Synopsis
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND HIS SONS. 1. Constantine, Roman Emperor from 306 to 337; was born in 274, at Naissus in
Upper Moesia, a son of Constantius Chlorus and Helena, and was, after the death
of his father at York (July 25, 306), proclaimed emperor by the legions of
Gaul. He immediately took possession of Britain, Gaul, and Spain; and after a
series of brilliant victories over Maxentius, ending with the bloody battle at
the Milvian Bridge, just under the walls of Rome, he also became master of
Italy (312). He now ruled over the Western Empire, as Licinius over the
Eastern: but war broke out between them in 314; and in 323, after the battle of
Chalcedon, in which Licinius was killed, Constantine became sole lord of the
whole Roman world. He died in 337, at Nicomedia.
Tradition tells us that he was converted to
Christianity suddenly, and by a miracle. One evening during the contest with
Maxentius, he saw a radiant cross appearing in the heavens, with the
inscription, "By this thou shalt conquer." The tradition is first mentioned by
Eusebius, in his De Vita Constantini, written after the emperors
death. This miracle has been defended. with ingenious sophistry by
Roman-Catholic historians and by Card. Dr. Newman (Two Essays on Biblical
and on Ecclesiastical Miracles, 3d ed., Lond., 1873, pp. 271 sqq.), but
cannot stand the test of critical examination. Constantine may have seen some
phenomenon in the skies; he was no doubt convinced of the superior claims of
Christianity as the rising religion; but his conversion was a change of policy,
rather than of moral character. Long after that event he killed, his son, his
second wife, several others of his relatives, and some of his most intimate
friends, in passionate resentment of some fancied infringement of his rights.
In his relation to Christianity he was cool, calculating, always bent upon the
practically useful, always regarding the practically possible. He retained the
office and title of Pontifex Maximus to the last, and did not receive
Christian baptism until he felt death close upon him. He kept Pagans in the
highest positions in his immediate surroundings, and forbade every thing which
might look like an encroachment of Christianity upon Paganism. Such a faith in
such a character is not the result of a sudden conversion by a miracle: if it
were, the effect would be more miraculous than the cause. Judging from the
character both of his father and mother, it is probable that he grew up in
quiet but steady contact with Christianity. Christianity had, indeed, become
something in the air which no one occupying a prominent position in the Roman
world could remain entirely foreign to. But the singular mixture of political
carefulness and personal indifference with which he treated. it presupposes a
relation of observation rather than impression. He knew Christianity well, but
only as a power in the Roman Empire; and he protected it as a wise and
far-seeing statesman. As a power not of this world, he hardly ever came to
understand it.
His first edict concerning the Christians
(Rome 312) is lost. By the second (Milan, 313) he granted them, not only free
religious worship and the recognition of the State, but also reparation of
previously incurred losses. Banished men who worked on the galleys or in the
mines were recalled, confiscated estates were restored, etc. A series of edicts
of 315, 316, 319, 321, and 323, completed. the revolution. Christians were
admitted to the offices of the State, both military and civil; the Christian
clergy was exempted from all municipal burdens, as were the Pagan priests; the
emancipation of Christian slaves was facilitated; Jews were forbidden to keep
Christian slaves, etc. An [547] edict of 321 ordered Sunday to be celebrated by
cessation of all work in public. When Constantine became master of the whole
empire, all these edicts were extended to the whole realm, and the Roman world
more and more assumed the aspect of a Christian state. One thing, however,
puzzled and annoyed the emperor very much, - the dissensions of the Christians,
their perpetual squabbles about doctrines, and the fanatical hatred thereby
engendered. In the Roman Empire the most different religions lived peacefully
beside each other, and here was a religion which could not live in peace with
itself. For political reasons, however, unity and harmony were necessary; and
in 325 the Emperor convened the first great oecumenical council at Nicæa
to settle the Arian controversy. It was the first time the Christian Church and
the Roman State met each other face to face; and the impression was very deep
on both sides. When the emperor stood there, among the three hundred and
eighteen bishops, tall, clad in purple and jewels, with his peculiarly haughty
and sombre mien, he felt disgusted at those coarse and cringing creatures who
one moment scrambled sportively around him to snatch up a bit of his
munificence, and the next flew madly into each others faces for some
incomprehensible mystery. Nevertheless, he learnt something from those people.
