Constantine, the first Christian Emperor
Constantine was responsible for starting the process whereby the Church assumed the functions of the state -- a system which persisted until the Reformation, and beyond in some parts of Europe -- and his rise to fame began in 293 AD when threats from all parts of the Roman Empire were so dire that the Emperor, Diocletian (with Maximian as co-emperor) appointed his father Constantius (married to Maximian's daughter) to help rule the west and Galerius (married to Diocletian's daughter) to help rule the east.
Both Constantius (Constantine's father) and Galerius were of German, not Roman ethnicity, and when Diocletian abdicated in 303 - persuading Maximian to do likewise - he gave full power to Constantius in the west and Galerius in the east. The Roman empire was now ruled by Germans!
Galerius appointed his nephew Maximinus as co-ruler, and urged Constantius to appoint Severus, a general, as his co-ruler in the west, but within a year, in 306, Constantius died, precipitating his son, Constantine, to pronounce himself Emperor of the West but, acting as senior emperor, Galerius coerced him to be Severus' co-ruler and so Severus became Emperor of the West.
Constantine acquiesced for the moment and distinguished himself by establishing his authority over Britain, Gaul and Spain and in his new capacity as co-ruler rescinded his father's edicts against the Christians and became their savior. Constantine was smart enough to know that most foot soldiers were poverty-stricken Christians, and by gaining their trust they would support him in his rise to power.
Meanwhile Maximian's son, Maxentius, followed Constantine's lead and took advantage of dissent in Rome to have himself declared as Emperor in 306. Galerius refused him recognition and ordered Severus to remove him by force, but faced with Maximian suddenly re-claiming the emperorship from his son, Maxentius, Severus was forced to abdicate and was eventually killed.
Galerius finally invaded Italy in 307, wanting the reinstatement of Severus, but was defeated and had to withdraw. Then, Maxentius argued with his father about who was the rightful emperor.
In the meantime, Constantine remained neutral as the co-ruler of the west - despite the fact that he had married Maxentius' sister and was therefore involved in the family struggle whether he liked it or not. When the army sided with Maxentius, Maximian fled to Constantine's court in the west.
Maximian -- the Western emperor -- was forced to abdicate, and his son, Maxentius, was denied any status. A new emperor for the west was appointed - Licinius, a general - and Constantine remained as his co-ruler.
Maximian still yearned for power and was forced to commit suicide after an attempt to overthrow his son-in-law Constantine in 310. In that year, too, the Carnuntum Conference was convened by the Eastern Roman Emperor Galerius to restore order among those contending to be the western emperor. This conference was attended by Diocletian.
To complicate matters, Galerius' co-ruler, Maximinus, resented the elevation of Licinius and to keep peace, Galerius made him his co-emperor.
In 311 Galerius died and Maximinus, implacably against the strange Jewish cult of Christianity, took over.
To secure his position, Constantine offered the marriage of his sister, Constantia, to Licinius, Emperor of the West.
Maximinus, Emperor of the East, promised Maxentius, living in Rome, the emperorship of the west, causing Constantine to invade Italy in 312. At the Battle of the Mulvian Bridge outside Rome Maxentius met Constantine (who used a Christian symbol on his shield) and Maxentius was defeated.
In the following year 313, while Licinius was in Rome marrying Constantine's sister, Maximinus marched across Asia Minor, taking Byzantium and crossed into Europe. The armies of the east and west met, Maximinus fled, abandoning his army, and Licinius pursued him to Tarsus in Asia Minor, besieged him and finally he committed suicide.
Licinius kept his promise to Constantine about restoring church property taken by Maximinus, and was ruthless in eradicating all members - including women and children - of the families involved in persecuting Christians (far more ruthless than the previous emperors had been against members of the new Jewish sect called Christianity).
Amazingly, after Licinius had got rid of all of Constantine's rivals, and done much of his dirty work for him, Constantine then feared Licinius in his position as new Emperor of the East - with a male heir, Constantine's own nephew - and declared war on him in 316, got as far as Byzantium but was outsmarted by Licinius and retreated.
Previously sympathetic to Christians, Licinius now saw them as treacherous and protected himself by dismissing them from his service.
By 321 the empire was split, and wanting total control Constantine amassed a huge force and invaded Licinius's territory northwest of Thessalonica, northern Greece, and in 324 the two armies did battle. Licinius fell back and was finally defeated near Chalcedon. Licinius's life was spared when his wife (Constantine's sister) and the Bishop of Nicomedia interceded.
