Christians and other small religious groups within the Roman Empire in the late 3rd century A.D. lived a life of uncertainty and fear. Rome, being a polytheistic society, relied on their traditional gods. Because the Roman Empire stretched across Europe and eventually the Middle East, there were numerous deities worshiped by the Romans. In addition to deity worship, the emperor was considered divine as well and was worshiped by performing a ritual sacrifice. The sacrificial worship of the emperor showed that the individual was true to Rome and loyal to its king. Individuals not willing to participate in the sacrificial observance, such as the Christians, were swiftly punished and put to death.[i] Throughout the beginnings of Christianity, the followers of Jesus Christ suffered unimaginable tortures and brutal execution for numerous crimes against Rome, imagined atrocities, and misunderstandings about the Christian religion until the rise of Constantine the Great. Constantine and his co-emperor, Licinius, drafted the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., opening the door for religious freedom within the Roman Empire and ending the great persecution of the Christians of Rome.
Rome was founded on the myth of Romulus and Remus, the offspring of the god Mars and a mortal woman, Rea Silvia. The god, Mars, was said to have impregnated Rea Silvia, thus ruining her reputation. She gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus. The uncle of Rea Silvia, Amulius, became angry because his niece was “to take vows as a Vestal.” Amulius put the twin babies in a basket and set them afloat in the Tiber River in order for them to die. His plan went awry as the babies survived and a she-wolf nursed them. They were rescued by the king’s shepherd and after reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus took revenge on Amulius, killing him and setting the rightful king, their grandfather Numitor, on the throne. The brothers then founded their own city together; however Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel assumed sole power and named the city Rome. Romulus and Remus were thereafter worshiped as gods and as the founders of Rome.[ii]
Early Roman religion consisted of the worship of traditional Roman gods, as well as, gods assimilated from the culture within the territories gained by conquest. For example, Sol Invictus, otherwise known as Apollo, was one of the dominant gods of the Roman Empire and originated in Greece as did more than half of the Roman deities. Romans initially attributed Apollo “as the god of poetry and music;” however, Greek immigrants from the ancient Greek city of Cumae worshiped Apollo as the god of healing and his popularity within the Roman Empire grew during the plague in the 5th century B.C.. Many soldiers were followers of Apollo and Caesar Augustus “chose him as the divine patron of his regime” and honored the deity by building him a palace.[iii] The Egyptian goddess, Isis was another prevalent deity in the Roman Empire. Isis was the Egyptian goddess of “fertility, protection and healing.” Her cult was widespread throughout the Mediterranean and was brought to the Roman Empire by means of pilgrims visiting her temple on the island of Philae. Because Isis was so popular throughout the known world, she was known by countless names and was often referred to as “the goddess of the innumerable names.”[iv] Throughout the majority of the Roman Empire, she was known as “Aphrodite.” The supreme gods of the Roman Empire were Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. The worship of the old gods was considered vital to the Roman Empire. One must appease the gods in order to prosper and live a peaceful life.
Additionally, the emperors themselves were considered divine and were worshiped as gods by the Romans. In 249 A.D., the emperor Trajan Decius instituted the Imperial Cult which entailed worshiping past emperors who had reached godhead status after death. He believed that the ancient gods were based on mortal men and the good emperors were the “protectors of the State,” attaining greatness through their achievements in life and therefore, deserved to be immortalized and worshiped as gods after death.[v] All religions were tolerated due to the assimilation of various belief systems throughout the expansion of the empire; however the act of emperor worship was mandatory for all and refusal to do so usually ended in death.[vi] This was a problem for the Christians as they believed in only one god and according to their Ten Commandments a Christian could not put any other god before their god. Tertullian gave an example of how a Christian viewed the pagan gods. He stated, “I see only the faces of old, dead men. I hear wild stories. I recognize sacred rituals built on empty myths. We do not worship your gods because we know there are no such beings.” After the sacrifice to the emperor the participant then ate the meat of the sacrificial animal. This also was a problem for the Christians. According to the Bible, Christians were prohibited from eating food sacrificed to idols. A true Christian in this era was easily recognized by their refusal to participate in the sacrifice. A good example of this is seen in Eusebius,’ Martyrs of Palestine in which a man by the name of Procopius was accused of Christianity. After being brought to the governor’s tribunal he was “ordered to sacrifice to the so-called gods, declared that he knew only one to whom it was proper to sacrifice, as he himself wills. But when he was commanded to offer libations to the four emperors, having quoted a sentence which displeased them, he was immediately beheaded.” [vii]
