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THE CONVERSION OF ROME
The greatest period of the Roman Empire was from
AD 96-192 under the Antonine Emperors
The Severan Emperors followed until AD 235
The fifty years that followed the death of Severus Alexander
…. were a period of disaster and of crisis for the Roman
Empire (M. Cary)
• Civil war
• Internecine feuds
• Persecution of Christians
• Foreign invasion
• War with Persia
• Mutinies in the army
• Plague
• Severe inflation
In the endless chain of imperial murders he that slew the
slayer’s slayer had the shortest respite before he himself
was slain. (Cary)
From 235-384 the empire was ruled by twenty emperors
• Little wonder there was a decline in
imperial cult
• However, the situation improved with
the rise of C. Aurelius Valerius
Diocletianus (Diocletian)
DIOCLETIAN (284-305)
• Established a tetrarchy of
two Augusti and two
deputies called Caesars
to share the burden of
rule.
• It is this administrative
arrangement that led to
the rise of Constantine
This included the division of the empire into east and west
with Greece being the beginning of the east (the division
between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox today)
Conversion of Rome’s ally, King of
Armenia Tiridates III (261-317)
Diocletian & Maximian abdicated in
305 and passed power to their
Caesars Galerius & Constantius
(father of Constantine)
Despite Diocletian’s act of self-denial
the empire was virtually partitioned into four separate and
rival sovereignties and the constitution was thrown back into
the melting pot.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Ultimately Constantine was recognised as Caesar (deputy
ruler) under Galerius and Constantius
In 311 Galerius died of an illness which he
attributed to the God of the Christians
whom he had mercilessly persecuted.
He issued a death-bed edict that granted
greater toleration to Christians (but it
doesn’t seem to have helped him very
much)
In 312 Constantine, stationed in Gaul, declared war and
invaded Italy ruled by Maxentius (son of Maximian).
He was heavily outnumbered by at
least 2:1 (some sources say 4:1), but
he struck hard and fast.
As he moved south he had victories at
• Turin
• Milan (surrendered)
• Verona
Maxentius initially prepared for a siege of Rome then
changed his mind and rode north to meet Constantine just to
the north of Rome, over the Tiber beyond the Milvian Bridge.
When he came upon
Constantine’s troops he noticed
they all had a strange emblem
painted on their shields.
It was the Chi-Rho monogram –
the first to letters in Greek of the
word ‘Christ’
Hemmed in between hills and river Maxentius and
thousands of his men perished in the river.
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On the next day 29 October 312 Constantine entered
Rome
Soon afterwards Constantine
proclaimed his allegiance to the
Cross by erecting a statue of
himself holding a cross with an
inscription which read:
By this sign of salvation, the true mark of valour, I saved
your city and freed it from the yoke of the tyrant. (Eusebius)
And on the Arch that he built, which still stands to
commemorate the victory, can be read the words:
because of the promptings of the Divinity and the greatness
of his soul he with his forces avenged the commonwealth
In invading Italy
Constantine had
undertaken a great risk;
he may have done so
because of a growing
faith in the Christian God.
• While Diocletian had rigorously persecuted Christians in
the eastern part of the empire Constantius had not,
choosing not to press them too far.
• Then came news of Galerius’ defeat and the reversal of
his cruel policy with an edict of toleration.
This seeming victory of
the God of the Christians
apparently made a deep
impression on
Constantine.
According to Lactantius,
on the night before the
battle of the Milvian Bridge
Constantine was
instructed in a dream to
put the heavenly sign of
God on his soldiers’ shields. (Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author (c.
240 – c. 320) who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his religious policy as it developed, and tutor
to his son. (Wikipedia))
Whatever may be thought of the
dream, the fact remains that
Constantine’s soldiers did go into
battle into battle with the ChiRho monogram on their shields.
More puzzling is the story of the
heavenly vision of the Cross,
which many years afterwards
Constantine himself told to
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea c. AD 260/265 – 339/340) was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop
of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314.
One afternoon, when
marching against
Maxentius, Constantine
and his army saw a
cross of light across the
sun and the words In
this conquer written in
the sky.
The next night Christ appeared to
him and ordered him to make a copy
of what he had seen to serve as a
war-standard. He then had a
Labarum made of precious metals.
The labarum (Greek: λάβαρον) was a military standard that
displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol, formed from the first two
Greek letters of the word "Christ" (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ) — Chi (χ) and
Rho It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine I.
Since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from the
crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize the
crucifixion of Christ
It was this monogram and not the Cross which he used
both for the Labarum and henceforth his own helmet.
• It is noteworthy that the vision came from the sun, to
which Constantine had paid great devotion.
• It seems though that he believed that he was borne to
victory by the favour of the God of the Christians.
THE EAST
Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge
gave him sole control of the western empire;
the east was held by his colleague Licinius.
Constantine then made several arrangements
with Licinius
• Licinius would marry his sister Constantia
• There would be complete religious toleration for
Christians in all the empire, both east and west
(Edict of Milan AD 313)
The result was an uneasy peace which lasted for ten years
(until 323) which was further destabilised when Licinius
reversed his policy on Christians.
War erupted in 324 and Licinius
was defeated. He was executed in
325.
The entire Roman Empire was once
again under the authority of a single
ruler.
Constantine abandoned Rome and moved the capital to
Byzantium, which was rebuilt and renamed
Constantinople in 330.
It was to be a
Christian city,
founded by the
commandment
of God and as a
memorial to the
victory which
God had granted
him.
(Lasted as such until 1453)
• This action
changed the
course of history.
• Constantine
enlisted the
spiritual support
of the Christian
Church on behalf
of the rule of the
Caesars.
• European history started off on a new course.
