Arch of Constantine

Arch of Constantine, 315 C.E., Rome Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

[@Cameronjpr]

This is one of my favourite channels on KZbin. Please keep making more - it's a fantastic resource for anyone interested in art and history. You're both very engaging and explain things in a very clear manner.

[@northlondonmasons107]

And also stone masonry or masonry restoration for knowing the names of the specific parts of the structure Great stuff

[@andreaoliverio6524]

I'm italian tour guide. Thanks. With your channel I'm improving a lot 🙏

[@Mayacocoice]

I can listen to you guys for hours. In my art history class I almost fell asleep, but you make it so interresting

[@aphexlane]

Tag team history narration is great. Well done.

[@SabMCMLXIX]

Thank you.

[@francoisquiviger]

Wow! Brilliant and useful synthesis. In 10 minutes you tell me what I wanted to know.! Thank you.

[@FuzzyLogic890]

This was fantastic!

[@ejbluth]

Thank you guys for creating these. They are awesome.

[@jileel]

The classical style reliefs look much more clearer.

[@raphaelgide6111]

Yes, but since the early 21th century art critics have been told to sneer at the idea that there is such a thing as good or bad, ugly or beautiful art. So they feel the need to justify the value of obviously poorer quality pieces through other means, ie: "it's not ugly, it's clear". Very good and informative video otherwise.

[@jileel]

@@raphaelgide6111 Like those blank canvases they try to pass as art.

[@kathamilton2766]

thank you!! I love this channel

[@M.Smith1]

Thank you all very much for this history lesson!

[@metatron4890]

its beautiful.

[@laucon11]

Fantastic video; very much appreciated.

[@franklesser5655]

Some day I hope there is a triumphal arch celebrating me and the events in my life.

[@chubi1313]

I will be in rome next month so I want to be prepared for what I'm going to see. Thank you very much, excelent video :)

[@nsbd90now]

Wow! I sure do like your vids and channel! I like how I don't have to set aside an hour to watch something. I like how there are two narrators to make it not so monotonous in delivery and tone. The visuals are just fantastic and the content is always so interesting. Thanks!

[@sarcasmo57]

It's amazing.

[@joanscott9323]

Wonderful video with so much specific detailed information!!! Makes me want to return to Rome to see these things with your videos fresh in my mind!! Thank you!

[@pierrejourdan4819]

Très très bon reportage. Thanks !

[@sweetotb8301]

the natural rhythm of your narrations makes me feel like its a rap battle and YALL SPITTIN FACTS

[@ezzovonachalm7534]

THANK YOU for letting us SEE the sculptures which are very difficult to see even if you stand before the arch.And THANK YOU for the descriptive commentaries that help us integrate those images in what we know about Roman History. This presentation merits the mark of EXCELLENCY

[@ianjonas7380]

An excellent video. I hope to see it for myself one day.

[@drutalero2962]

beautiful video thank yOU :)

[@Fernandoenf2]

This is awesome

[@cesazz]

Amazing! I have been there many many times and its amazing every single time. I love this channel.

[@Fnatic2010]

Awesome. Would like to visit Rome one day. But I just don't want to be regular tourist so I been learning Latin and Roman history for a year now. Rome is just a gem. All this beautiful contribution to humanity. Originally my people were nomads and still practices that life style. So in my country, however huge it is, we don't have permanent structures like this. No permanent city until 20th century. Ocassionally we do meet with petroglyphs and deer stones, stone monuments here and there.

[@cesazz]

I was lucky to live there for three months with complete and total freedom. I explored the city like very few people ever have. There is also so much outside the city one of my favorite sites is Villa Adriana. I went a few times its usually empty and you can walk around freely. My second favorite place is Villa D'este stunning fountains and usually very few people around. I had the pleasure of just losing my self and immersing myself with the people and culture and it will completely change you. TRUST ME! go as soon as you are able to I guarantee you wont regret it even if you go as a regular tourist.

[@TWOCOWS1]

Excellent!

[@Winterstorm858]

It does I think show the decay of the empire, glorifying its past yet just going through the motions with the present.

[@aerrao]

Love the clarity, calmness in your voices and incredible illustration of the art and sculpture. Please keep making more!

[@countalma9800]

Wonderful video. Straight to the point. No unnecessary imagery/graphics/animation. Thank you! Alas, we’ll never know whether the “primitive” styles of the late Roman Empire were the result of the loss of craftsmanship and tradition, or a conscious stylistic choice. After all, “modern art” of the late 19th-early 20th centuries also introduced primitivism in stark contrast to the “classic beauty and elegance of form” of the past.

