ABSTRACT
Under the Tetrarchy the arrival of the emperor, or his image, was received and understood as the deus praesens amongst his people.1 In portraiture the Tetrarchs are presented as gods. With Constantine there was a break with this tradition in the understanding of his portraiture and adventus. Constantine’s identity, represented in panegyric and in images, has not yet reached deification. Rather, he is depicted as uniquely chosen by the god or close to the deity.2 Constantine is linked to SolApollos in his medallions and statues. The people would see him not as a god, but as a specially chosen human being, often receiving divine epiphanies which would enable him to carry out God’s will,3 and which no other mortal was privy to.