The reign of Constantine constitutes the sharpest break with
the past in all Roman history, and it may be fitly selected as
the terminal point of ancient history as a whole. (M. Cary)
The closing sentence
of the Cambridge
Ancient History:
Constantine sitting
amongst the
Christian bishops at
the oecumenical
council of Nicaea is in his own person the beginning of
Europe’s ‘Middle Age.’
The Christian Monarchy (all but one of the remaining
emperors claimed to be Christian rulers)
• Emperors gradually came to be greeted as dominus
(lord)
• All Romans were regarded as
their subjects
• The emperor and all his court
were labelled sacrum (sacred)
• Constantine was regarded as
the divinely appointed viceregent of one God
• The Church accepted this status in all secular matters
• Generally ready to accept him as the ultimate authority
even in ecclesiastical disputes.
Henceforth Roman emperors maintained a mysterious
aloofness from their subjects:
• When they deigned to appear in public they wore a
diadem and purple and gold clothing and shoes sparkling
with jewels and pearls.
• They required those who were admitted to their presence
to prostrate themselves (adoratio) and kiss the hem of
their garments.
• The emperor’s advisory council
became the sacrum
consistorium, whose members
no longer sat but stood in the emperor’s presence.
INTERPRETATION
There had been sporadic persecution of Christians for about
250 years before Constantine.
Yet the stiffest ordeal
came under Diocletian
and Galerius from 303311 when the
persecution was more
persistent than ever
before.
There was a series of decrees against Christians:
• Feb 303 – churches to be destroyed, scriptures handed
over and burnt, privileges
removed (no bloodshed)
• Two palace fires at Nicomedia led
to more stringent edicts: clergy
imprisoned in large numbers and
forced to sacrifice to pagan
deities
• Galerius executed Christians who would not do this
• In 306 & 309 edicts became even more savage
The number of victims of persecution
under Diocletian (who had a Christian
wife!) and Galerius probably
exceeded all previous totals.
Constantine’s edicts
• Ordered persecution to stop
• Church property was restored
• Money was provided for relief
• The ‘Edict of Milan’ in 313 –
provided complete toleration
throughout the empire, east and
west
• Freedom of worship was granted to
all subjects of the empire
• Christian Churches were recognised as legal
corporations
Thus Constantine’s attitude to the Church is
unambiguous, but the true nature of his ‘conversion’
remains an enigma.
• Some depict him as truly committed to Christ
• Other argue that he merely used Christianity
for his own self-aggrandisement
• He did not accept baptism until near death
• He did not submit to the discipline of the
Church and its leaders; rather he called
himself the bishop of those of those outside
• He showed deference to
Christian advisers by
legislation on matters of
private morality and by
the institution of a
compulsory Sunday rest
from work.
• He prohibited the construction of pagan temples in the
new capital, but he did not persecute its followers
• He made every effort to heal breaches between
Christians and pagans and with the Church itself
But his inmost beliefs we will never know:
• In a letter, supposedly from
him, to bishops gathered at a
conference at Arles he refers
to God’s blessing in showing
him his past errors and
guiding him into the way of
truth.
• He became actively involved
in Church affairs believing the wrath of God if he did not
remove dissensions within His Holy Church.
• In a division in the African Church between Donatus and
Catholics he used force to stamp
out the Donatist churches.
• In a dispute in the Eastern Church
over the divinity of Christ involving
a heretic named Arius he seemed
more concerned with unity than
theology.
• He had Athanasius exiled because
he refused to recognise the
aforementioned Arius in the
Church.
• His direct intervention led to the Council of Nicaea in 325
over which he personally presided. This led to the
Nicaean Creed which we still use today.
• This council was funded out of
the public purse and delegates
were entertained at a state
banquet by the emperor
himself.
• For many who had who had
been accustomed to a long and severe persecution, this
meeting with the head of the Roman State must have
been an awe-inspiring occasion.
H.M.D. PARKER
There seems little doubt that Constantine truly believed in
Christianity as a stabilising force for the future of the Roman
Empire.
The Christians were a small minority in the population; many
thought that the unity of the empire depended on their
eradication, not their elevation.
Yet it was on this derided and detested faith that
Constantine decided to build the future destiny of Rome,
and his determination transformed the history of the world.
(H.M.D. Parker)
• It has been suggested that the fate of persecutors such
as Galerius had a deep effect on Constantine.
• It is said that he noticed that fortune seemed to favour
the West, where persecution was minimal, rather than
the East where it was much more extreme.
• Whatever we make of the visions and dreams attributed
to him by Eusebius and Lactantius it seems very likely
that he had a deep seated conviction that Christ would
give him victory in Italy.
How else are we to explain his daring and apparently
hopeless enterprise? (Parker)
• He seemed to truly believe that the maintenance of proper
Christian worship was closely bound up with the welfare of
the empire itself.
• He also remained acutely aware of the reality of heavenly
vengeance.
• But he saw the Church as the means by which the
supernatural force could be made of greatest avail in the
empire.
• So he determined that the Church and State should work
in close cooperation
His belief in Christ was essentially a conviction of his
power in the world. That, and not the ethical or doctrinal
teaching of Christianity, of which till his death he had no
clear understanding, was the reason for his faith. But his
conversion was none the less real.
CONCLUSION
Despite Constantine Christianity remained a minority
religion.
• Possibly in Syria, Asia Minor and Alexandria it was
dominant
• Elsewhere Christians made up half the population at most
– in Rome and the West they were a small minority.
But because of
Constantine
• The clergy had become a powerful aristocracy
• The educated, thoughtful and intelligentsia of the empire
were being won over
• A generation later, the last pagan emperor, Julian the
Apostate (355-360) admitted that the ultimate victory of
Christianity in the Roman world was assured.
THE END