Lec

1. THE AGE OF CONSTANTINE
CLAH266 – Lecture 5
26th October 2012
Dr Jamie Wood
Colossal head of Basilica of Constantine, Trier
Constantine, Palazzo dei
Conservatori, Rome

2. Aims of the lecture
 To provide an introduction to religious
developments in the later Roman Empire
 To put Constantine‟s decision to „convert‟ to
Christianity into context
 To give an overview of the main political
events in the age of Constantine
 To analyse some primary sources on the
conversion of Constantine and its
consequences

3. Structure of the lecture
 Religion in the 2nd and
3rd centuries – a move
to monotheism?
 The politics of
Constantine‟s age
 The conversion of
Constantine
 Seminar: sources on
Constantine‟s
conversion

4. Key points on religion in 2nd-3rd C
4
1. Despite the traditional stress on
conflict between Christianity and the
Roman Empire (e.g. ideas of
targeted persecution by the
authorities and voluntary martyrdom
by the Christians), religions system
of the empire was becoming
increasingly monotheistic
2. Some Christian values, beliefs and
practices were very similar to those
of contemporary philosophical
schools.

5. Monotheism/ Polytheism
5
 Monotheism is a religious system which
believes that there is only one god
 Judaism and Christianity are both monotheistic
 Traditional Graeco-Roman society was
polytheistic (= a religious system that believes
there are many gods)
 This remains true in 2nd and 3rd Cs, however...

6. Monotheism/Polytheism/Henotheism
6
1. Some philosophical
schools, e.g. Stoics, were
developing monotheistic
ideas about God
(theology)
2. Some emperors were
developing special forms
of devotion for one God
among the others; this
religious system is called
henotheism (political
implications)

7. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations VI, 7
7
 “Let your one delight and
refreshment be to pass
from one service to the
community to
another, with God ever in
mind”
Equestrian statue of
Marcus Aurelius, Capitoline
Museum, Rome

8. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations XII, 2-3
8
 “God views the inner minds of men, bared of the
material vesture and rind and impurities. Acting
through his thought alone, he makes contact
solely with that in them which is an outflow from
himself. School yourself to do likewise, and you
will be spared many a distraction; for who that
looks past this fleshly covering will ever harass
himself with visions of
raiment, housing, reputation, or any of the rest
of life‟s costume and scenery? You are
composed of three parts: body, spirit and mind
[...].”

9. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations VIII, 2
9
 “Of any action, ask
yourself, What will its
Column of Marcus Aurelius
consequences be to me?
Shall I repent of it?
Before long I shall be
dead and all will be
forgotten; but in the
meantime, if this
undertaking is fit for a
rational and social
being, who is under the
same law as God
himself, why look for

10. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations XI, 3
(on the Christians)
10
 “Happy the soul which, at whatever moment the
call comes for release from the body, is equally
ready to face extinction, dispersion, or survival.
Such preparedness, however, must be the
outcome of its own decision; a decision not
prompted by mere rebelliousness, as with the
Christians, but formed with deliberation and
gravity and, if it is to be convincing to
others, with an absence of all heroics.”

11. Elagabalus: a state religion?
11
 Elagabal: an oracular solar
deity from Emesa, Syria; also
known as Sol Invictus („The
invincible sun‟); cult spread
all over Roman Empire from
2nd C CE
 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Augustus (= Elagabalus):
Severan emperor from Syria; The Roses of Heliogabalus,
Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1888
priest of this cult; became
emperor in 218

12. Elagabalus
(218-222)
12
 220 CE: he tried to
impose Elagabal as
the supreme god of
the Roman pantheon
 He was later (not while
he was emperor)
called by the name of
Portrait of Emperor Elagabalus,
the God, as a form of Capitoline Museum, Rome
abuse

13. 13
 Aureus.
 Struck 218-219
 Antioch mint.
 IMP(erator) C M(arcus)
AVR(elius) ANTONINVS
P(ius) F(elix) AVG(ustus)
 SANCT DEO
SOLI, ELAGABAL in
exergue, quadriga right
bearing stone of Emesa
upon which is an eagle;
four parasols around
Read Herodian on the emperor‟s project:
http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre506.html

