Emperor Constantine Revision PDF

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Emperor Constantine Revision Themes:    

Before Constantine –Sassanid Empire, Tetrarchy Constantine’s military career Constantine’s social impact Constantine’s religion – the council of Nicaea, edicts, paganism, vision, Donatist controversy, division in the church (monasticism/asceticism), Helena dn the finding of the cross

1) Before Constantine  The Tetrarchy (293-205 AD)  Before the tetrarchy there was instability with many emperors and after they had political and social stability with reforms and military success in Britain, Gaul, North Africa etc.  Diocletian became ruler over Rome in 284 and began to delegate power through the establishment of the Tetrarchy - Diocletian was Augustus of East with Galerius as Caesar - Maximian made Augustus of the West with Constantius as Caesar  K. Bowman states it is difficult to know the immediate impact of the tetrarchy as panegyrics are 4/5 years after and Contemporary Lactantius focused on Christian persecution and not tetrarchy  The great persecution of Christians occurred under Diocletian’s Tetrarchy in 303 when a series of edicts took away the legal rights of christians e.g. raze churches, burning Christian books, loss of civil rights etc.  The enforcement of persecution varied in diff areas – Egypt very zealous but west under Constantius there was little enforcement  Diocletian and Maximian announced their retirement together in 304 and approved Maximinius (nephew of Galerius) and Severus (soldier) as the new Caesar’s instead of expected Constantine and Mexentius  K. Bowman questions if Diocletian’s Tetrarchy was premeditated to save the unstable Roman Empire or was it an ad hoc response to circumstances – argues in favour of ad hoc as premeditation only supported by Lactantius’ controversial account of a conversation between Galerius and Diocletian and claims no formal division of power between west and east.  The Sassanian Empire  Traditional enemies of Roman Empire e.g Valerian and Shapur I - Valerian marched eastward into battle with Persians in 260 AD however his army was weakened by plague so the town they were in was besieged by Persian forces and valerian was captured by Shapur. Despite his plea and offering ransom he was made prisoner and his army abandoned him. According to Persian Sources Valerian was used as a human foot stool and subject to torture and humiliation. (Lactantius)

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David Vagi argues he was treated with respect and humiliation was exaggerated by Christian historians of late antiquity who wanted to show the perils that befall the persecutors of Christianity. They were in the East They centralised admin of the Empire and they promoted the Zoroastrian Church as a state Church

2) Military Career  During Diocletian’s reign Constantine was part of Diocletian’s court and received military training from him  Galerius was made Augustus after the retirement Diocletian and Maximian and realised that Constantine was angry he was not chosen so he sent Constantine to war in hopes he would be killed however he was very successful and reached the level of tribune of the first order by late 305 AD.  When Diocletian fell in and Galerius was in control Constantine new it wasn’t safe for him so he fled to his father’s court in the West. His father requested his help against the Picts in Britannia and won a series of campaigns  After his father became ill he named Constantine Augustus in the west and he won the loyalty of his army through his success  One of Constantine’s first battles was against the usurper Maxentius (as killed flavius severus) who had declared himself emperor in Rome in 306 at the Milvian bridge. Maxentius’ army outnumbered Constantine however Constantine prevailed after his vision of the cross - so gains control over half the empire – (shares with Licinius)  Initially C and L work together even drafting edict of milan and Constantine marrying Licinius’ sister. However, Constantine initiated civil wars in 314 AD (could be due to L’s continued persecution of Christians). He drives L eastward and in 324 AD L is defeated making C soul ruler.  Constantine adapted the army e.g. he assembled a large field army distinct from the frontier forces and added mobile reserves during the civil wars. Treadgold states C kept them on as they were successful and easier to control than the frontier forces. Created exclusive body of 3500 calvary known as Scholae 3) Constantine’s social/economic impact  Constantinople - new imperial capital due to its positions as Rome was too far from frontiers to be effective plus had pagan ties. Strategic positon in Balkans as could attack Sassanids in the east and deal with Germanic tribes to the north. - Easy access to Egypt and good natural sea defences. - He attracted new settlers with lands grants  Administration - he carried on Diocletian’s oriental court rituals but made them more elaborate likening it to the Christian court.