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

I know art historians avoid labeling successive artistic styles as better or worse than each other, but I really think the reliefs do just look like they were made by sculptors of vastly different ability. We have no problem labeling pre-scientific medicine as inferior and we have every reason to believe they would have practised effective medicine if they were capable of it. I think the two things are comparable. Btw this is such a great channel. The style and quality is absolutely unmatched, it's such a great resource. Thanks for all the wonderful content for all these years.

[@smarthistoryvideos]

Thank you so much for the kind words. We really appreciate it. Here is another way of thinking about this complex issue. Any individual work of art should not be seen as the most sophisticated work that culture could produce since its survival is an historical oddity, as most works of art did not survive. Further, our culture, in 2017, produces images in very different ways. We use simplified images for road signs and airport way finding, we make both cartoons, and highly accurate reproductions. We do this for different audiences and for different purposes. The Romans also worked in numerous modes for differing audiences and in differing circumstances. Assuming that a single work necessarily represents the aspects we now value most in the art of a distant time is, in this regard, potentially misleading.

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

Wow thanks for replying, what an honour. If I could choose a KZbin channel to survive intact until our ashes are discovered by alien life it would be this one. You're absolutely right, making assumptions about the state of a society based on surviving artworks is not reasonable, and now that you mention it I realize that surviving artworks are not a random sample. One thing that will probably continue to nag at me will be medieval paintings. Those misshapen, gigantic people standing next to tiny buildings and walls make me think the painter couldn't have created naturalistic works if you put a crossbow to their head but I probably have a non representative view of medieval art. Thanks so much for replying, and again, thanks for the content all these years. Bringing art into people's homes and explaining things the way you do is such a wonderful thing to do for people.

[@smarthistoryvideos]

The crossbow remark made me laugh. The Medieval is a great place to point in this regard but also very tricky. I agree that much Classical knowledge was lost, especially in Western Europe. But the Medieval is a thousand years long and there were many brilliant moments. Its also important to think about how the naturalistic traditions of the ancient Greeks and Romans came to symbolize, for the Medieval Christians, a tradition that they may have seen as pagan. The classical focus on the material world may not have sat well with the new Christian emphasis on the spiritual. Distorted figures can be seen in this regard as symbols of the divine rather than representations of the earthly. So while some skills were certainly lost, the question is also, were they let go because they were no longer seen as important.

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

That's a great point. I had the pleasure of going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY and was surprised at the time to see some pagan scenes depicted by Christian painters (this confused me a lot), but, just like you mentioned, none of them were anywhere near Medieval (and I'm pretty sure they were all private commissions) so that fits perfectly. Now that I think about it they were all very naturalistic too so you've really got me there.

[@histguy101]

While the smaller fourth century reliefs(the "band") when viewed closely may look to be of an inferior quality, when viewed from a person on the ground, they offer a very crisp, distinctive, and easily identifiable image, and from that angle, appear to be of an impeccable quality. So it was probably a delibrate artistic method. We see the same style used for smaller reliefs on the arch of Titus, Trajan's column, and other places that date to earlier times. So these proportions aren't unique to the late Roman period. Also, we don't know with 100% certainty where the other reliefs originate from.

[@deanosumo]

So much better than your old Arch of Constantine video.

[@ROBSHOTZ]

Like a greatest hits album. Rome's greatest hits.

[@peterfordyce7003]

Could the collage of sculpture on the arch of Constantine be related to the Late Antique habit of collecting and rearranging Classical sculpture? For instance I was reading about the Hadrianic baths in Aphrodisisas which were apparently remodeled by a 5th-6th century Governor, and contain much earlier sculptural groups that were reworked into new contexts.

[@unioneitaliana7107]

The newspaper of Rome "il messaggero" wrote same years ago the most weird and silly questions asked by foreign people when visiting the city to their Italian guides. One was "was the arch of Constantine of Rome inspired by that of Paris?". 😳😳😳😳This is not a joke.

[@70snostalgia]

Nice one.

[@AQ-jh7tk]

Constantine The Great. One of the greatest Illyrians.