14. Empire and Religion in the 3rd C
14

15. The Decian „persecution‟ (250/1)
15
P. Ryl. 12, Certificate of
sacrifice, 250 CE
(1 of 47 certificates of pagan sacrifice from Egypt)
To the commissioners of sacrifices from Aurelia
Demos, who has no father, daughter of Helena and
wife of Aurelius Irenaeus, of the Quarter of the
Helleneum. It has ever been my habit to sacrifice to
the gods, and now also I have in your presence, in
accordance with the command, made sacrifice and
libation and tasted the offering, and I beg you to
certify my statement. Farewell.
I Aurelia Demos have presented this declaration. I
Aurelius Irenaeus wrote for her as she is illitterate. I
Aurelius Sabinus prytanis saw you sacrificing. The first
year of the emperor Decius, Pauni 20 (= 14 June 250 )

16. Diocletian (284-305)
16
 Traditionalist in religious terms
 Reinforced the imperial cult, assuming the title of
Iovius (son of Jupiter)
 Initiated the Great Persecution (in 303)
 But were these persecutions directed against
Christians or persecutions to reinforce Roman public
religion and relationship of the state with the gods?

17. Conclusions on Empire and Religion
Before Constantine
17
 Some Christian beliefs and practices were similar to those of
other religious systems and philosophical schools
 Religion and politics in antiquity were overlapping
 Religion: often a rhetoric through which political power is
articulated and exercised If the power comes from the
God/Gods, his/her/their representatives on earth (such as
priests and emperors) control the power itself.
 the Roman emperor was the highest religious authority (pontifex
maximus)
 the imperial cult was an effective way of encouraging loyalty to the
emperor and getting provinces to buy into imperial system
Did Roman emperors start to think that monotheism was a
better ‘fit’ for justifying and exerting their power than
polytheism?

18. 305 CE: Abdiction of Diocletian and
Maximian in favour of the Caesars
 304: D suffers serious illness
 304-5: Galerius persuades/ forces D
and M to abdicate (in 305); both
retire
 Galerius becomes Augustus in east
and Constantius I Chlorus in west
 Severus and Maximinus Daia (both
closely associated with Galerius)
declared Caesars
 Constantine (son of Constantius I
Chlorus) and Maxentius (son of
Maximian) are ignored

19. 306 CE: Constantine I
19
 Constantius I Chlorus dies, the troops nominated his
son, Constantine I, as Augustus at York
 C claims the title Augustus but Galerius grants him that of
Caesar
 He controls, Britain, Gaul and Spain and moves to Trier
 Maxentius, son of Maximian, pressed for recognition as
Augustus too but Licinius, a former military colleague of
Galerius, is raised Augustus in the West; this is not
accepted and also annoys Maximinus Daia, who had
been overlooked
 310: Galerius falls ill and civil wars break out
 311-12: C marries L‟s sister, Fausta
 311-12: Maxentius and Maximinus Daia form alliance
 312 (28-29 October): Battle of Milvian Bridge, Rome
(Constantine vs. Maxentius)

20. Seminar questions
 Source 1: What does this source
suggest was Constantine‟s motive for
conversion? What benefits did he get
from converting to Christianity?
 Source 2: What does the Edict of
Milan enact? Who benefits from the
Edict and in what way(s)?
 Sources 4-8: What changes resulted Piero della
Francesca, Constantine‟s
from toleration and then adoption of dream,
Church of St. Francis, Arezzo
Christianity by the emperors? Who
benefited/ lost out and in what ways?

21. A key source: Eusebius, Bishop of
Caesarea (b. ca. 260; d. before 341)
21
 Student of Pamphilius, a follower
of Origen (great 2nd C Christian
thinker)
 Lived through the Great
Persecution
 Became bishop in 314
 Innovative writer in Greek of
history from Christian
perspective:
1. Ecclesiastical History (history of
the Christian church from Jesus to
his own time)
2. Chronicle (synchronic world
history from Abraham to his own
time)

22. Eusebius as historian
22
 Much of what we know about the rise and organisation
of Christianity is based on Eusebius
 Eusebius is our main source on Constantine‟s
conversion and his policy towards Christianity
 He is not an objective source (though his use of sources
sometimes appears quite modern; e.g. in his citation of
„primary sources‟)
 Conversion of Constantine
1. closely linked to political events within the Roman Empire
2. has serious political and social implications for imperial
history (e.g. last week on role of bishops as judges)

23. Constantine: The many faces of an emperor
23
Coin with Sol Invictus, Trier 329
Sardonyx cameo with
Colossal statue of Constantine crowned
Constantine, from the basilica of by Constantinople, 4th
Maxentius, Rome (314-324 ca) cent.