Christianity began in Judea around 33 A.D. and was based on the belief that Jesus of Nazareth, a poor carpenter, was the long awaited messiah of the Jews. He was called the King of the Jews by his followers and it was also believed that he was the Son of God, immaculately conceived by the Holy Spirit of God upon a mortal woman known as Mary. Because of Jesus’ claim of kingship, his associations with lower class society and criminals, and the alarmingly rapid growth of His following, He was targeted by political officials in the region. The Sanhedrin, a Jewish political power in Judea, did not believe in Jesus’ divinity and accused him of treason against the emperor. Jesus was eventually arrested and brought before the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate for questioning. Pontius Pilate did not wish to become involved in the religious matters of the Jews and refused to prosecute Jesus. Instead, he sent Jesus to be questioned by the Judean king, Herod. Once again, Jesus was found to be innocent of the crime of treason. He was once again delivered to Pontius Pilate who then ordered him to be scourged but, not executed; however this did not appease his accusers and fearing a revolt within the territory he controlled and repercussions from the emperor, he ordered Jesus’ execution. Jesus was crucified, a common form of execution for non-Roman citizens, for teaching a doctrine contrary to Caesar’s and proclaiming Himself King of the Jews. Three days after Jesus’ burial, His body disappeared and several of His followers claimed to have spoken with Jesus after his death, including His twelve apostles. Jesus was said to have risen from the grave in order to overthrow the power of Satan upon the earth and to give all who believe in Him eternal life with His father, Jehovah in heaven. With the exception of a few, the Romans did not recognize the divinity of Jesus and believed him to have been a criminal and a rebel, deserving of his fate. Therefore, His followers, labeled as Christians, were also viewed as treasonous to Rome as they were insisting that Jesus, their true king, would return and liberate them from their persecutors.[viii]
Christians were almost immediately persecuted for their faith after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were considered rebels and most were criminals prior to their conversion to Christianity. According to the New Testament, Stephen, a follower of Jesus, was brought before Jewish priests for the crime of blasphemy against Moses and Jehovah. In Stephen’s testimony he accused the Jewish priests of murdering the promised messiah stating, “of whom [Jesus] you have been now the betrayers and murders.” This angered the priests and they “cast him out of the city, and stoned him.” The most well known, early persecutor of the Christians was a Roman citizen by the name of Saul of Tarsus. He was present at the stoning of Stephen and his job was to seek out Christians and punish them. According to the Book of Acts, Saul, “made havock [sic] of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” During his journey to Damascus to seek out and punish more Christians, Saul claimed to have had a vision of Jesus that was so powerful that it changed his life forever. He immediately ceased in his persecution of the Christians and was convinced that Jesus was indeed the messiah and converted to Christianity. He changed his name to Paul and after many years of spreading the doctrine of Jesus Christ he was captured, convicted, and executed during the reign of Nero.[ix]
Early Christians faced severe persecution within the Roman Empire for several reasons. According to Eusebius, during the persecution at Lugdunum c. 178 A.D., they were “falsely accused” of holding “Thyestean banquets” and of having “Oedipodean connections.”[x] A Thyestean banquet was an event taken from Greek mythology in which two brothers, Atreus and Thyestes, became embroiled in a domestic dispute. Thyestes had an adulterous affair with Atreus’ wife, Aerope and was banished from Argos. Thyestes later petitioned the king, Atreus, to allow him to return. His petition was granted and he was invited to a banquet by the king. Atreus, prior to the banquet, murdered Thyestes’s two sons and served them to Thyestes as the main course and did not tell Thyestes until he had eaten.[xi] The reason for this accusation lies with the Christian ritual called communion. Christians observed the act of communion as commanded by Jesus to remember Him and His sacrifice. Communion consisted of eating unleavened bread, which represented the body of Christ, and drinking a small cup of wine representing Christ’s blood. It was this act that prompted the rumor that the Christians ate people. An Oedipodean connection refers to the incestuous relationship of Oidipous and his mother, Iokaste in Homer’s The Odyssey.[xii] Christians were accused of holding incestuous orgies and consuming human flesh. These accusations incited a furious mob. Eusebius relates in The Letters to the Churches that “all raged against us like wild beasts.” The soldiers quickly seized men and women thought to be Christians, questioned them, and then finding them guilty of Christianity, promptly put them to death.[xiii]