He saw that with Christianity was born a new sentiment in the human heart
hitherto unknown to mankind, and that on this sentiment the throne could be
rested more safely than on the success of a court-intrigue, or the victory of a
hired army. The only rational legitimation which the antique world had known of
the kingship was descent from the gods; but this authority had now become a
barefaced lie, and was difficult to use even in the form of a flattery. At
Nicæa, however, the idea of a kingship of Gods grace began to dawn
upon mankind. Constantine also met there with men who must have charmed and
awed him by their grand simplicity, burdened, and almost curbed, as he was by
the enormous complexity of Roman life. After the Council of Nicæa, he
conversed more and more frequently and intimately with the bishops. his
interest in Christianity grew with the years; but, as was to have been
foreseen, he was sure to be led astray, for the needle lacked in the compass.
He was more and more drawn over to the side of the Arians, and it was an Arian
bishop who baptized him.
2. Of Constantines three sons (1) Constantine II. died early; (2) Constans belonged to the
Nicæan party, and enforced (in 349) the re-instatement of Athanasius in
Alexandria; while (3) Constantius was at one time almost the leader of
the anti-Nicæan party, and interfered in the affairs of the Church in a
very high-handed manner. He fell out, however, with the rigorous Arians; and
his success in propagating semi-Arianism was probably small, just as his
violent measures against Paganism (he forbade sacrifice under penalty of death)
proved almost futile.
Clemens Petersen, "CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND
HIS SONS," Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of
Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn., Vol. 1.
Toronto, New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894.
pp.546-547.
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Constantine, To the Assembly of the
Saints. |
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Eusebius, Church History 9-10. |
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Eusebius, In Praise of
Constantine. |
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Lactantius, The Deaths of the
Persecutors 24-48. |
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Socrates, Church History 1. |
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Sozomen, Church History 1-2. |
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A.
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Clarendon, 1948 / Oxford University Press reprint, distributed by Sandpiper
books, 1969. ISBN: 0198143567. pp.140. |
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J.H. Barber, “Constantine in Relation to Christianity,” Review & Expositor 9.1 (Jan. 1912): 63-82. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain] |
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Timothy D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, new edn. Harvard University Press, 1984. Pbk.
ISBN: 0674165314. pp.464. |
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Timothy D. Barnes, The New Empire of
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T.D. Barnes, "Constantine's Speech to
the Assembly of the Saints: Place and Date of Delivery," Journal of
Theological Studies 52.1 (2001): 26-36. |
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Karl
Baus et al, The Imperial Church from Constantine to the Early Middle
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0816404445. pp.xvii + 846. |
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Norman
H. Baynes [1877-1961], Constantine the Great and the Christian Church. London:
British Academy, 1932 / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pbk. ISBN:
0197256724. |
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John L. Boojamra, "Constantine and The
Council of Arles: The Foundations of Church and State in the Christian East," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 43.1-4 (1998): 129-141. |
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Diana
Bowder, The Age of Constantine and Julian. London: Paul Elek, 1978. Hbk.
ISBN: 0064906019. pp. xv + 230. |
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Peter Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity:
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1992. Pbk. ISBN: 0299133443. pp. x + 182. |
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Jacob Burckhardt, The Age of
Constantine the Great. New York: Pantheon, 1949 / California: University of
California Press, 1982. Pbk. ISBN: 0520046803. |
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Erica Carotenuto, "Six Constantinian
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56-74. |
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Henry
Chadwick, "Conversion in Constantine the Great," Derek Baker, ed. Religious
Motivation: Biographical and Sociological Problems for the Church
Historian. Papers read at the sixteenth summer and seventeenth winter
meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Studies in Church History.
