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Jun 1, 2022 · PDF | This theological paper introduces the contribution of the roman empire to the ancient catholic church during the reign of Emperor Constantine | Find, read and cite all the research you need ...
Mar 25, 2021 · This study of the Roman Empire in the age of Constantine offers a thoroughly new assessment of the part Christianity played in the Roman world during the third and fourth centuries. The author provides a narrative history of the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine.
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Jun 15, 2023 · The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, in Four Books, from 306 to 337 A.D., by Eusebius Pamphilus (London, 1845), in 399 bookmarked and searchable pdf pages, and including two Orations. Wikipedia has a main entry (Eusebius) and a group of related entries about the 4th-century author, who was an eyewitness to parts of what he included in ...
- Overview
- A change of scene
- Constantinople, the new Rome
Constantine made Christianity the main religion of Rome, and created Constantinople, which became the most powerful city in the world.
Emperor Constantine (ca A.D. 280– 337) reigned over a major transition in the Roman Empire—and much more. His acceptance of Christianity and his establishment of an eastern capital city, which would later bear his name, mark his rule as a significant pivot point between ancient history and the Middle Ages.
The Roman Empire that Constantine was born into was one of chaos and anarchy. Civil wars, invasions, and disease were rending the empire so badly that the era is regarded as the Crisis of the Third Century. Emperor Diocletian tried to bring order by distributing power to a four-ruler tetrarchy that would govern the four quarters of the empire. Constantine’s father, Constantius I, was one of the rulers.
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Diocletian’s plan fell apart. After the death of his father in A.D. 306, Constantine was declared emperor by his father’s soldiers. He spent the next 18 years battling the three other Roman rulers—his rivals—to become the sole emperor.
The Battle of Milvian Bridge outside Rome in A.D. 312 was a watershed moment for Constantine. He defeated one rival, his brother-in-law Maxentius, and gained the mantle of western Roman emperor. But of far greater import was a revelation he experienced before the battle.
Constantine assumed sole control over the empire in A.D. 324. Rome, however, was losing its luster for him. Tensions remained high between the city’s pagans and the Christian emperor. Moreover, from a military standpoint, Constantine realized it would be easier to fend off threats from the east and to protect valuable territory—and granaries—in Egypt if he moved his capital to a more defensible eastern location. He left Rome for good to build an imperial city that would glorify both his power and his faith.
Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), his capital, was dedicated in A.D. 330. Previously known as Byzantium, it had been under Roman control for well over a century, but Constantine rebuilt and expanded it on a monumental scale. He tripled the size of the existing city and offered full citizenship and free bread to encourage men of rank to move there with their families. A large palace and imposing legislative halls established the city’s gravitas as the new capital. Churches began to punctuate the skyline; Christians were welcomed, and other faiths were generally tolerated.
By the time Constantine established his new capital in A.D. 330, the city that would be called Constantinople had changed hands multiple times among regional superpowers. Darius I of Persia, the Delian League, the Spartans, and Alexander the Great all had ruled the strategic port known as Byzantium on the Bosporus, a strait between the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara. Roman emperor Septimius Severus destroyed the city in A.D. 196 and rebuilt a grander version, which Constantine expanded upon for his New Rome. The city became a prosperous and important center of faith, power, trade, and architecture. The landmark Hagia Sophia (above) was built by Emperor Justinian during the sixth century, the peak of Constantinople’s glory.
This text is an excerpt from the National Geographic special issue The Most Influential Figures of Ancient History.
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Shortly after the defeat of Maxentius, Constantine met Licinius at Mediolanum (modern Milan) to confirm a number of political and dynastic arrangements. A product of this meeting has become known as the Edict of Milan, which extended toleration to the Christians and restored any personal and corporate property that had been confiscated during ...
Sep 25, 2008 · Book digitized by Google from the library of Oxford University and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.
First published 2006. Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data. Origins to Constantine/edited by Frances M. Young, Margaret M. Mitchell ; assistant editor, K. Scott Bowie.