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He limited the power of the provincial, military and civilian officials to prevent them from rebelling against him he also reorganised the central gov to establish firmer control over his empire (abolished offices, increased the scope of others and created new ones)

Economic - Introduced a new gold coinage called the solidus- lasted for next 700 years - However, the drawback of Constantine’s monetary system according to Warren Treadgold was that it benefited the rich over the poor. This is because Constantine’s army, bureaucracy, Christian charity and general extravagance required huge amounts of money to maintain which meant higher taxes causing the poor hardship therefore many had no option but to turn to crime. Despite constantine’s efforts to address these problems through leg he failed to make a difference – Warren Treadgold Buildings - Constantine invested heavily in repairing Rome, he built baths, basilicas and even rebuilt the Circus Maximus. He repaired an aqueduct in the Cumaean Gulf - However, his Christian buildings overshadowed these by far e.g. Hagia Sophia

4) Constantine’s Religion  The Council of Nicaea - The Edict of Milan (313) can be considered the first steps towards the Council as it marked Constantine as emperor of the West and was crucial in the development of Christianity. As Constantine pushed Christianity forward e.g. affords church various legal statuses and increases position of priests etc. Licinius looks towards paganism e.g. requires sacrifices. Constantine attacks Licinius in 234 and is victorious. - Over the next 6 years Constantine built Constantinople and increased the wealth and position of church however, the church was not united and had many splits the main being the theological issue which dominated the council - This theological issue = controversy over the nature/status of the Son in relation to God. - East supported Arius a presbyter who = in 218 argued that the Logos was a creature, begotten by God out of "non-existence", and thereby was subject to change just as human beings were, implying there was a time when the Son did not exist. - West supported Pope Alexandria = Alexander held that the Son was eternally generated from the Father, irrespective of time, comes "from God himself" rather than from "non-existence", and is changeless and perfect - Alexander commanded Arius to cease this teaching. Arius but he refused and in 320, Alexander deposed Arius and his associates through a council of about 100 Egyptian bishops.

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So Arius fled to the east and gained support from Eusebius of Nicomedia, bishop of the eastern imperial city. Through a letter campaign they brought pressure to bear on Alexander to reinstate Arius. In response Alexander began his own letter campaign claiming that Arius' denial of the divinity of the Son was blasphemous - Constantine, in an effort to provide a peaceful and successful resolution to this debate summoned 300 Bishops in the council - The bishops agreed with Alexander’s view they asserted that he is truly the eternally generated "Son" of God, and they insisted that he belongs to the same order of being as God - The council also dealt with the Meletian schism – when Meletius bishop if Lycpolis (Egypt) ordained people outside of his dioceses going against divine law and ecclesiastical rules. The council decided he should stay in his own city but without exercising power or authority of ordaining. He was also not allowed to enter another diocese to ordain, he retained his title but those he ordained had to be reordained. - The council also dealt with date of Easter - M. Edwards argues the council was not entirely successful as it was too vague - No preference shown in doctrine - No real denunciation of the Nicene faith or explicit championship of Arian beliefs Edicts - In 313 Constantine and Licinius announced "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best" thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311, returning confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity the state religion, as occurred later with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and it reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state Vision - From Eusebius 2 accounts of the battle survive the first shorter one in the Ecclesiastical history promotes the belief that God helped Constantine but no mention of a vision. The second gives a detailed account of a vision and stresses that he had heard the story from the Emperor himself. According to this version, Constantine with his army was marching when he looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it with words "In this sign, [you shall] conquer”. At first he was unsure of the meaning of the apparition, but in the following night he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the sign against his enemies