Oxford: Blackwell, 1978. Hbk. ISBN: 0631192506. pp.10-13. |
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P.S. Davies, "Constantine's Editor," Journal of Theological Studies 42.2 (1991): 610-618. |
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Hermann Dörries, Constantine
the Great, Roland H. Bainton, translator. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
pp. xi + 250. |
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H.A. Drake, "Constantine and
Consensus," Church History 64.1 (1994): 1-15. |
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Thomas G. Elliott, "Constantine and
`the Arian Reaction after Nicaea'," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 43.2 (1992): 169-194. |
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Thomas G. Elliott, "Constantine's
Preparations for the Council of Nicea," Journal of Religious History 17.2 (1992): 127-137. |
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John Benjamin Firth [1868-1943], Constantine the Great. The Reorganisation of the Empire and the Triumph of the Church. New York & London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1905. Hbk. pp.368. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain] |
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Constantine K.R Gutzman, "Bishop
Eusebius of Caesarea and His Life of Constantine: A Heretic's Legacy," Greek
Orthodox Theological Review 42.3-4 (1997): 351-358. |
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Robert
M. Grant, Augustus to Constantine. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
Pbk. ISBN: 0062503502. pp.253-279. |
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Henry Melvill Gwatkin [1844-1916], Studies of Arianism. Chiefly Referring to the Character and Chronology of the Reaction Which Followed the Council of Nicaea. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co. / London: George Bell & Sons, 1882. Hbk. pp.303. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain] |
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Constantine K. R .Gutzman, "Bishop
Eusebius of Caesarea and His Life of Constantine: A Heretic's Legacy," Greek
Orthodox Theological Review 42.3-4 (1997): 351-358. |
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R.P.C. Hanson, "The Oratio Ad Sanctos
Atrributed to the Emperor Constantine and the Oracles at Daphne," Journal of
Theological Studies 24.2 (1973): 505-511. |
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E.B. Harrison, "The Constantinian
Portrait," Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 21 (1967): 79-96 &
plates. |
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Constantine
the Great (Charles G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp) |
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E.D. Hunt, "Constantine and Jerusalem," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 48.3 (1997): 405-424. |
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Oded Irshai, "Constantine and the Jews:
The Prohibition against Entering Jerusalem History and Hagiography [In
Hebrew]," Zion 60.2 (1995): 129-178. |
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Edward A. Johnson, "Constantine the Great: Imperial Benefactor of the Christian Church," Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society 22.2 (June 1979): 161-169. pdf |
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A.H.M. Jones, "Notes on the Genuineness
of the Constantinian Documents in Eusebius's Life of Constantine," Journal
of Ecclesiastical History 5.2 (1954): 196-200. |
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Arthur
Hugh Martin Jones, Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. London:
English Universities Press, 1948 / Toronoto: University of Toronto Press Inc.,
1979. Pbk. ISBN: 0802063691. pp.223. |
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Alistair
Kee, Constantine Versus Christ: The Triumph of Ideology. London: SCM
Press, 1982. ISBN: 0334002680. pp.192. |
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Bill Leadbetter, "Constantine and the
Bishop: The Roman Church in the Early Fourth Century," Journal of Religious
History 26.1 (2002): 1-14. |
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Noel Lenski, ed., The Cambridge Companion
to the Age of Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Pbk.
2005ISBN: 0521521572. pp.488. |
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Ramsay
MacMullen, Constantine. New York: Dial, 1969. Reprint. Routledge, an
imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd., 1987. Pbk. ISBN: 0709946856.
pp.277. |
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Anthony McRoy, “The Faith of Constantine: Pagan Conspirator or Christian Emperor?” Foundations 58 (November 2007): 15-28. pdf |
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R.A. Markus, The End of
Ancient Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pbk.
ISBN: 0521625106. pp. xvii + 258. |
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Oliver Nicholson, "Constantine's Vision
of the Cross," Vigiliae Christianae 54.3 (2000): 309-323. |
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Oyvind Norderval, "The Emperor
Constantine and Arius: Unity in the Church and Unity in the Empire," Studia
Theologica 42.2 (1988): 113-150. |
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Charles Odahl, "Constantine's Epistle
to the Bishops at the Council of Arles: A Defence of Imperial Authorship," Journal of Religious History 17.3 (1993): 274-289. |
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Charles Odahl, "God and Constantine:
Divine Sanction for Imperial Rule in the First Christian Emperor's Early
Letters and Art," Catholic Historical Review 81.3 (1995):
327-352. |
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Claudia Rapp, "Imperial Ideology in the
Making: Eusebius of Caesarea on Constantine as Bishop," Journal of
Theological Studies 49.2 (1998): 685-695. |
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Dr. Philip Schaff, "Constantine the Great, and the Downfall of Paganism in the Roman Empire," Bibliotheca Sacra 20 No. 80 (1863): 778-798. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain and can be freely distributed and copied] |
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T.C. Skeat, "The Codex Sinaiticus, the
Codex Vaticanus, and Constantine," Journal of Theological Studies 50.2
(1999): 583-625. |
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Arthur Penrhyn Stanley [1815-1881], Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church with an Introduction on the Study of Ecclesiastical History, 5th edn. London: John Murray, 1884. Hbk. pp.422. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain] |
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Rudolph H. Storch, "The 'Eusebian
Consatantine'," Church History (1971): 145-155. |
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Thomas J. Talley, "Constantine and
Christmas," Studia Liturgica 17 (1987): 191-197. |
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Robert Louis Wilken, "In Defense of
Constantine," First Things 112 (2001): 36-40. |
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David Woods, "Where Did Constantine I
Die?" Journal of Theological Studies 48.2 (1997): 531-535. |
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