[@lanceash]

Having attended a small, private Christian school in the Deep South, I and my classmates were often taken on trips to Bob Jones University. The university has quite a collection of renaissance and medieval art. The guided tours, however, are biased in their presentation of this art. What you said about the sloppy and simplistic execution of early Christian art is borne out by the way in which the Bob Jones tour guides explain the difference between such art and renaissance art. The art is arranged chronologically, so as we were guided through the museum, we moved from the older to the newer. I remember one of the guides saying that with the return to realistic depiction of the human form in the renaissance, we see man moving "away from God" and towards "glorification" of man and man's carnal, mortal form. Interesting that you mentioned something related to that.

[@user-wn3bo9vo7f]

idk why but when you pointed out that Constantine in the middle missing his head it cracked me up

[@bruceburns1672]

Why is this arch in such good condition , the carved figures show little wear compared to other monuments , is it the material it is made from ?

[@ricicincia3523]

Trajan and therefore the Roman Empire didn't consider the Dacians as prisoners nor barbarians. Trajan was so impressed with their bravery that he wanted to incorporate Dacian warriors into the Roman legionary at any cost. In order to impress them, he commissioned statues of Dacians to be made out of red porphyry and would be taller than the statues of the emperor himself, which were to be placed in the most glorious place in the Roman Empire, Trajan's Market, looking down on the people of Rome like gods. Dacian descendance was something to be proud of in the Roman Empire. It's also the reason why we can find the Hora, an ancient Romanian dance found in places like Germany and Ireland.

[@SethTheOrigin]

Source? I've never heard of these porphyry statues

[@mihaelac2472]

@@SethTheOrigin there are 2 in Florence in Boboli gardens, one in the Louvre, one in the Vatican. Saw all of them with my own eyes. Very small signs near them explaining what they represent.

[@aurea.antiqua]

Well, I´m writing an article about this arch and I´m not quite sure if those inner panels are dating to era of Hadrian. Everywhere it´s dated to Traian.

[@S_M_360]

First time in Rome now, this is perfect before I venture out! Do you find it odd there isn’t a Christian cross anywhere?

[@sergpie]

I always wonder about the missing hands, heads, and other bits of historical sculptures; somewhere, there’s a little head of Justinian chilling in a cabinet or buried in a landfill, that belonged to a Roman arch.

[@jondicsre3056]

Art did not degredate, rather it re-focused during the middle ages. The reason for the artistic transition of classical realism to middle age outlines was to remove glory or worship of images and rather tell the history. Biblical Christianity of the middle ages rejected idol worship but took advantage of sculpture and art for story telling. Thus, they took the artistic liberty to negate realism to re-focus the purpose of the craft. Space became more important than the object/person in order to convey a message, rather than glorify an individual. It went from worship to reverence and there is a difference.

[@SethTheOrigin]

nope

[@Sasha0927]

Dr. Harris sounded differently in this video... did she have a cold? I still can't get over Constantine's head being the only one missing... I now know what a spandrel is, though.

[@tabbycat8760]

very big magnet

[@SasapessoS]

Constantine was a badass.

[@altacal6165]

No in some areas he was good, but in many more he could be seen as one of the worst emperors

[@Chad_Eldridge]

@@altacal6165 Can you elaborate?

[@Dimitri88888888]

@@Chad_Eldridge making Christianity the standard. One of the biggest crime of humanity.

[@Chad_Eldridge]

@@Dimitri88888888 That itself can be considered hate speech against a particular religion, and as such, I'm reporting you. Don't bother responding, I've muted you. I'd rather not have trollish comments putting a damper on my day.

[@preetjitsingh328]

@@Chad_Eldridge he started making 4 --> 2. This stopped expansion in the West. After him, 50 -150 years later Western Roman Empire fell. Although, everything is much more complicated..

[@mm-yt8sf]

when you say portions are from monuments to the good emperors, do you mean they were designs copied exactly so that people would recognize them? or were the original monuments defaced and parts taken to make the arch? (that would seem odd to like something because they were good but destroying them in the process..but then who knows how powerful people really think :-))

[@smarthistoryvideos]

Actual fragments of the older monuments were removed and reincorporated into this arch.

[@howtubeable]

I appreciate your explanation of the Christian era reliefs. Instead of being inferior, it is a different style. I watched a silly video that used the Arch of Constantine to prove that Constantine never converted to Christianity. The lack of Christian symbols "proved" it. Your interpretation of the arch shows some serious flaws in their interpretation. Thanks.

