Constantine's Conversion

The Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity shortly before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 is seen as a landmark event in not just the history of the Roman Empire but of Christianity, and indeed of the entire world. But what really happened? Find out in this episode.

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Hello and welcome back to the fall of the Roman Empire. My name is Nick Holmes, and this is episode 24 called Constantine's Conversion. In the last episode, we heard about the rise of Christianity and how it grew exponentially in the late 3rd and 4th centuries AD. We talked about why this happened, and to be honest, the answer has to be that no one really knows for sure. But what we do know is that Christianity grew very slowly in the first and second centuries AD, and my own feeling is that it was the crisis of the third century that really spurred it on, since it was a time when the value system of the Roman Empire fell apart as war, barbarian invasions, and plague devastated it. And this must have meant that people were fed up with the old religions and more receptive to the new ones. And another thing that clearly did appeal to people was that Christianity in its core form is a pretty sympathetic religion. It's based on mercy and generosity, which were values pretty much absent from most of the pagan religions, and in the third and fourth centuries, when it was increasingly clear that the Roman Empire was not the invincible power that it had been during the Pax Romana, Christianity was more in keeping with the times. Indeed, it probably appealed as a source of comfort and consolation during the horrors of the third century. But there was another side to Christianity's success, which was its institutionalization. And what I mean by that is that in the late Roman Empire it became a big organization and it became very closely associated with the state. And that's the subject of this episode, since we'll look at Constantine's conversion to Christianity, which was a huge game changer and had far reaching consequences for both the future of Rome, Christianity, and to be honest, the world we live in today, where the Catholic Church is still a huge institution, in addition of course to lots of other Christian churches. So let's look at the subject of why and how Constantine became a Christian. And I warn you that this is a subject of intense scholarly debate, and so fasten your seatbelts and expect to hear the unexpected. Hope you enjoy it. Today, if you go to the Vatican in Rome as you progress through the long corridors of the Vatican Museum towards Michelangelo's masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel, you will pass a huge and arresting painting of a battle scene. Entitled The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, it depicts Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentius after he was allegedly converted to Christianity. Central to this foundational story for the Catholic Church is that Constantine had a vision before the battle, when he saw a cross of light in front of the sun, with the Greek words entonica, meaning in this conquer. This was followed by a dream in which Christ appeared and told him to paint his soldiers' shields with the Greek letters chi and rho, which were the first two letters of Christ's name, as a Christian symbol. This version of Constantine's conversion was recorded by two Christian chroniclers, Eusebius and Lactantius, one of whom claimed he was told it by Constantine himself. However, scholars have long debated the truth of this story. Intriguingly, the vision part of it is the most widely accepted bit of the story. One eminent historian believed his vision might have been a natural halo phenomenon. This is analogous to a rainbow, and like it local and transient, caused by the fall not of rain, but of ice crystals across the rays of the sun. It usually takes the form of mock suns, or of rings of light surrounding the sun. But a cross of light with the sun in its centre has been on several occasions scientifically observed. So perhaps Constantine did experience what he thought was a vision. But was it a specifically Christian vision? This seems doubtful since what little evidence we have suggests, to begin with at least, he was attracted more to the sun god cult of Sol Invictus, rather than Christianity. Sol's popularity started to grow at the same time as Christianity, especially within the Roman army. However, it remains frustratingly unclear who or what Sol was exactly. Some regard him as the Roman deity originally called Sol Indiges, while others see him probably more plausibly as a Syrian sun god first brought to Rome by the Emperor Alagabalus in the early third century. What is not in doubt is that Aurelian was a passionate advocate of Sol, building a grand temple to the sun god in Rome in AD 274, and promoting its priests to the highest rank of pontifex, thereby requiring them to come from the senatorial class. This meant that Sol became part of the establishment, and it would have been quite natural for a soldier and Tetrarch like Constantine was to have been a follower. Supporting this view, the Arch of Constantine in Rome, which you can still see today, and which he commissioned to celebrate his victory over Maxentius and was constructed between 312 to 315 AD has no Christian inscriptions whatsoever, but it does contain clear images of Sol. One of these is Sol rising from the ocean in his chariot. Reinforcing this link to Sol, some historians believe the arch was also lined up with the gigantic statue which Nero had originally installed outside the Colosseum, and which was rededicated to Sol by both Vespasian and Hadrian. There is also plenty of evidence that Constantine's attachment to Sol continued well after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, since as late as three hundred two three AD he minted coins dedicated to the divine companion of the unconquered son, apparently in reference to Sol, and again avoiding any Christian message. Modern scholarship has also rejected the idea that he built Saint Peter's Christian Basilica in Rome, which was probably started in fact during the reign of his son Constance. The final blow to the Christian chronicler's story of his conversion is that the so called Edict of Milan, which was supposedly signed by him and his Tetrarch and co emperor Licinius in three hundred thirteen AD and seen as a landmark event because it allegedly granted religious toleration to Christians throughout the Empire, has been revealed as nothing of the sort. Instead, scholars have proved this document was merely an instruction by Licinius to restore property confiscated from Christians in the Eastern Empire during Diocletian's great persecution. Indeed, historians now agree that Christianity was already tolerated throughout the Empire, well before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD three hundred twelve. This in fact began in 306 when Constantine was