Because of their associations with criminals, beggars, and other undesirables, Christians were a common scapegoat for troubles within the Empire. A good example of this occurred during the reign of Nero in 64 A.D. A fire had ravaged Rome for nine days utterly destroying everything in its path. Speculation that Nero himself was responsible for the fire ran rampant throughout the empire and could not be completely suppressed. Nero, after hearing numerous complaints from a “powerful anti-Christian lobby,” found a scapegoat in the Christians. This “anti-Christian” group accused the Christians of treason against the emperor and of “practicing strange and wicked religious rites.” By not taking part in idol worship, Christians did not “recognize the religious character of the state,” and were a threat to “the religious foundation of the state.” Using this information, Nero began ordering the torture and execution of known Christians.[xiv] Proof of Nero’s brutality was noted in Tacitus’s writings. He stated, “Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.” Tacitus goes so far as to accuse Nero of killing the Christians for the crime of “hatred of the human race,” and not for the crime of arson. Tacitus conveyed examples of Nero’s cruelty saying, “they [Christians] were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.[xv]” Some writers during that time period such as, Suetonius, believed that the actions taken against Christians were necessary; however, there was no connection between the fire and Nero’s persecution of the Christians. Suetonius was under the employ of Nero and therefore, was biased towards the emperor.[xvi] Regardless of his reasons, Nero did persecute the Christians in a barbaric show of tyranny.
In the beginning of the 3rd century A.D., Christianity began to appeal to everyone and the following of Jesus Christ was growing rapidly. Christians could be found everywhere. Tertullian wrote, “Those who once hated Christianity because they knew nothing about it no sooner come to know it than they all lay down at once their enmity. From being its haters they become its disciples. They begin now to hate what they had formally been and to profess what they formally hated and their numbers are just as great as they are said to be.” In Christianity, women and children were welcomed with open arms. A number of women were given positions within the church. This appealed to the elite women of the male dominated empire as they had few social roles in which to choose from. The pagans believed that one must sacrifice to the gods in order to gain divinity after death. The doctrine of Christianity proclaimed that all humans were made in the image of God and therefore, all had a purpose for living and all were equal in the eyes of God. The clear promise of an afterlife and eternal peace and love with the Father attracted young and old, poor and rich, slave and free. The old gods promised either no life after death or an afterlife that was not as appealing as the afterlife doctrine of the Christians. Origen, a Christian philosopher and historian in the late 3rd century A.D. stated, “The teaching of the apostles is that after it leaves this world the soul, which has a substance and life of its own, shall receive the reward it has earned. If its actions deserve it, it will inherit eternal life and blessedness and there will be a time of resurrection from the dead when this body which is now sown in corruption will rise in incorruption.” Christianity also demanded high morals and provided a clear instruction pertaining to right and wrong within their society. By the end of the 3rd century Christianity was quickly becoming less of a minority religion. [xvii]
There are many writings concerning the treatment of the Christians by the Roman emperors, the most common being those of the historian Eusebius. His eye-witness accounts and preservation of the letters of other eye-witnesses to the persecution of the Christians provide a vivid portrait of the great persecution of the Christians. Eusebius’s preservation and account of The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia gives a clear account of the many obstacles Christians faced in his time. The letter was written c. 178 A.D. during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his son and co-emperor, Commodus. It detailed the persecution of the Church of Lyons, a most vicious assault upon the Christians within the empire. They were accused of causing plague, inviting barbarian attacks, cannibalism and incest. The general populace became so enraged they formed an angry mob bent on seeking revenge for their losses and began brutally attacking Christians.[xviii] According to the letter, “Not only were we [Christians] excluded from houses, baths, and the forum, but a universal prohibition was laid against any one of us appearing in any place whatsoever” and they suffered, “hootings and blows, draggings, plunderings, stonings, and confinements, and everything that an infuriated mob is wont to perpetrate against those whom they deem bitter enemies.” The people of Lugdunum believed “that they would sin greatly and act impiously if they in any respect fell short in their insulting treatment” of the Christians. Even those Christians, who feared torture and death and therefore, denounced Christ were imprisoned and “shared their [Christians who refused to deny Christ] hardships.” These deniers were convicted of murder and were put to death without attaining martyrdom, the highest honor for a Christian. According to the eyewitness, the Christians who did not deny Christ went gloriously to their deaths while the deniers were “downcast, humbled, sad-looking, and weighed down with every kind of disgrace.” A sort of respite did happen, according to Eusebius, Caesar ordered that those that denied Christ could no longer be punished and must be set free. Those who continued to proclaim their belief that Jesus Christ was the messiah were either beheaded, if a Roman citizen, or “sent to the wild beasts.”[xix]
