Roman Europe

A fourth century AD carved marble head of Emperor Constantine was found in a sewer in central Rome, with the news being published in 2005.

Archaeologists found the head, which measured sixty centimetres in height, whilst clearing out an ancient drainage system in the ruins of the Roman forum. Eugenio La Rocca, superintendent of Rome's artefacts, described the head as a rare find, and added that it was possible it had been used to clear a blocked sewer.

Constantine, who reigned from AD 306 to 337, is known for ending the persecution of Christians and creating the city of Constantinople from the Greek town of Byzantium.

Although most of his subjects remained pagans, he is credited with helping to establish Europe's Christian roots by proclaiming religious freedom.

The white marble head was confirmed as a portrait of Constantine by experts who compared it with coins and two other giant heads which were kept in Rome's Capitoline Museums. Probably carved between AD 312 and 325, when Constantine was at the height of his power, it may have belonged to a statue of the emperor in full armour.

'Recovering a bust of this size and in this state of conservation in the very heart of the city is really extraordinary,' said Mr La Rocca. 'We have concluded that the head did not fall by accident into the passage, but was put there on purpose.

Emperor Constantine the Great is perhaps best known for confirming Christianity as the official religion of the Roman empire, but he also did a great deal to stabilise the empire and ensure that it survived into the next century

'It could have been used as a big piece of stone to divert water from the drain, or it could have been put there to symbolise the resentment of a pagan people for their Christian emperor.'

The head's unceremonious insertion in the drain may have saved it from the plundering of the forum which followed the final termination of the Western Roman empire in the fifth century AD.

It was expected to go on display in Rome's museums after a brief period of restoration.

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