acclamations, and praise of God were being sung, in honor of the Christian heroes
(Or. ad sanct.12.4 –5). Constantine does in fact give the Roman church splendid
ecclesiastical interiors, some of them built on the property of Maxentius. These churches
become magnets which attract the Christian Romans and visitors to the city (cf.
Eus. Theoph. syr.4.7, 5.49).The Martyrs’ Basilicas as Trophies of Constantine
Victory monuments (trophaea, tropaia) served as propaganda tools: communicating
an imperial ideology of victory to a public whose sympathies were being sought.
Constantine had to silence doubts: patriotically minded Romans asked whether
with his victory over Maxentius he would also question Maxentius’ notion of Rome.
Maxentius had re-established the significance of the ancient metropolis of the
empire not only through propaganda but also through an almost Augustan build-
ing program (Aur. Vict. 41.17). At the same time the Christians had to be con-
vinced of the genuine nature of Constantine’s conversion, following years of
persecution and uncertainty over the religious intentions of Maxentius (Eus. HE
8.14.1). Constantine addressed both concerns in his victory monuments.
In 315 the Roman senate and the people of Rome dedicated precisely that honor-
ary arch which commemorated Constantine’s act of liberating Rome to him. It was
placed in a prominent position by the Flavian amphitheater (“Colosseum”) along
the route of the triumphal processions of late antiquity. Even though this had been
a victory in a civil war, the imprisoned Dacians who crowned its columns signaled
what appeared to be a victory over barbarians. The senate also gave the nearby
basilica of Maxentius, now the basilica Constantini, to Constantine. A large-scale
statue of him seated on a throne and holding a standard resembling a cross as a
sign of victory over his adversary was erected here at the “most frequented place in
Rome” (Panegyrici latini12 [9].25.4; Aur. Vict. 40.28; Eus. HE9.9.10; Libanius,
Laud. Const. 9.8).
While honorary arch and colossal statue were aimed at the city’s public, the churches
were specifically meant for the Christians of Rome. Constantine chose locations whose
Genius lociwas suited to conveying his imperial-religious propaganda. As early as
312–13 he ordered the destruction of the barracks of the equestrian guard, which
had acted as Maxentius’ personal guard during the decisive battle. He then donated
the land to the church to erect the Lateran basilica, and thus a victory monument
for himself which kept alive the memory of its founder as a basilica constantiniana.
By distinguishing the tropaiaof the martyrs, their graves, through the suburban
basilicas, Constantine erected other trophies to his victory over Maxentius besides
the honorary arch and the colossal statue (Const. Imp. Or. ad sanct.22.1; Eus. HE
2.25.7, 10.4.20, Theoph. syr.4.7). He perceived the victory of the Roman martyrs
as closely related to the defeat of the “tyrant,” who had let the “bodies of the saints”
be tortured (Or. ad sanct.22.2–3). The “bodies” of the martyrs held particular
significance for him, as a special power resided in them (Or. ad sanct. 17.4;
Eus. Vita Constantini2.40). By honoring the persecuted church of Rome in the414 Stefan Heid