It became common practice for men and women associated with Christianity, young and old, to be executed within the arena for public amusement. They were dragged, beaten, whipped, and ridiculed then taken to the arena where they endured excruciating tortures before death. A common form of execution and entertainment was to have the victim “dragged about by the wild beasts” and if the victim lived through that torture, he or she would then be “placed in the iron chair, on which their bodies were roasted, and they themselves filled with the fumes of their own flesh.” Women and children were no exception to the rule. For instance, there was an account regarding a woman, Blandina, who was tortured for hours then nailed to a post and “exposed as food to the wild beasts that were let loose against her.” She did not perish this way but, was instead taken to the prison and left there for future amusement. At last, she was taken into the arena and along with a fifteen year old boy, “was scourged and exposed to the wild beasts, and roasted in the iron chair, in the end, she was enclosed in a net and cast before a bull.”[xx]
In the writings of Perpetua, a Christian woman persecuted for her faith, she reveals the torment she underwent, as well as, the comfort that her God brought her in her time of distress. In The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, Perpetua related that she was a “newly married woman of good family and upbringing” and she was “about twenty-two years of age and had an infant son at the breast.” She stated that her father, in desperation, tried to encourage her to recant and save her life but, she refused. After praying for a few days, she was instructed by the Holy Spirit “not to ask for any other favour [sic] after the water but, simply the perseverance of the flesh.” She was taken to a prison filled with other accused Christians, including her own brother, and retained there in darkness. She was afraid for herself and her son who was with her in prison. She was allowed to give her son over to her family for safe keeping. She had visions of what was to become of her and determined that she and her brother would suffer and ultimately perish for their faith. She was called, along with others, to a hearing at which her father and infant son were present. Her father appealed to her to sacrifice for the sake of her son. She again refused and was sentenced to die in the arena on the emperor’s birthday. At her execution, Perpetua remained resolute in her faith and honored to be a martyr for her God. Her punishment was to be thrown to the mad heifer in order for her to be raped by the beast. Stripping her naked, the soldiers placed her in a net along with another woman, Felicitas. The audience rejected the display of the naked women’s bodies because the women were young and “fresh from childbirth.” For this reason, they were again clothed and returned to the heifer where they were brutally trampled and tossed by the animal. Again, the people watching demanded mercy and she and Felicitas were given a brief respite. Perpetua was then forced to participate against a gladiator and when first wounded, “she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat and was put to death.”[xxi] This type of execution was prevalent throughout the Roman Empire and thousands of Christians were subjected to these horrifying treatments which only increased with the rise of Diocletian and Galerius in the late 3rd century A.D.
Diocletian became Emperor of Rome in 284 A.D. and his reign was different from all other Roman emperors. Diocletian had three other emperors reigning alongside him using a system called, Tetrarchy. Because the empire was so vast, Diocletian believed there should be more than one ruler in order to govern effectively. He used the principle of adoption used by prior emperors in which a man was chosen as the “adoptive” son of the emperor and they would rule alongside each other until the demise of the elder. Hereditary secession often caused problems as the heir to the throne could either be too ill, too young, or not mentally capable to rule. Using the adoption method insured that the new emperor would be fit for rule.[xxii] Diocletian shared the position of Caesar Augustus, or Senior Emperor, with Maximianus, and his Caesars, or Junior Emperors were Constantius I and Galerius. He divided the empire into four distinct territories, each governed by one of the four emperors.[xxiii]
During the first twenty years of Diocletian’s rule, he was tolerant of all religions and rarely enforced persecution of Christians.[xxiv] However, all four of the reigning emperors at that time believed in the old Roman ways. They felt that if the people of the Roman Empire deviated from the old gods and old way of doing things in all aspects, the empire would fall.[xxv] In 302 A.D., because of internal and external conflict, and numerous other problems within the empire, Diocletian visited the Oracle of Dismas for advice. It is said that “Apollo spoke in a voice that no human could hear” to the oracle. The oracle informed Diocletian that “the presence of the just men on earth was preventing him [Apollo] from speaking the truth.” The oracle convinced Diocletian that the “just men” were the Christians and Diocletian must eliminate them in order to bring safety and success to the empire.[xxvi] According to The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, Diocletian was superstitious and often consulted oracles and sought out diviners of the future. He was bombarded with demands from anti-Christian groups to exterminate them from the empire in order to please the gods. Diocletian felt that his sacrifices weren’t successful because of the “just” Christians the oracle had warned him about. In 303 A.D., he ordered the persecution of the Christians through a series of four edicts.[xxvii]
