Constantine the Great and his Adoption of Christianity

Michael Joseph
Intro to World Religions
15 December 2014

Abstract
Constantines adoption of Christianity prompted the vast social and political
transformation of the entire Roman Empire that laid the foundation of modern
Christianity. After his conversion, moral Christian doctrines were incorporated into
Roman government and thus dissolved the schism between church and state. Constantine
established the Council of Nicaea, which set guidelines for Christian orthodoxy and
officially decided which texts belonged in the canon of the New Testament. Constantines
influence on Christianity paved the way for Papacy as an authoritative figure in western
European politics, politically motivated wars justified by Christian doctrine, and the
institutionalized discrimination faced by non-Christians, especially Jews.

Christianity is the worlds leading religion in terms of followers consisting of more

than two billion of earths inhabitants. The number of Christian practitioners surged after
the Roman Emperor, Constantine I, freed early followers of Christ from persecution and
converted to Christianity himself in the third century. Constantines adoption of
Christianity prompted the vast social and political transformation of the entire Roman
Empire that laid the foundation of modern Christianity. After his conversion, moral
Christian doctrines were incorporated into Roman government and thus dissolved the
schism between church and state. Constantine established the Council of Nicaea, which
set guidelines for Christian orthodoxy and officially decided which texts belonged in the
canon of the New Testament of the bible. After Christianity became the dominant religion
in the Roman Empire it set out to colonize, evangelize, and convert the rest of the
Eurasian hemisphere, which later lead to the Crusades in the 10th century and expanded
the influence of Christianity across the globe.
Born Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Constantine was the son of a Roman Army
Officer and a concubine. His father, Constantius, was appointed Caesar of the Western
Empire by Diocletian and left his family behind in the Eastern Empire. Constantines
mother, Helena, who was later named a saint by the Roman Catholic Church was already
a Christian and raised Constantine under Christian moral values. Constantine received a
formal education and studied Latin, Greek, and philosophy. His interest in Christianity
was peaked early as he read the Old Testament and made a pilgrimage to the ruins of
Babel.1 Constantine was kept as sort of a hostage by Galerius, Caesar of the Eastern
Empire, because Diocletian did not fully trust Constantius. In the East, Galerius ruled
brutally and Constantine witnessed the horrific persecutions of the Christians. This made

an important impression upon Constantine as it would affect his policy and treatment
toward Christians. In 305, Constantine joined his father in Britannia to aid the Roman
campaign. His father would fall ill and die a year later but before his death Constantius
declared that he wanted his son to take his rank as Augustus but after hearing of
Constantius decision, Galerius demoted Constantine to Caesar.
By 312 Maxentius declared war on Constantine for murdering his father. After a
series of unsuccessful battles Maxentius fortified himself and his troops within the walls
of Rome and awaited a siege from Constantine. Constantine and Maxentius would meet
each other over the Tiber River for battle. The myth states that the night before the battle
Constantine had a dream where he was visited by God wielding the cross with the
inscription In Hoc Signo Vinces, which translates to, with this sign you will conquer.2
Before battle Constantine instructed all of his soldiers to mark their shields with the
ChiRho symbol, which are the first two letters of the Greek word Chritso. Maxentius
infantry was pushed off of the bridge and slaughtered by Constantines calvary.
Maxentius had drowned in the Tiber before the battle was over. This battle depicted
Constantines faith in the Christian religion.
After the war, Constantine marched his army to Rome and paraded the town with
Maxentius decapitated head. Constantine liberated political exiles and prisoners of
Maxentius and started a propagandistic campaign tarnishing Maxentius name.
Constantine had now become Augustus of both eastern and western halves of the Roman
Empire. Constantines first act as emperor was enforcing the Edict of Milan. This law
legally recognized Christianity as a religion and allowed Christians to practice publicly.
The Edict also returned any property previously confiscated back to its rightful owners.

The Edict of Milan required that the wrong done to the Christians be righted as
thoroughly as possible.
Constantines reign saw the integration of Roman government and Christian moral
values. This disintegration between church and state and toleration of Christian beliefs
also saw the intolerance of behaviors that would normally be socially acceptable within
Roman culture. Constantine made it illegal to practice homosexuality, abortion, suicide,
prostitution, the mass killing of human beings for entertainment in gladiatorial combat,
and many other behaviors deemed as sin by the Christian faith. Rome also began to care
for its destitute citizens, slaves, orphans, and prisoners.3 Constantines tenure was also
marked by the rise in power of the papacy. Constantine utilized the Bishops of Rome in
his inner advisory council. Another famous myth states that Constantine offered to donate
the entire Western Roman Empire to the Roman Bishop Sylvester I in exchange for
Sylvesters instruction of Constantine in Christianity, Constantines baptism, and to cure
Constantine of leprosy.4 Even though this never occurred it exemplified the relationship
between Constantine and the Papacy and how serious Constantine was in his faith.
Constantine also gave to Bishop Miltiades the Lateran Palace which he inherited through
his marriage to his second wife. The palace was first used as a place for bishops to
convene and would later become the main residence for the Pope in southeast Rome.
Constantine also made political and economic changes to Rome. He moved the capital of
the empire to Byzantium and named it Constantinople after himself. Constantine also
replaced all forms of Roman currency with the Solidus, a gold coin with his face on one
side and Christian images on the other. A schism in ideology started to take effect among
Christian theologians so Constantine established the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.5 The

council officially determined Christian Orthodoxy, compiled the canonical books for the
Bible, and affirmed the Jesus Christ was a divine being. The council also built the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to commemorate the final resting place of Jesus
Christ.
The changes made by Constantine in Roman government created long lasting affects
that not even he could have foreseen. The continuation of Roman domination was
accompanied by the expansion of Christendom across the Eurasian continent. Christians
became known for being bigoted and intolerant of any religion other than their own. They
discriminated against anyone who openly committed anything Christian orthodoxy
deemed as sinful. Christians believed that Jews were to blame for the death of Jesus
Christ and collectively held all Jews responsible for deicide. Roman laws also
discriminated against Jews prohibiting them from owning Christian slaves and marrying
Christians.6 This type of institutional discriminatory system lead to and justified the
oppression faced by Jews later in western European history. After the decline of the
Roman Empire no strong secular government existed and the only authoritative figure
was the Catholic Church in Rome. During Medieval times, there was a constant struggle
of power between the king and the pope. Christian clergy also held political authority
during this time. The first crusades were also a direct result of Constantines influence.
The first crusades were sanctioned by the Pope to reclaim lands in Jerusalem from
Muslims. The papacy used Christianity to justify war on the infidels. The crusades
marked the beginning of a pattern of Christian oppression upon different ethnicities of the
world and the consensual perception of Christians shifted towards a negative connotation.
Constantine the Great played a monumental role in the history of early Christianity.

His conversion to the faith ultimately lead to the adoption of Christianity by the Roman
Empire and later formation of the Roman Catholic Church. His changes in government
policy along with his moral Christian beliefs shifted the way Christians were valued in
Roman society. His reign also marked the rise in power of the papacy, giving the Pope
political authority within Roman society. Constantine started the political strategy of
justifying actions through Christ.

Endnotes
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6.

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Diederik Burgersdijk, Remembering Constantine at the Milvian Bridge (2013)
Benjamin Wiker, Constantines Gift to Christianity (2012)
J.F. Matthews, Constantine I Roman Emperor (2014) 2
Roman Emperor Constantine I (Columbia 2013)
USF Florida Center for Instructional Technology, Summary of Geological Movement
of Jews in the Past 2,000 Years (Tampa 2013)
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