CONSTANTINO 313 d.C

[IGNATIUS LARRASUS PROFUTURUS]

http://www.mostracostantino.it/

An indispensable exhibition for lateroman lovers like me.

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[Nathan Ross]

Looks interesting - thanks Iñaki! Do you have any idea how extensive it is? Hard to tell from the photos how much they've actually got on show...

Timothy Barnes (and Otto Seeck) would take issue with the premise though: 'the bogus term 'Edict of Milan'' (as Barnes puts it) has nothing to do with 'the birth of tolerance'! ;-)

[Ross Cowan]

Yes, thanks for posting the link. I notice that some of the figured tombstones from Aquileia are among the exhibits. I'd love to see those!

On the subject of Constantine, my recent article about the Battle of the Milvian Bridge can be read here.

Cheers,

Ross

[M. Demetrius]

Very interesting article, Ross. I am always amazed at the paintings of Romans' military garb. But the action and the intensity is very astonishing. And your writing is well-thought-out and comprehensible to the non-expert. Thanks for that article and link!

[Nathan Ross]

my recent article about the Battle of the Milvian Bridge can be read here.

Thanks - good article! One question - you mention that the successes of former praetorians 'in combating brigands and raiders were lauded' after they were sent to the frontiers. This is interesting - what's the source?

[IGNATIUS LARRASUS PROFUTURUS]

Nathan, there is more of 200 hundred pieces on 6 sections: Army,Church,Court,Helena mother of Cosntantino,Chrismon and Pagan figurative testimonials.

[Ross Cowan]

Thanks - good article! One question - you mention that the successes of former praetorians 'in combating brigands and raiders were lauded' after they were sent to the frontiers. This is interesting - what's the source?

The source is Pan. Lat. 12(9).21.2-3:

"But this man, victorious over not only the enemy but his own victory, preserved for you whatever soldiers survived the war. Now they fight for you, those whom he has stripped of impious weapons and rearmed against barbarian foes. Now forgetful of the delights of the Circus Maximus, the theatre of Pompey and famous baths, they are stationed along the length of the Rhine and the Danube, they keep watch, suppress plundering; lastly, after having been vanquished in the civil war they vie with the victors to be matched with the enemy."

Trans. Nixon & Rodgers, In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini(1994), 326.

It could be argued that the passage refers to Maxentian survivors of the Milvian Bridge (and the battles in northern Italy) in general, but I think the Panegyrist has the praetorians in mind. Not that many could have survived, though. Cf. 12(9).17.1.

If I get the time, I'll post a note about sources to accompany the article on my Academia page.

Cheers,

Ross

[Nathan Ross]

I think the Panegyrist has the praetorians in mind.

Yes! Well spotted - I'd missed that reference. We were just discussing the fate of the praetorians in this thread.

The Barnes book I mentioned above (Constantine: Dynasty Religion and Power in the LRE, 2011) follows a couple of other histories in playing down the significance of Milvian Bridge: just a skirmish, Barnes seems to think - 'a foregone conclusion... [Maxentius'] troops buckled at the first charge...' He likens it to Actium in its minimal military and maximal propaganda value. This seems odd though - if Maxentius lacked the troops to face Constantine, or doubted their morale, would he really have sallied from the walls of Rome and chanced open battle? Since he did, how can we assume that the battle was brief or one-sided?

On the other hand, where did Maxentius get all his soldiers from? He'd already been heavily defeated at Turin and Verona (incidentally, Barnes makes the new-to-me point that Maxentius' field force was based at Aquileia because he was expecting an invasion by Licinius though the Julian Alps, not one from the west...).

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Interesting helmet ob the right. Is that the Budapest or the Berkosovo II ?

[AMELIANVS]

Yes, thanks for posting the link. I notice that some of the figured tombstones from Aquileia are among the exhibits. I'd love to see those!

On the subject of Constantine, my recent article about the Battle of the Milvian Bridge can be read here.

Cheers,

Ross

Thanks.I'll definitely read it.Love your Roman books and eagerly await the latest!

[IGNATIUS LARRASUS PROFUTURUS]

Caesar, from right to left: Berkasovo I, Berkasovo II, and the two Augsburg.

[Vindex]

Caesar, from right to left: Berkasovo I, Berkasovo II, and the two Augsburg.

Is the last "helmet" a cavalry one or something else? It reminds me of portraits of Minerva! The face looks masculine but not the hair!

[Ross Cowan]

On the other hand, where did Maxentius get all his soldiers from?

See Adams and Brennan in ZPE 84 (free download here). Italy must have been a source of considerable manpower.

Getting back to the Costantino 313 exhibition, in this picture, the left and central gravestones are from Aquileia (a legionary optio and a centurion), but the memorial to the right is from Rome. I think it's Speidel's ESA 529 = Riding For Caesar pl. 10.

Cheers,

Ross

[Nathan Ross]

Adams and Brennan in ZPE 84 (free download here).

Thanks - this is exactly the sort of stuff I've been after for ages. :-)

(a legionary optio and a centurion)

They're beautiful pieces - interesting that both optio and centurion are depicted with horses!

[Luca]

I'm just back from the exhibition.
Very interesting. Berkasovo helmets are astonishing, and look much much better than in pictures, so shiny, so beautiful.

BUT

Take pictures is strictly forbidden!!!
We are in Italy hombre!

What about to write them in order to get a RAT permission to take picture of some details?