The first of Diocletian’s edicts demanded the destruction of the Christian churches, their holy scriptures were to be “destroyed by fire,” and any person still proclaiming to be a Christian was to be taken into custody. The edicts following the first commanded that “all the rulers of the churches in every place should be first put in prison and afterwards compelled by every device to offer sacrifice.” By targeting the leaders of the church, Diocletian hoped to destroy the Christian’s resolve and bring them down. All persons, including women, children, and even infants were ordered to “sacrifice and pour out libations to the idols.” Once a person had sacrifice as commanded, he or she was given a certificate proving they had participated in the ritual.[xxviii] His co-Augustus, Maximianus, enacted an imperial edict ordering the rebuilding of the pagan temples and altars in an attempt to discourage the Christians.[xxix] Persecution of this caliber was carried out by Diocletian until his abdication in 305 A.D. He forced Maximianus to abdicate with him in order to bring unity to the empire. Even though Diocletian was gone, the Christians were far from safe at this point, as his former co-emperors, continued to carry out his edicts until the rise of Constantine the Great in 306 A.D. [xxx]
Constantine was the son of Caesar Constantius I and was present at his father’s death bed. Upon Constantius’s death in 306 A.D., Constantine’s army proclaimed him Augustus; however, Galerius reluctantly appointed him as Caesar, not as Augustus.[xxxi] In 311 A.D., Galerius had a change of heart regarding the brutal persecution of the Christians and reluctantly passed, The Edicts of Toleration while on his death bed. The edicts freed the Christians to worship and bypass the mandatory sacrifice to the emperor. In the edicts, Galerius stated, “in view of our most mild clemency and the constant habit by which we are accustomed to grant indulgence to all, we thought that we ought to grant our most prompt indulgence also to these, so that they may again be Christians and may hold their conventicles [sic], provided they do nothing contrary to good order.” Galerius goes on to ask that the Christians “pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the republic may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes.”[xxxii] Galerius’s change of heart was the first step towards religious freedom for the Christians in the Roman Empire.
In 312 A.D, Constantine met Maxintius, Galerius’s nephew and emperor of the west, on the battlefield. Maxintius was proclaimed emperor by the Roman Praetorian Guard in 306 A.D. and ruled from the city of Rome. Maxintius had continued to vigorously persecute the Christians despite Diocletian’s, Edicts of Toleration and it did not sit well with Constantine.[xxxiii] Constantine’s army of approximately 25,000 was up against Maxintius’s 100,000 man army. Greatly outnumbered, Constantine prayed to the highest deity, not knowing which deity he was appealing to for help. According to Eusebius, “he [Constantine] called on him with earnest prayer and supplications that he would reveal to him who he was, and stretch forth his right hand to help him in his present difficulties.” Constantine swore an oath that he had seen a vision of a “cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, ‘Conquer by This.’” He claimed that his entire army had seen this vision along with him. Constantine, after retiring for the night, had a dream that Jesus was standing before him and “commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.” Constantine did as Jesus commanded of him and his army worked together and crafted a banner with “gold and precious stones.” His army, with crosses painted on their shields and carrying the banner bearing the cross, gained the victory over Maxintius’s larger army.[xxxiv] Constantine became the Augustus of the western empire, while the Augustus, Licinius ruled the eastern empire. Upon entering Rome, Constantine refused to sacrifice to the god, Jupiter as was custom after battle. He believed that to do so was to go against the god that had gained him the victory over Maxintius. Jupiter’s banner was carried into battle by Maxintius and he was defeated; therefore, Constantine felt it would be offensive to sacrifice to the losing god. Constantine converted to Christianity immediately following the battle and remained a Christian throughout his life.[xxxv]
An arch was constructed commemorating Constantine’s victory at Milvian Bridge which still stands today. [xxxvi] The arch contains no reference to the Christian god that Constantine claimed won him the battle. Instead, it is covered in pagan symbolism. Constantine, in a great political move, withheld his condemnation of the pagan religions in order to avoid offending the populace. He felt that it was too soon to enforce his newly found religion. Constantine slowly began substituting pagan holidays and images with Christian images. For instance, Helius, the pagan sun god, had sun rays around his head. His image was replaced with the image of Christ with a halo around his head. December 25 was the Romans’ most sacred pagan holiday; however, Constantine declared that this day was Christ’s official birthday. This gave the pagans a sense of little change and appeased the Christians as well.[xxxvii]