[@MultiEvil85]

Actually the silly video you dismiss is historically accurate! This one not so much. There are not Christian symbols to be found on the Arch! He converted in his deathbed!

[@Magnus12k]

those dacian sculptures really don't have a look of prisoners

[@radupuiu328]

I wonder why not huge statues with Roman generals , instead they put Dacians males with proud and dignity poses !? The history of Europe is a little different.

[@radupuiu328]

I've written retorical , because what they are speaking here it's not accurate.

[@samright4661]

Should be the 6 good emperors because Marcus had a brother that was Co emperor until his death.

[@smarthistoryvideos]

That is something you should take up with Niccolo Machiavelli, not us.

[@samright4661]

@@smarthistoryvideos It’s your video I just asked the question! Besides I can’t talk with dead people lol

[@KenDanieli]

1:30 Why are Dacian prisoner barbarians depicted standing and in important places like the top of the monument that is about Roman military victories? It seems like these statues are in positions of glorification. I would think you'd mention why they are placed in this way.

[@smarthistoryvideos]

Sports teams often talk up the opposing team, it makes a victory all the more valued. Perhaps it's the same here-the Dacians as worthy foes.

[@SimonSozzi7258]

2:20 The Roman's are depicted wearing leggings under their togas. 🤔 I thought they were bare legged underneath.

[@mango2005]

Parts of that arch were taken from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius

[@daviddraguta1896]

those huge Daci doesn't look like prisoners to me, the posture that they have and the size compare to the rest of images suggest that they are more like somebody important, don't forget Romans occupied 10% from Dacia and only for 100 years!!!

[@smarthistoryvideos]

One common explanation is that the Roman's depicted their rivals as powerful to underscore the import of their own victory.

[@daviddraguta1896]

Since there in not much known about Dacia in the history books, all explanations can be possible! What is curios to me, is that the language of Dacia can't be Roman Latin, but is the closes language to Latin.

[@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164]

There were a few Emperors and high officials who were in fact Dacian. So I think there has been a lot of misconceptions or out right lies about Dacia and it's involvement (and possible founding of) with Rome.

[@pomotexan]

Is it true that the Labarum is not on the arch? If not, why not?

[@c_turtle]

He was trying to rewrite history.

[@cristianionutzaharia9293]

the 8 dacian they dont look like prisoniers.......looookkk.......look at their hands left with right......what it mins that position of hands......look

[@cicnos13]

It makes absolutely no sense . You say the 4 dacian statues represents the Dacian prisoners. Well is not that obvious to me. By the posture of those statues there is nothing to hint that is representing some prisoners.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Calling Trajan one of the "good emperors" seems a bit of stretch given his dual campaigns on Darcia, but then historians often gave deference to the Roman Empire for being so "great".

[@smarthistoryvideos]

The term is meant to express how Constantine and Romans of the 4th century may have viewed certain previous rulers (though it is possible that the term is no older than the 14th century). I applaud your skepticism.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@smarthistoryvideos I did appreciate the video about these different arches. Roman history does fascinate me.

[@smarthistoryvideos]

We have quite a lot of content on ancient Rome. You can find all of it here: smarthistory.org/ancient-mediterranean/ancient-rome/

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@smarthistoryvideos Thanks for the link. It looks like a good resource.

[@histguy101]

While Constantine did build an arch after defeating a Roman rival, he was the first emperor to conquer foreign territory in over a century.

[@mjoelnir58]

The parts from Marcus Aurelius doesn't bear the head of him but that of Constantine .

[@KevinBReynolds]

M.A. was great. C. was a politician.

[@TWOCOWS1]

Excellent production. i wished, however, you were not as charitable and forgiving of the reptile, Constantine, as you were

[@user-vl1tb1xx2d]

Ouch not the best dacian representation but oh well we’ll take what we can get

[@user-wp4oh3zn5e]

One of the most silly and dumb question americans ask to their Italian guides Is if they took the Arch of Paris as model for the archs in Rome. It's not a joke. The Rome' s newspaper published the dumbest questions. There Is a big list...

[@Kaiserohnepurpur]

I don't think labeling any bearded figure straight up as barbarian (foreigner) is not a good approach. There were many Romans who sported a beard and depicted with it from emperors to generals due to variety of reasons being a Philhellenist is one of them. Take 2:20 in this video for instance.

[@histguy101]

And Ironically, the beard was popular from Hardrian all the way to Diocletian, while it was Constantine who made clean-shaven popular again.