proclaimed emperor and banned the persecution of Christians in his territories in Britain, Gaul and Spain. But Constantine was not the only Tetrarch to ban the Christians' persecution. Maxentius also passed similar legislation, tolerating them in Italy and North Africa well before 312. In the East in AD 311, Galerius, the other Tetrarch, issued the Edict of Toleration, banning persecution in the Eastern Empire as well. So the evidence is clear that at the time of the Milvian Bridge, Christianity was already tolerated throughout most of the Empire. And although he was probably favourably disposed towards it, Constantine was not the Christian crusader that he promoted himself as in later years. So the question then is when and why did Constantine truly convert to Christianity? And the answer, as with most of his actions, lies probably with politics. For in the decade after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he saw an opportunity to strengthen his own political position by bringing church and state together under his rule. This opportunity first arose because of a dispute among the Christian bishops called the Donatist Controversy. This centred on a heated argument over Christian behaviour during Diocletian's great persecution. At that time many of the clergy had been killed, had been martyred, while others had simply renounced Christianity and agreed to worship the Roman gods. Now not surprisingly, when the latter wanted to rejoin the church, there was considerable antipathy towards them. This came to a head in AD three hundred fifteen, when the bishop of Carthage called Donatus, refused to allow lapsed clergy to rejoin the church. His viewpoint, however, was rejected by the bishop of Rome, who was called Miltiades, who supported a bishop opposed to Donatus, called Sicilian, resulting in a division within the North African Church between those supporting Donatus, i. e. the Donatists and the opposite the anti Donatists. This sort of quarrel between bishops seems to have been a fairly common feature of the early Christian church, and by itself of limited significance, but it resulted in something that was to turn out to be hugely important. This happened when the bishop of Rome, Miltiades, asked Constantine to preside over a council to decide who was right, the Donatus or the Antidonatus. And in two separate councils, one at Rome in AD three hundred thirteen and another at Arle in AD three hundred fourteen, Constantine was asked to adjudicate on the Donatist controversy. Constantine chose to support Sicilian, that is the anti Donatist, and in three hundred seventeen he banned the Donatists, only in fact to go back on his views and then grant them toleration in three two one. And because of this the North African Church in fact remained divided for centuries afterwards. But much more significant than Constantine's decision was the fact that he had been asked by the Church to decide on its governance. For this made him the de facto head of the church. And this was probably, in fact, what most attracted him to Christianity. Because in the turbulent third and fourth centuries, emperors needed an additional boost to their authority. For example, Aurelian had looked to Sol Invictus to confirm his rule. Diocletian was a bit more conservative and had connected himself with Jupiter, who was of course the old supreme Roman deity. Now when the Christian church looked to Constantine as its secular leader, he was not only flattered, but he saw an opportunity to strengthen his own authority, for even if he was not a god, at least he had his own religion. And after the Donatus controversy, Constantine became more overtly supportive of the Christians, especially after AD three to four, when he became the sole emperor after defeating his rival Licinius, and he could then act as the sole leader of the whole Christian Church throughout the Roman Empire. And as evidence of this in AD three two five he made a massively important public statement of his patronage of the new religion by convening the famous Council of Nicaea, which was the first universal or as Christians call it ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and which represented a turning point for both Christianity and also Constantine's government. The Council of Nicaea was the first attempt to establish an agreed Christian organization and doctrine. Among other things it established the Nicene Creed, which was the key statement of Christian faith. It also agreed a date for the celebration of Easter, which was the most important Christian celebration, and there was also agreement on many parts of what are called canon law, which are essentially church regulations. There were also lots of heated doctrinal debates which probably seem very obscure to a modern audience, and they apparently did so also to Constantine. One of the main issues was over whether Christ and God were co-eternal, that is, whether Christ had always existed or not, and a bishop called Arius, after whom the Aryan sect of Christians was named, said this was impossible since Christ did not exist before he was born. When asked to judge who was right, Constantine actually showed very little interest and admonished the bishops for failing to realise that unity of purpose was the most important aim of the council. However, he was eventually persuaded by a majority of bishops that Arius' view was unacceptable, and he sent him into exile, only to later readmit him back into the church rather as he had done with the Donatis. But just as with the Donatus controversy, the political significance of the council was that by appealing to Constantine and accepting his judgment, the Christian bishops confirmed him as the honorary head of the Christian Church, and this established a hugely important link between Christianity and the Roman state. After the Council of Nicaea, there was little doubt about the sincerity of Constantine's Christian beliefs. As a sign of this, in AD three two six he started to build the magnificent church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the site of a temple to Jupiter, and much of that original church still stands today. And then in AD 330, he did something that was to transform the Roman Empire. He dedicated a city as new Rome, the city of Constantinople. And that ends this episode. Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoyed it. And in the next episode, we'll move on to the next of Constantine's game-changing actions, which was the founding of the city of Constantinople. And I regret to say this will be in two weeks' time, since I'm busy publishing a book at the moment called The Roman Revolution, which focuses on the period you've been hearing about, that is the crisis of the third century in the reigns of Aurelian, Diocletian, and Constantine. And I hope to have this out in the next month or so, and I will be selling it on Amazon at a discounted price, so you might be interested in getting it, and I'll keep you updated on how this goes. Thanks for listening, and see you next time.