In 313, Constantine and his co-emperor, Licinius drafted the Edict of Milan. While Licinius remained a pagan, he agreed with Constantine’s idea of religious liberty. Their intentions were to provide religious freedom for all within the Roman Empire. They stated, “. . . 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.” The edict freed all individuals to pursue the religion of their choice without fear of persecution. The emperors also commanded that the possessions previously taken from the Christians be returned to them “without money demanded or price claimed.”[xxxviii] The Christian churches were restored and bishops were appointed over them. The pagan architecture was replaced with Christian architecture, such as with basilicas. The buildings were grand and opulent with high arches and domed ceilings. Because of the Edict of Milan and Constantine’s favor, Christian churches soon became wealthy. Constantine surrounded himself with Christians and gave high ranking positions to them. Constantine’s embrace of the Christian religion made it the desired religion within the empire.[xxxix]
Over the next couple of years, the amicable relationship between Constantine and Licinius began to break down. Constantine, hoping to ensure the future of Rome, sent his brother-in-law, Bassianus, to meet with Licinius as a possible Caesar candidate. Licinius saw the action as an act against his authority and took offence. He convinced Bassianus to raise arms against Constantine and lost his life in the process. In the year 315, Constantine went to battle against Licinius, hoping to put an end to Licinius’s practices against him. By 320, after years of war with Licinius, Constantine still had not prevailed against his enemy and had reached a treaty agreement with Licinius. At that time, Licinius began to persecute the Christians; however, he did not use tactics previously used to persecute the Christians. Instead he began “expelling them from Imperial Service, forbidding synods, and perhaps even condoning executions.” This angered Constantine because he felt he was responsible for protecting the Christians. He prepared for battle and entered Licinius’s territory in order to fend off barbarian attacks but, Licinius believed that Constantine had broken the treaty by entering his lands. Licinius named his “former master of the offices,” Martinianus, co-Augustus attempting to thwart Constantine from becoming sole ruler of Rome. In 324, after many battles, sieges, and skirmishes, Licinius and Martinianus were defeated and were permitted to abdicate. Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, ensuring the Christians’ safety. By 326, both Licinius and Martinianus had been executed for treason, bringing an end to the conflict.[xl]
Constantine then turned his attention on Byzantium and created the Nova Roma, the New Rome. The city of Byzantium was located in a prime location near the Bosporus, and was surrounded by water on three sides. Byzantium became the capital of Rome on November 4, 326 and on May 11, 330, it was renamed Constantinople, “The City of Constantine.” Although Rome remained a largely pagan city, Constantinople was a Christian city. Constantine lavishly reconstructed the city to honor the Christian god. He built three large churches and replaced pagan temples with Christian buildings. He appointed Christians to high positions, creating great wealth for the Christians without fear of being stripped of their possessions because of their beliefs.[xli]
By the year 325, conflict within the empire over the varying Christian views, mainly the issue pertaining to Jesus’ divinity next to God the Father. Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, believed that Jesus was the “only begotten God;” however, he did not believe Jesus was equal to God the Father. He believed that God the Father alone possessed the supreme power and authority and that Jesus, being the son, did not hold the same power. Others believed that Jesus was the human form of God the Father and therefore, He was one and the same and held the same power. Atrius was exiled to Syria for spreading his beliefs but, he could not be quieted and his teachings were causing upheaval within the empire. Because of the large amount of wealth pouring into the church, men desired the high paying positions within the church which promised wealth, fame, and power. Church was no longer a holy place due to the disagreements over the interpretation of the scriptures and the jockeying for powerful positions. By making Christianity the favored religion, Constantine intended to unify the empire. Instead, he found that the Christians weren’t united themselves.[xlii]
In order to unify the church on these and other issues, Constantine organized the Nicene Council on May 20, 325. The council drafted the Nicene Creed, completely rejecting Atrius’s position on the subject. The creed asserted the ideology that God the Father and Jesus were the same God in different form. The creed stated, “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”[xliii] By stating this as fact in an official Christian document Constantine and the members of the council created unity within the church, thereby unifying the empire.
