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Constantine and the Roman Empire
Constantine and the Roman Empire
Constantine and the Roman Empire
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Constantine was the first Roman emperor to stop Christian persecutions and unjust done over the past years and took the step to legalize Christianity along with all other religions and cults in the Roman Empire, setting peace treaties and laws that preferred individual rights to worship and follow their own religion (Carroll, 2002).
He was born on 27th February, 274 AD, in the military town of Naissus—modern - Nis in eastern Yugoslavia (Holland, 1971). His father Constantius, an army officer was married to his mother Helena, who belonged to a low class family; whom he late thought was prudent to get divorced for the sake of his career aspirations (James, 2011). Not much is known for certain about their religious beliefs and idols, but it is believed that Helena was a practicing Christian—it is believed that Constantine’s famous edict and controversial conversion to Christianity could
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Christmas day have been manipulated and changed to December 25, relevance to the day prayed to the Sun God Apollo (Sephenson, 2009). Constantinian arrangement allowed a senator, being elected praetor or by fulfilling a function of senatorial rank. From then onwards, holding of actual power and social status were melded together into a joint imperial hierarchy (Dominic and Montserrat, 1998). At the same time, Constantine gained with this the support of the old nobility and people, as the Senate was allowed itself to elect praetors and quaestors, in place of the usual practice of the emperors directly, creating new magistrates which were under the control of the emperor; the changes surely benefitted him to stay in power and manipulate the original Christian and people’s beliefs and has evolved and infused over his era (Matson,
Theodora’s story starts with a distinctive start. Her father was a bear trainer that worked in the Hippodrome in Constantinople and she grew up in the entertainment spotlight (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 355, 2009). She was a mime and when she was older, she became an actress (Koeller, 1996). So, she not only lived in a circus, she also became a child star. Who would not want her childhood? But, back in that day, an actress was not a highly looked upon career for a women, therefore the term ‘actress’ was interchanged with ‘prostitute’ (Koeller, 1996). So, it might not have been the best...
However, this was different compared to Constantine who converted to Christianity and evangelized people to convert to Christianity as well. Constantine ruled as emperor from 306-337 A.D. and was the first Christian emperor of the time and credited
Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, or Constantine, is commonly referred to as the fist Christian emperor of the Roman Empire and as the defender of Christianity. Such grand titles are not necessarily due for the reasons that people commonly think of them today.
Justinian was born a barbarian, probably born of Slavic parents in Illyia. We know nothing of his early years except that his uncle adopted him. His uncle was Justin I, the emperor of Constantinople. Then in 527 A.D., Justin made Justinian a co-ruler. Four months later, when Justin died, Justinian became the sole emperor.
Bryan Byerly Mrs. Wagner Western World 10 Seminar- 4 4 December, 2013 Christianity in Rome Essay Christianity became more prevalent in Roman society as time went on because it appealed to Rome and what Roman ideals were. In the beginning Romans were skeptical of changing religion, but as the years went by, the Romans adopted and changed. Christianity appealed to the Roman ideals, as it gave certain perks that their current polytheistic religion did not offer to them. The emperors of Rome had many different views on Christianity; some emperors encouraged change, and others were more traditional and wanted to stick to their current, polytheistic religion. Roman views on Christianity have changed drastically from the early years of the Roman
Constantine I (February 27, 280 C.E.- May 22, 337 C.E.), also known as Constantine the Great, was the first Roman emperor to not only abolish persecution of Christians, but he was also the first to convert to Christianity in 312 A.D. Around 200 years later, in 496 A.D. Clovis I (466 C.E.- 511 C.E.), the King of the Franks, converted to Christianity, in which he was called a “new Constantine” . Constantine and Clovis’ reign through Christianity were alike in the way that they decided to convert. However, the two emperors were different in their commitment to God and their impacts on the church and state.
Constantine was able to remain true to his religious beliefs and Christianity was allowed to flourish in the open. The edict protected Christians from being tortured by the pagan leaders and restored their places of worship into the hands of Christian leaders. Having possession of their religious artifacts gave Christians encouragement as they returned to worship in their churches. Christian freedom led to their presence in community where they could openly express their religious beliefs and moral values. The pagans continued to try and prevent the growth of Christianity and more wars ensued but at least the Christians now had legal recourse.