With Licinius's abdication, Constantine became the first emperor in 40 years to rule the empire on his own and immediately became embroiled in complicated Christian theological disputes, necessitating calling a Church Council in 325, held in Nicaea, attended by 300 bishops mainly from the east. Though largely a Greek affair, its decisions were to be binding in the west as well and became known as the Nicene Creed.
As well as setting a fixed date for Easter, this council also eradicated Jewish customs from the service.
Constantine was open about his preference for Christianity - and his disgust at the old religions - but very wisely did little to force his views upon all citizens in the Roman Empire. Instead, by bestowing money, honor and prestigious positions on those who converted he cleverly induced large numbers of high-class Romans to convert to Christianity.
Constantine started the process whereby the Church assumed the functions of the state, and he also continued, with much vigor, the process whereby Germans were enrolled in the Roman army and given the highest positions of command -- an act that ultimately would lead to the end of the Roman Empire.
In Rome, he built many churches and turned over vast amounts of Imperial property to the Church, but it was the building of the new capital city - Constantinople - on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium that distinguished his reign.
He looted pagan shrines to adorn his new city; offered tax incentives and other rewards to attract settlers; and started a new Senate for the city. It was dedicated in 330 and was established as the capital of the Christian Empire -- an act which led to the decline of Rome.
Before he died in 337, Constantine acted in a most un-Christian manner. He secured his position as Emperor by executing his eldest son Crispus and his second wife Fausta for conspiracy, and reconciling with his half brothers (from his father's marriage to Maximian's daughter) in order to protect his young sons Constantine II (who became the North Western Emperor), Constantius II who became the Eastern Emperor) and Constans (who became the Emperor of Italy, the Balkans and Africa).
His son, Constantius II, acted in a similar un-Christian manner by massacring all adult relations of Constantine (except for his brothers) and all possible rivals. (This massacre of 337 excluded children, one of which, Julian, the son of Constantine's half brother, later became emperor).
Although co-operative in murdering rivals, the brothers did not co-operate in ruling the Empire and the first to go was Constantine II (after he invaded Constan's Italian territory in 340 and was killed).
In many ways Constantine was definitely more a ruthless opportunist than a Christian Savior, but his legacy nevertheless was a western civilization, ruled by Christianity, that might never have come about without him.
(Constantine's story first appeared in 290 Eve, 310 Eve and 330 Eve and has been edited and reprinted with permission.)
Both Constantius (Constantine's father) and Galerius were of German, not Roman ethnicity, and when Diocletian abdicated in 303 - persuading Maximian to do likewise - he gave full power to Constantius in the west and Galerius in the east. The Roman empire was now ruled by Germans!
Galerius appointed his nephew Maximinus as co-ruler, and urged Constantius to appoint Severus, a general, as his co-ruler in the west, but within a year, in 306, Constantius died, precipitating his son, Constantine, to pronounce himself Emperor of the West but, acting as senior emperor, Galerius coerced him to be Severus' co-ruler and so Severus became Emperor of the West.
Constantine acquiesced for the moment and distinguished himself by establishing his authority over Britain, Gaul and Spain and in his new capacity as co-ruler rescinded his father's edicts against the Christians and became their savior. Constantine was smart enough to know that most foot soldiers were poverty-stricken Christians, and by gaining their trust they would support him in his rise to power.
Meanwhile Maximian's son, Maxentius, followed Constantine's lead and took advantage of dissent in Rome to have himself declared as Emperor in 306. Galerius refused him recognition and ordered Severus to remove him by force, but faced with Maximian suddenly re-claiming the emperorship from his son, Maxentius, Severus was forced to abdicate and was eventually killed.
Galerius finally invaded Italy in 307, wanting the reinstatement of Severus, but was defeated and had to withdraw. Then, Maxentius argued with his father about who was the rightful emperor.
In the meantime, Constantine remained neutral as the co-ruler of the west - despite the fact that he had married Maxentius' sister and was therefore involved in the family struggle whether he liked it or not. When the army sided with Maxentius, Maximian fled to Constantine's court in the west.
Maximian -- the Western emperor -- was forced to abdicate, and his son, Maxentius, was denied any status. A new emperor for the west was appointed - Licinius, a general - and Constantine remained as his co-ruler.