After thirty-one years of rule, while marching into battle against the Persians, Constantine died due to an illness, on May 22, 337. He was succeeded by his three remaining sons, Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius II, restoring the hereditary secession to the Roman Empire.[xliv] Constantine and Licinius’s Edict of Milan, and their vision of an empire built on the freedom of religion can still be seen today in the Roman Catholic Church. Pilgrims from around the world visit Constantinople, now Istanbul, to see the massive Christian cathedrals and basilicas built during the reign of Constantine the Great. With the exception of the failed attempt by the emperor, Julian in 361[xlv], to restore paganism as the state religion, Christianity remained the state religion for the Roman Empire throughout the remainder of the empire’s existence. Christians had finally obtained and enjoyed the freedom to worship that they had sought for three-hundred years.
[i] Doerries, Hermann. Constantine and Religious Liberty. 9.
[ii] Fox, William Sherwood. The Mythology of All Races: Greek and Roman. 306-307.
[iii] Fox, 300-301.
[iv] Lee, A.D. Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity. 26.
[v] Mattingly, Harold. Christianity in the Roman Empire. 27.
[vi] Doerries, Hermann. Constantine and Religious Liberty. 6.
[vii] Eusebius. "Martyrs of Palestine.”; Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[viii] Keresztes, Paul. Imperial Rome and the Christians: from Herod the Great to about 200 A.D. Vol. 1. 73.
[ix] The Holy Bible. Acts Chapters 7- 8.
[x] Eusebius. The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia.
[xi] Johnston, Ian. The House of Atreus.
[xii] Fox, William Sherwood. The Mythology of All Races: Greek and Roman.48.
[xiii] Eusebius. The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia.
[xiv] Keresztes, Paul. Imperial Rome and the Christians: from Herod the Great to about 200 A.D. Vol. 1. 9
[xv] Tacitus. Nero's Persecution of the Christians.
[xvi] Keresztes, Paul. Imperial Rome and the Christians: from Herod the Great to about 200 A.D. Vol. 1. 72. For more detailed information on Suetonius see chapter 38 of his writing entitled Nero.
[xvii] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xviii] Mattingly, Harold. Christianity in the Roman Empire .42.
[xix] Eusebius. The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia.
[xx] Eusebius. The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia.
[xxi] Perpetua. The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas.
[xxii] Ricciotti, Giuseppe. The Age of Martyrs: Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine; Tacitus. The Principle of Adoption.34-37.
[xxiii] Mathisen, Ralph W. De Imperatoribus Romanis.
[xxiv] Ricciotti, Giuseppe. The Age of Martyrs: Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine.29.
[xxv] Doerries, Hermann. Constantine and Religious Liberty. 9-19.
[xxvi] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xxvii] Lenski, Noel. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine. 52.
[xxviii] Diogenes, Aurelius. Certificate of Having Sacrificed to the Gods, 250 C.E. See Fig. 1.
[xxix] Eusebius, Lactantius. Diocletian: Edicts Against the Christians.
[xxx] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xxxi] Mattingly, Harold. Christianity in the Roman Empire. 58.
[xxxii] Eusebius; Lactantius. Diocletian Edicts Against the Christians.
[xxxiii] Lenski, Noel. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine.68.
[xxxiv] Eusebius. The Conversion of Constantine.
[xxxv] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xxxvi] For a view of the Arch of Constantine, see Fig. 2.
[xxxvii] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xxxviii] Constantine; Licinius. The Edict of Milan. 60.
[xxxix] Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xxxix] Constantine; Licinius. The Edict of Milan. 60.
[xl] Lenski, Noel. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine .74-77.
[xli] Mathisen, Ralph W. Chronology of European History: 15,000 B.C to 1997. 168-171.
[xlii] David Charles Smith; Charles L. Kammer, III. Chronology of European History: 15,000 B.C to 1997. 166-168; Trials and Triumphs in Rome: Christianity in the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
[xliii] David Charles Smith; Charles L. Kammer, III. Chronology of European History: 15,000 B.C to 1997.167-168; The Nicene Council. The Nicene Creed.
[xliv] Lenski, Noel. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine. 392.
[xlv] Chronology of European History: 15,000 B.C to 1997. 171.
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