Most importantly, the Roman Empire began to be seen as an earthly imitation of heaven, where the emperor acted as God’s regent (Maas, 1). The head of the state now became a leading figure in the Church as well. This new role meant that the emperor was allowed to mediate issues concerning Christian ideology (Maas, 110). Of course this created tension with the clergy, who felt that matters of the Church should be dealt with internally rather by imperial decree. Later emperors, like Justinian, tried to placate the priesthood by echoing the sentiment that it was best “When the clergy shows a proper spirt and devotes itself entirely to God, and the emperor governs the state which is entrusted to him” (Maas, 9). This did not mean that these emperors did not also try to influence matters of the Church. Even Justinian was reprimanded for attempts to solve the Three Chapters Controversy (Maas, 9). So while the emperor gained influence as God’s chosen regent, he had to contend with the desires of the priesthood just as earlier emperors had to contend with the
Constantine the Great, first Christian Emperor, originator of Constantinople, creator of the Byzantine Empire, military conqueror, and honored saint, has been labeled by many the most instrumental emperor of the Roman Empire. Constantine played a crucial role in the development of Europe during the Middle Ages, and founded Christianity as the formal religion of the Roman Empire. His dynamic yet effective predominance laid the infrastructure of European development. From his humble beginnings, to his command of the Roman Empire, to his final days, Constantine’s impact on world history and Christianity has left behind an unforgettable legacy. He was described by Eusebius as “such an emperor as all history records not.” Ware compared him to, “a watershed in the history of the Church.” Additionally, Meyendorff states, “No single human being in history has contributed to the conversion of so many to the Christian faith.” Norwich declared that “No ruler in all of history has ever more fully merited his title of ‘the Great’…Constantine has serious claim to be considered the most influential man in all of history.” Some of Constantine’s notable acts in the history of Christianity was his calling of the first Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, his institution of freedom for Christianity with the Edict of Milan, and the relocation of the capital of empire from Rome to Constantinople.
Saint Augustine of Hippo was born on November 13, 354, in the town of Thagaste, which is now located in Algeria. His father was a pagan who converted on his death bed, and his mother was Saint Monica, whom was a devout Christian. In 370, he went to the University at Carthage to study rhetoric and wanted to become a lawyer. He gave up on law, and later on abandoned his Christian faith. He had a mistress with who he lived with for fifteen years and he had a son out of wedlock as well. He later, returned to his Christian faith, and on the death of his mother he returned to Africa, sold his property, gave all of his income to the poor, and founded a monastery at Tagas...
... observed and put into practice. In almost all his policies, his main target was the policy of reconciliation, religious set up and economic progress. He as a leader, held no side to favor. He is considered to be the autocrat of the modern and civilized world of that time. He played a major role in restoring peace in the midst of conflicting views from different emperors who ever reined the republic of Rome for centuries of years. In addition to reconciliation role that he played as a leader, he also brought order and progressive changes among the confused Roman people. He is the only emperor to ever rule and be contented with the substance of power that appeared indifferent to its form. Augustus may be referred as an unadventurous reformer of the early centuries due to his great work of regenerating new institutions without affecting the existing ones.
Although slow in it's development, Constantine's support of Christianity allowed for the religion to have some imperial support. Due to his believing to have heard from God in a dream telling him to put the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek, Chi Rio, on the shield of his soldiers. Because of this, Constantine believed to have won many battles. In 313 AD, Constantine met with the eastern emperor, Licinius, in Milan and together they issued the Edict of Milan. This allowed Christians to worship and gave back the churches that were confiscated during the Great Persecution.
The head of Emperor Constantine was created between 337 and 340 during the early Byzantine period. It has an overall dimension of 27 x 17.5 x 18.8 cm, which makes it a life-sized head sculpture. According to historians, “Constantine won the decisive battle over the larger army of Maxentius through the miraculous intervention of the Christian God” (Snyder,2006, p.17). The marble sculpture represents the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine the Great.
As the greatest empire in the western world began to crumble one city at a time, the leader of the Roman Empire, Constantine, under pressure from external and internal sources moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople around 330 AD. The movement of the capital was after his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD, a growing religion throughout the empire despite being officially illegal. Constantine was not the devote saint that the church may speak of today, “from 312-320 Constantine was tolerant of paganism, keeping pagan gods on coins and retaining his pagan high priest title "Pontifex Maximus" in order to maintain popularity with his subjects, possibly indicating that he never understood the theology of Christianity” (Ferguson & Grupp, 1998). The first Christian Emperor claimed to have converted after a victorious battle with his brother and there are many that corroborate this story it appears highly suspicious to only promote Christian ideals and worship. Constantine was not even the Emperor that made Christianity the religion of the Roman people, but simply permitted religiou...
Saint Augustine was born on November 13, 354 AD in Tagaste, Numidia (modern-day Nigeria). His father, Patricius was a pagan and his mother, Monica was a devoted Christian who prayed untiringly for her son’s conversion to become a Christian herself. His mother later became officially declared by the Roman Catholic Church and became a saint as well. Due to his