Töbelmann died in the First World War, leaving behind interesting insights for deeper study by future scholars. In fact, Töbelmann's description of the appearance that the monument must have originally taken is accurate in many respects, but he is most important for his first-hand observations. He was the first to suggest that the monument had been erected in the place where the troops of Constantine I had camped before the attack on Maxentius, because if he had wanted to commemorate the victory, he would have placed a monument at the location of the battle's beginning (i.e. Saxa Rubra) or at the location of its successful conclusion (i.e. the Milvian Bridge). It remains curious, however, since it is unusual to commemorate the location of the "castra aestiva" (the "summer camp", i.e. the campaign camp), which has led scholars to suppose that the monument could have been intended to commemorate the legendary vision that Constantine is reported to have had the day before his battle with Maxentius. More recent studies by Gaetano Messineo have substantially confirmed the deductions of Töbelmann.