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Lactantius also provides an account however he argues Constantine was told to use a Latin cross however there is no evidence Constantine used this sign over the better known Chi-Rho sign stated by Eusebius Controversy over beliefs - MacMullen  argues despite using the Chi-Rho sign on the coinage, it does not prove any weight of Christianity as by 360 even non-Christians were using it. - Jacob Simcha  argues that there are no Chi-Rho signs depicted on his Arch that commemorates the battle at Milvian Bridge, yet there are pagan signs on it suggesting vision was simply created to win over Christians in army.  He also argues the Roman Officer class secretly worshipped Mithras whilst the soldiers worshipped Jesus so Constantine fused these 2 together to gain the most support he could e.g. both of these shared same birthday both resurrected.  Constantine chose to put Sol the Sun god on the reverse of his coin with the inscription “to the invincible sun, companion [of the emperor]” showing he didn’t completely abolish pagan worship. This image of Sol Invictus was also found on his Arch - Zosimos  A pagan writer 500 CE  Argues Constantine converted in order to be able to repent his sins which paganism didn’t allow to do. (after he killed his son and boiled his wife Fausta alive and then realised they were not guilty)  However, he still acted as a pagan by following of ancient festivals in order to please his army as he feared their disloyalty Division within the church - Monasticism/Asceticism came to the foreground in the period of Constantine and had a huge impact on Christianity - Monasticism = life in a monastery - Asceticism = severe self-discipline and avoiding of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons - P. Brown coined the term Holy Man and argues the instability in Roman government at the time created space for these types of men. - Monks and ascetics were seen as go betweeners, connection to the supernatural, whose words were seen as closer to God. Therefore, many of these men became quite politically and socially significant - E.g. St Anthony – written by Athanasius the Bishop of Alexandria 328-373. At a young age Anthony forsaked all his possession and lived the life of a hermit, through his dedication he gained many followers who wanted to be taught by him.

Athanasius describes several of Anthony’s battles with the devil. In the 5th century there was tension between these communities and the church so the church tried to control them by ordaining the highest figures as bishops and priests e.g. Phaidimos who presided over the Church in Amaseia tried to recruit St. Gregory into a bishop position, he hid but eventually gave in. Dontatist Controversy Helena and the finding of the cross - Three different version of the finding of the cross – the Helena legend, the Protonike legend and the Judas Cyriacus legend. - In the first 3 centuries of the Christian era the cross had been a symbol of minor importance but from Constantine’s reign onwards the cross became an increasingly important symbol - Helena’s version by Rufinius:  The Pious Helena was sent to Jerusalem by “divinely sent vision” to find the cross on which Christ was crucified. Spot difficult to find as persecutors of the old had built a statue of Venus over the point to discourage Christians. Helena demolishes the impious statue and finds 3 crosses. She takes these to Macarius the bishop of the church who distinguishes Christ’s cross by placing the wood of the 3 crosses on the body of an ailing woman. The third cross restores her health and around this place Helena builds a marvellous church and gives parts of the cross and the nails to her son who fashions them into military garments for protection. She even serves the virgins she found at the place so prove her piety serving the servants of God. - The Protonike Legend:  In this version written in the Doctrina Addai , Protonike (wife of emperor Claudius) took her sons and virgin daughter to Jerusalem to see the place where Christ was crucified Upon entering the tomb where he was resurrected she found 3 crosses. As soon as they enter the daughter dies so to identify Christs cross use each one to bring her back to life. She gives Christ’s cross to James and orders him to build an edifice over Golgotha. She goes back to Rome and relays message to husband who orders Jews out of Italy. - Judas Cyriacus Legend:  This one most popular perhaps due to anti-Jewish sentiment  Helena travels to Jerusalem and asks for those who know the most about the Law and ask them questions in order to try and find the location of the crosses. One of the Jews Judas preaches to the other to say nothing so he is tortured until he finally agrees to find the cross. He prays to God to show him where the cross lies and he too shall believe that Christ is the son of God. The smell of incense leads him to discover the crosses which he takes to Helena. He used a dying man to test the three crosses and the 3rd brings him back to life. As a result, Helena makes Judas a bishop and renames him Cyriacus. She then -

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asks him to find her the nails of Christ which he does through prayer again. She makes a bridle out of them Comparison- Christianity in Ethiopia - Christianity is adopted in Ethiopia in the 4th cent - Very independent. Separate from Constantine’s Empire. - In late antiquity Ethiopia was part of the Kingdom of Axum very much connected via trade routes to roman and Persian empires. - The arrival of Christianity: - In the 4th century there are several stories of the arrival of Christianity suggesting they are truthful - Story: Syrian orthodox Christian merchants on a trade route are attacked by Axum Ethiopians and only 2 Syrians survive Frumentius and Aedesius survive. They are taken to the Axum court where they are popular and convince the royal family of Christianity and Ezana (royalty) adopts Christianity in 360 AD. When Ezana comes into power he sends the two home with Frumentius returning as a Bishop - Ezana’s conversion is seen through the inclusion of a cross of the coinage. - Opposite to Roman Empire were Christianity worked its way up from grass roots – went up through classes to royalty but in Ethiopia started with Royal family and worked its way down...