The Mausoleum of Helena is an ancient building in Rome, Italy, located on the

Via Casilina The Via Casilina is a medieval road in Latium and Campania. It led from Rome to Casilinum (present-day Capua), to present-day Santa Maria Capua Vetere. It was created from the fusion of two ancient Roman roads, the ''Via Latina'' and the '' Via La ...

, corresponding to the 3rd mile of the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

Via Labicana The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have su ...

. It was built by the Roman emperor

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

between 326 and 330, originally as a tomb for himself, but later assigned to his mother, Helena, who died in 330.

History

The area where the mausoleum is located is part of a late-Roman complex of building known as ''Ad Duas Lauros'', which, according to ancient sources, extended from the

Porta Maggiore The Porta Maggiore ("Larger Gate"), or Porta Prenestina, is one of the eastern gates in the ancient but well-preserved 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome. Through the gate ran two ancient roads: the Via Praenestina and the Via Labicana. The Via P ...

until the third mile of the ancient

. They include the

Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter The Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter are found approximately three kilometers from southeast Rome and the ancient Via Labicana, and date to the 4th century AD. The catacombs were named in reference to the Christian martyrs Marcellinus and Peter w ...

and the Palaeo-Christian basilica with the same name; of the latter, little remains today, as it was used as the base for the modern church of ''Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros''. Access to the mausoleum and the catacombs is to the left of the church. Before the construction of the mausoleum, the area was used as a cemetery of the Equites singulares. This has been attested by numerous inscriptions mentioning the Equites at Ad Duas Lauros, although the exact location of the necropolis has not been discovered. It has been supposed that the necropolis was deliberately destroyed by Constantine as a revenge against the Equites who, in the battle of Ponte Milvio, sided with

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

against him. After the death of Helena, Ad Duas Lauros was assigned to the Roman popes. The mausoleum was damaged by the use of its materials for other constructions. In the 8th century it became a defensive fortress. However, it continued to house Helena's tomb until the 11th century, when the sarcophagus was brought to the

Lateran 250px, Basilica and Palace - side view Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several buildings in Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the Roman Empire. The Laterani lost their properties to Emperor Constantine ...

(currently it is in the

Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

Lanzoni and Duchesne place in this area the town known as Subaugusta, whose name referred to the Augusta Helena, and which for a while formed a small diocese, four of whose bishops took part in synods held at Rome between 465 and 502. The see is included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

s.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 977

Architecture

The building is on the circular plan, and is constituted by two cylinders, the upper one being of smaller diameter (, internal diameter ). The original height was , while today it has reduced to some . Internally, the lower cylinder has an octagonal shape. At the vertexes are niches, alternatively rectangular and semicircular; one of them housed the entrance. In correspondence with the niche, in the upper ring, were eight arcaded windows. In order to obtain a lighter dome, it included fragments of amphorae (such as in the

Temple of Romulus A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

or the Mausoleum of

Villa Gordiani Villa Gordiani is a Roman gardens, park along the Via Prenestina, in Rome, Italy. It is home to several ancient Roman remains, traditionally identified with the villa of the Gordian imperial family, which included three Roman emperors of the 3rd ...

), which are now visible after the vault has collapsed. This led to the medieval name of the mausoleum, ''Torpignattara'' (''Torre delle pignatte'', meaning "Tower of the Vases"), today also used for the quarter which has grown around. The rectangular niche facing the entrance most likely contained the sarcophagus of Helena, in red porphyry. The external walls of the sarcophagus are decorated with war scenes, as it was probably originally to be used for Helena's son, the emperor Constantine.

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