Comparing Zosimos And Eusebius

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Recommended: Constantine and his effect on his religion and government

Both New History of Constantine and the Life of Constantine give the reader a diverse and thought provoking look into the world of Constantine the Great. The polarizing religious backgrounds of the two authors allows for the reader to interpret the attitudes of both the authors and in some ways the people during this time. Both Zosimos and Eusebius have motivations behind why they are writing these pieces about Constantine and they motives are most defiantly linked with their religious beliefs. To the Pagans, Constantine was a man that abandoned his religion at the cheap enticement of another that offered a key to the empire as well. To the Christians, Constantine was the first emperor to not only stop state led Christian persecutions altogether …show more content…

On the one had Zosimos dedicates a large chunk of his chapter to outlining the horrendous and brutal death of Constantine’s wife Fausta by his own hands. This great act of sin is also used as one of Zosimos primary arguments to why Constantine sought refuge in the forgiving Christian God. On the other hand, Eusebius entirely leaves out the details of this event, by simply stating that “Fausta died or was put to death”. Along this there is a disparity in what each author views as acceptable horror, while Zosimos is taken aback by the cruelty inflicted on Cripsus and Fausta, Eusebius praises Constantine for deciding against using the blood of infants to cure his leprosy, a decision only made after hearing how despaired the mothers were. In both of the texts there is mention of the restructuring Constantine did to the previous government structure. Zosimos accuses Constantine of trying to undermine the system in place by redistributing the power of the two prefects into four, causing the power of each prefect to be cut in half. Zosimos asserts that this was meant to “diminish their influence” hence allowing for Constantine’s influence to expand. On the other hand, Eusebius claims that Constantine took on “the task of liberation to those who governed the other divisions of the

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