It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle, and his body was later taken from the river and decapitated. The Roman coins minted up to eight years after the battle still bore the images of Roman gods. The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church, and the notion of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire, declared by edict in Skip to main content.
Chapter 6 The Roman Empire. Search for:. Key Points The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of the Roman Empire, both for founding Byzantium in the east, as well as his adoption of Christianity as a state religion. But the Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, a Roman historian who would later write a favorable biography of Constantine, tells that he and his army experienced this vision just before the battle outside of Rome began.
Both accounts tell of Constantine not fully understanding the meaning of this vision and praying for an explanation. He dreams of a common Christian symbol, the Greek symbols chi and rho , an X with an R, which looks like a long P, drawn through the middle. The emperor explains the heavenly dream to his army and tells them to make the battle standard that is described, placing the symbol of the "Highest God" on their shields.
Constantine advanced to the forefront of the battle behind the initials of Christ interwoven with a cross. Maxentius displayed the banner of the Unconquerable Sun as his battle standard. Constantine's infantry, many of whom were Christians, decisively win the battle. His cavalry chased the remnants of the enemy's forces across the Tiber river.
Maxentius himself was seen to fall from the bridge into the river as his army was retreating and drown due to his heavy armor. Eusebius says that Constantine doesn't know which god has given him this sign in the sky, but that he was so moved by his vision of the cross that he vowed to worship no other God than the one represented to him.
So he begins to seek out others who might help him to learn more about what he has seen. It is likely that these Bishops affirmed to him that Jesus was the only begotten son of God and that the cross he had seen in his vision was a symbol of Jesus' triumph over death.
Constantine devoted himself completely to God, and would from then on immerse himself in the reading of inspired writings. He made the priests of God his close advisers, and believed that it was his duty to honor the God who had appeared to him in his original vision.
Constantine entered Rome as the welcomed and undisputed master of the West, but would not stay in the city for very long. He did not make any sacrifices to Roman gods during his time there.
He ordered the restitution of property confiscated from Christians during their previous persecution. Constantine had previously met with Licinius in Milan in March where they discussed the future of the empire.
Emperors who preceded Constantine relied heavily on the popular, and sometimes unpopular, tenets of polytheistic state religions, religions which used superstition, power, and human virtue, to expand conquests, boarders, and immorality. Early in his career, we discover that Constantine is not completely immune from this mentality. According to Eusebius, Constantine spent time contemplating which gods or God he should honor to aid him in his ruling, Bk. The sign had such a tangible impact on the Emperor that, according to Eusebius, he, from that point on, surrounded himself by priests and bishops and began educating himself in theology, Bk.
This is certainly significant to Eusebius who, it is presumed, would have been very familiar with the status of Christianity in the Empire, as well as the horrible persecutions Christians had suffered at the hands of previous emperors. His enthusiasm for Constantine can thus be easily understood. After his initial conversion, Constantine becomes fearless in battle, as when he overcame the tyrant, Bk.
Ultimately, Constantine, because of his conversion, will become the defender of Christians and the final arbiter on matters of religion and piety in the Empire, as the story of Licinius, whom he justifies conquering because of his oppression and persecution of Christians, Bk.
It is Christianity that makes Constantine merciful toward his conquered enemies, Bk. He, of course, does not leave the throne to live as a desert father, but Eusebius, nonetheless, sees his rejection of praise as a type of humility so necessary in the Christian life, Bk.
After conquering friend and foe alike, Bk. Eusebius relates that the Empire under Constantine will enjoy relative peace, as a series of measures will be taken to bring barbarians and other factions into the Empire. The Goths and Samaritans will submit to his rule, Bk. He was enraptured by prayer, praying for hours on end, Bk. He sees it as his mission to protect the religion of Christ, directing, by decree, that the first and last days of the week should be solemn days, Bk.
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