion before the battle or not, afterwards, and above all after the achievement of sole rule in 324 AD, he finally professed it - and thus Emperor Constantine paved the way for Christianity, which was already gaining strongly in importance, to develop into one of the largest religions in the world.
Replica of the portrait of Emperor Constantine
If you have already been fortunate enough to have visited the Capitoline Museums in Rome, you will also have admired the original portrait of Emperor Constantine, on which our replica is based. In the small courtyard that forms the entrance to the museums, the visitor is greeted by the huge head of probably the most famous monumental statue of the entire Roman antiquity. Hardly any visitor will manage to quickly avert his gaze from this impressive masterpiece of late antique sculpture. The typical tourist photos of the Rome vacation in many cases include a shot of the vacationer next to the head of Emperor Constantine, who towers over even the tallest man by quite a bit - but no photo will manage to catch the unique charisma of Emperor Constantine and adequately reproduce it. Much better suited for this purpose is a replica from our museum store.
Emperor Constantine in your home
Your replica of the monumental portrait of Emperor Constantine will come to your home much handier: the 17 cm high head made of hardened alabaster stucco will fit perfectly on your desk or shelf.
So don't hesitate to fill your home with the extraordinary magic of antiquity!
Forum Traiani ® registered trademark
