The complex may well have changed in use and character following the death of Romulus; the mausoleum, surely intended for Maxentius himself, as were the mausolea built by Galerius and Diocletian intended for themselves whilst still alive, now received as its occupant Maxentius' only son. The inaugural games became funeral games, and these, like the circus, were dedicated to the now deified Romulus. The pervasive emphasis of death and apotheosis has led to the argument that the whole complex became overwhelmingly funerary in character from this point, and that the memorial references generated by Romulus extend, spatially and ideologically, to the heart of Rome. Maxentius died just three years after Romulus, at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, when he was defeated by Constantine the Great, who then expropriated the property.