American Journal of Archaeology· 2026Q1
Divus Hadrianus, Divus Constantius Chlorus, and the Apotheosis of Hercules: The Tondo Reliefs of the Arch of Constantine
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- 2026year
Short summary
Relief tondi on the Arch of Constantine depict Hercules as a heavenly apparition, not a statue, suggesting a parallel between his deification and that of Roman emperors, likely to justify Hadrian's controversial apotheosis and later support Constantine's claim to power by invoking his father's deification.
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Key points
- Relief tondi on the Arch of Constantine show Hercules as a heavenly apparition, deviating from standard iconography.
- This imagery likely served to legitimize the deification of Roman emperors.
- The tondi may have been commissioned by Antoninus Pius to justify Hadrian's apotheosis.
- Constantine's reuse of the reliefs invoked the deification of his father, Constantius Chlorus, to support his own claim to power.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
The second-century CE relief tondi now on the fourth-century CE Arch of Constantine are anomalous both in subject matter and in format. Among these eight reliefs, the scenes of the lion hunt and of the sacrifice to Hercules differ strikingly from the others, as well as from conventional iconography. The sacrifice to Hercules shows the image of the hero as an apparition in the heavens rather than a statue on a pedestal, a composition that perhaps calls attention to the unique status of Hercules as a mortal who won immortality through his noble deeds, just as worthy Roman emperors received apotheosis. The original patron of the tondi, probably Antoninus Pius, may have sought to justify the controversial deification of his predecessor Hadrian. The later reuse of the reliefs on the arch to honor Constantine similarly invoked the deification of his father, Constantius Chlorus, in support of Constantine’s claim to power.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. American Journal of Archaeology, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: History
HistoryArts and Humanities