24. 327-329, the Sun god, wearing
Constantine: A Christian a radiate crown (crown of sun
Emperor? rays) and a chlamys (small
cloak) fastened at the
24 shoulder, with his right hand
raised, holding in his left hand a
globus (celestial orb) decorated
with an equinoctial cross
(representing the spring and
autumnal equinoxes), offering
the globus to Constantine
(symbolizing Sol granting
Constantine the power to rule
the universe), standing on the
exergual line, inscription "SOLI
INVICTO COMITI" or "To the
invincible Sun god, companion
of the Emperor," T and F in the
reverse left and right fields may
stand for "TEMPORVM
FELICITAS" or "The happiness
of the age," mint mark of dot-
ATR (last letter looks like an H)
in the exergue, with TR standing
for Treveri (Trier)

25. Constantinople: a „new Rome‟
 On site of ancient city of Byzantium (investment in previous
centuries)
 Gradual Christianisation of the city
 Collection of relics
 New Church of the Holy Apostles on site of a temple to Aphrodite

26. Sozomen (d. ca.450), Ecclesiastical History 2.3:
on the foundation of Constantinople in 324CE
He greatly improved this latter city, and made it equal to Rome in power and influence; for when he
had settled his empire as he was minded, and had freed himself from foreign foes, he resolved on
founding a city which should be called by his own name, and should equal in fame even Rome. […]
Led by the divine hand, he came to Byzantium in Thrace, beyond Chalcedon in Bithynia, and here
he desired to build his city, and render it worthy of the name of Constantine. In obedience to the
command of God, he therefore enlarged the city formerly called Byzantium, and surrounded it with
high walls; likewise he built splendid dwelling houses; and being aware that the former population
was not enough for so great a city, he peopled it with men of rank and their families, whom he
summoned from Rome and from other countries. He imposed special taxes to cover the expenses
of building and adorning the city, and of supplying the inhabitants with food. He erected all the
needed edifices for a great capital-a hippodrome, fountains, porticoes and other beautiful
adornments. He named it Constantinople and New Rome-and established it as the Roman capital
for all the inhabitants of the North, the South, the East, and the shores of the Mediterranean, from
the cities on the Danube and from Epidamnus and the Ionian Gulf to Cyrene and Libya.
He created another Senate which he endowed with the same honors and privileges as that of
Rome, and he strove to render the city of his name equal in every way to Rome in Italy; nor were
his wishes in vain, for by the favor of God, it became the most populous and wealthy of cities. As
this city became the capital of the Empire during the period of religious prosperity, it was not
polluted by altars, Grecian temples, nor pagan sacrifices. Constantine also honored this new city of
Christ by adorning it with many and splendid houses of prayer, in which the Deity vouchsafed to
bless the efforts of the Emperor by giving sensible manifestations of his presence.

28. Points to remember
28
 The conversion of Constantine to Christianity must be
studied in the wider historical context
 It drew on religious and political developments of 2nd and 3rd Cs
(especially under the Tetrarchy)
 Although the emperor converted to Christianity, the rhetoric
of power remained based on the earlier imperial
iconography (including polytheism; see coins and other
imperial representations)
 Eusebius suggests a link between the rhetoric of military
success and the benevolence of the Christian God.
 But this can be seen in pagan (and non-religious) sources as
well, demonstrating continuity in terms of cultural
structures, despite the religious „revolution‟ that was happening
at the same time.

29. Further readings on Constantine:
29
 T.D. Barnes, Constantine and
Eusebius, Cambridge Mass. 1981.
 H. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops. The
Politics of Intolerance, Baltimore MD 2000.
 N. Lenski, ed., Cambridge Companion to the
Age of Constantine, Cambridge 2005.

30. Homework
 2000 word essay due on Thursday 6th December
 Look at the essay questions on the syllabus (p. 3)
 Think about which question(s) you might like to do –
you don‟t have to pick one yet...
 Spend some time thinking about how you might go
about breaking down the question – see next slide for
advice on how to do this...
 Write down those thoughts and bring them to class
next week

31. Some questions to help you break
down questions
31
 Read the question
 Break it down into its constituent parts
 Think about the following:
 What sort of question is it?
 What assumptions underlie the question?
 What are the meanings of the key terms in the question?
 What sort of response is the questioner looking for?
 How can I use the question to structure my essay?
 How can I go beyond or challenge the assumptions
underlying the question?
 What kind of thesis statement would represent a
satisfactory answer to this question?