Maximian still yearned for power and was forced to commit suicide after an attempt to overthrow his son-in-law Constantine in 310. In that year, too, the Carnuntum Conference was convened by the Eastern Roman Emperor Galerius to restore order among those contending to be the western emperor. This conference was attended by Diocletian.
To complicate matters, Galerius' co-ruler, Maximinus, resented the elevation of Licinius and to keep peace, Galerius made him his co-emperor.
In 311 Galerius died and Maximinus, implacably against the strange Jewish cult of Christianity, took over.
To secure his position, Constantine offered the marriage of his sister, Constantia, to Licinius, Emperor of the West.
Maximinus, Emperor of the East, promised Maxentius, living in Rome, the emperorship of the west, causing Constantine to invade Italy in 312. At the Battle of the Mulvian Bridge outside Rome Maxentius met Constantine (who used a Christian symbol on his shield) and Maxentius was defeated.
In the following year 313, while Licinius was in Rome marrying Constantine's sister, Maximinus marched across Asia Minor, taking Byzantium and crossed into Europe. The armies of the east and west met, Maximinus fled, abandoning his army, and Licinius pursued him to Tarsus in Asia Minor, besieged him and finally he committed suicide.
Licinius kept his promise to Constantine about restoring church property taken by Maximinus, and was ruthless in eradicating all members - including women and children - of the families involved in persecuting Christians (far more ruthless than the previous emperors had been against members of the new Jewish sect called Christianity).
Amazingly, after Licinius had got rid of all of Constantine's rivals, and done much of his dirty work for him, Constantine then feared Licinius in his position as new Emperor of the East - with a male heir, Constantine's own nephew - and declared war on him in 316, got as far as Byzantium but was outsmarted by Licinius and retreated.
Previously sympathetic to Christians, Licinius now saw them as treacherous and protected himself by dismissing them from his service.
By 321 the empire was split, and wanting total control Constantine amassed a huge force and invaded Licinius's territory northwest of Thessalonica, northern Greece, and in 324 the two armies did battle. Licinius fell back and was finally defeated near Chalcedon. Licinius's life was spared when his wife (Constantine's sister) and the Bishop of Nicomedia interceded.
With Licinius's abdication, Constantine became the first emperor in 40 years to rule the empire on his own and immediately became embroiled in complicated Christian theological disputes, necessitating calling a Church Council in 325, held in Nicaea, attended by 300 bishops mainly from the east. Though largely a Greek affair, its decisions were to be binding in the west as well and became known as the Nicene Creed.
As well as setting a fixed date for Easter, this council also eradicated Jewish customs from the service.
Constantine was open about his preference for Christianity - and his disgust at the old religions - but very wisely did little to force his views upon all citizens in the Roman Empire. Instead, by bestowing money, honor and prestigious positions on those who converted he cleverly induced large numbers of high-class Romans to convert to Christianity.
Constantine started the process whereby the Church assumed the functions of the state, and he also continued, with much vigor, the process whereby Germans were enrolled in the Roman army and given the highest positions of command -- an act that ultimately would lead to the end of the Roman Empire.
In Rome, he built many churches and turned over vast amounts of Imperial property to the Church, but it was the building of the new capital city - Constantinople - on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium that distinguished his reign.
He looted pagan shrines to adorn his new city; offered tax incentives and other rewards to attract settlers; and started a new Senate for the city. It was dedicated in 330 and was established as the capital of the Christian Empire -- an act which led to the decline of Rome.
Before he died in 337, Constantine acted in a most un-Christian manner. He secured his position as Emperor by executing his eldest son Crispus and his second wife Fausta for conspiracy, and reconciling with his half brothers (from his father's marriage to Maximian's daughter) in order to protect his young sons Constantine II (who became the North Western Emperor), Constantius II who became the Eastern Emperor) and Constans (who became the Emperor of Italy, the Balkans and Africa).
His son, Constantius II, acted in a similar un-Christian manner by massacring all adult relations of Constantine (except for his brothers) and all possible rivals. (This massacre of 337 excluded children, one of which, Julian, the son of Constantine's half brother, later became emperor).
Although co-operative in murdering rivals, the brothers did not co-operate in ruling the Empire and the first to go was Constantine II (after he invaded Constan's Italian territory in 340 and was killed).
In many ways Constantine was definitely more a ruthless opportunist than a Christian Savior, but his legacy nevertheless was a western civilization, ruled by Christianity, that might never have come about without him.
(Constantine's story first appeared in 290 Eve, 310 Eve and 330 Eve and has been edited and reprinted with permission.)
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