Mr. Armstrong; I read your take on Constantine that he was just another politician who told his troops he saw a vision in the sky. He then had his troops put crosses on their shields because he faced an army twice his size and that his opponent was Christian who built the first Christian Church in Rome. I suppose this is what you mean by the Establishment Academics manufacture history. Is there any other evidence that brought you to that conclusion?
: There was only one coin ever issued just one time by Constantine with any Christian symbol. This was issued briefly in 327-328AD and is quite rare. All his other coins are standard Pagan type issues even years after his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge that took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on October 28th, 312. Constantine entered Rome on October 29th. He staged a grand entrance into the city. He did everything possible to pretend it was a popular jubilation. He ordered Maxentius’ body to be fished out of the Tiber River where he had drowned and decapitated the corpse parading he head on a pike through the streets of Rome for all to see.
Shortly after his victory, in February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan, where they developed the
. The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith without oppression. While this removed penalties for professing Christianity and returned all confiscated Church property, the edict
religions. This was the birth of freedom of religion allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they chose -
the state decree of Christianity.
Before the victory over Maxentius, another similar edict had been issued in 311 by
who was the senior emperor under the Tetrarchy that began the process granting Christians the right to practice their religion. Therefore, Constantine did not initiate anything in that regard.
Constantine certainly did not patronize Christianity alone. After gaining victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312AD, he constructed in 315AD a triumphal arch that still stands by the Colosseum. —the Arch of Constantine. The arch is decorated with images of the goddess Victoria. At the time of its dedication, sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, and Hercules were made. Absent from the Arch are any depictions of Christian symbolism whatsoever.
Later in 321, we end up with Christmas being December 25th for Constantine instructed that Christians and non-Christians should be united in observing the venerable day of the sun, referring to the sun-worship that Aurelian had established as an official cult. This became Christmas since nobody knew the birth date of Christ. This was a political move by Constantine. Nevertheless, despite his alleged conversion to Christianity, Constantine’s coinage continued to carry the symbols of the sun – not Christian. Other than this single coin issued 327-328, there are no other Christian symbols on coinage of Constantine.
Constantine’s new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and dedicated on 11 May 330. Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, which became the seat of Byzantine Christianity for a millennium, he did so wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem; no Christian symbols were present at this dedication. He issued special coins to commemorate the opening. However, again there is an absence of Christian symbols.
Constantine’s monetary policy clearly used religion as a cover no different from taxing just the rich or global warming are used today to hide the real thirst for money. The money supply of Constantine increased in direct proportion with measures of his confiscation of the wealth of Pagan temples. Beginning in 331AD until about 336AD, all gold, silver and bronze statues from pagan temples were declared as imperial property and, as such, as monetary assets. Two imperial commissioners for each province had the task of getting hold of the statues and having them melded for immediate minting into coinage to fund all his expenses. There were few exception such as a number of bronze statues that were used as public monuments for the beautification of the new capital in Constantinople.
The persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began late during the reign of Constantine the Great, when he ordered the pillaging and the tearing down of some temples. The first anti-Pagan laws by the Christian state only started with Constantine’s son Constantius II, who was a more unyielding opponent of paganism. It was Constantius II who actually ordered the closing of all pagan temples and forbade Pagan sacrifices under pain of death. He also removed the traditional Altar of Victory from the Senate, not his father. It was under the latter Constantius II’s reign when ordinary Christians started vandalizing many of the ancient Pagan temples, tombs and monuments.
Constantine’s mother, Helena, was a real devoted Christian. She traveled the Holy land and built churches everywhere something took place. She built the churches in Bethlehem and the church that enclosed Calvary and Christ’s Tomb.
Nonetheless, Constantine strangely issued coinage with Sol – the sun-god, well after his victories. He also did not bother to get baptized until on his death-bed. Some have argued he did not get Baptized until he died for that would remove all sins in his life. Clever – but risky. There is no empirical evidence that he confronted a Pagan army. Curiously enough, the many Christians following Maxentius did not embrace Constantine. Proof of this fact is that the conquering emperor would seize the scepter of his opponent. The
scepter to have survived from a Roman Emperor is that of Maxentius. The Christians hid that scepter to deprive Constantine of his moral victory. Why? Who knows. Some have argued because they did not believe Constantine and his claimed vision. They saw him as a fraud. Perhaps. Whatever the issue, the scepter is the only one to survive out of the entire Roman Imperial era.
The first Christian Church remains right there today in the Roman Forum built by Maxentius – not Constantine. These inconsistencies call into question the claims he saw a vision. It was the only way he could defeat Maxentius by disrupting his Christian Army to show them they were not Pagans. He then confiscated all the wealth of the Pagan temples to fund his new city – Constantinople. The proposition that there was one God served him politically arguing there should be just one Emperor as well.
I understand Constantine to many was considered a Saint. The single act of making Christianity the state religion had its economic benefits. That cannot be set aside because of religion. Constantine did not face a Pagan army. That is simply fact.
Constantinople
Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire replacing Rome as the heart of imperial power, it maintained influence and stability in the face of the decline of the West.
In 324 AD, Constantine I the Great defeated rival Emperor Licinius at the battle of Adrianople, laying claim to sole mastery over the entire Roman Empire. He recog nized the need for a new capital to replace Rome, which could no longer serve as the center of defense for the widely spread frontiers on the Rhine and Danube and in the East. A new location had to be found, one easily fortified and centrally situated. In addition, Constantine planned not only to expand Diocletian’s Sweeping reforms but also envi sioned an entirely new world for mankind and planned to overcome the dangerous influences of Rome; which had destroyed other emperors, by establishing a new model for the Empire. At the same time, Rome stood for the paganism of centuries, and Constantine’s faith demanded a new setting, where Christianity could flourish.
Bithynia and Nicomedia and other places in Asia had appeal, but none could be defended adequately, and some even presented themselves as targets for Persian attack. Constantine decided on Byzantium, a small city on the edge of the Golden Horn, on the Strait of the Bosporus, a bridge between East and West. Legendary accounts state that Constantine arrived there in November of 324 to march off the measurements for the extended building program, his yardstick being the “Hand of God.” Using the Lance of LONGINUS, the relic that was reported to have pierced the side of Christ while he was on the cross, the emperor started walking from Byzantium; when he stopped two miles later, he gave orders to start construction. Constantinople had seven hills and 14 quarters, as did Rome, and like that city it could not be built in a day. Six years of work followed its founding, and it was not until May 11, 330, that Con stantine could declare the construction completed, and of ficially renamed the city, although changes and modifications never ceased.
Byzantium had been a small community set on a prom ontory between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. In 194, the town had become embroiled in the war be tween the imperial claimants Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger After a long and bitter siege, Severus took the walls, and the town fell and suffered the humiliations of defeat. Constantine chose the site, in part because the rocks along its southern shore crushed vessels attempting to land outside the harbor, and the currents of the Bos porus made navigation difficult and sinkings frequent. About 3 ½ miles at its widest, the circumference of the city was some 15 miles. Constantine erected his new edifices around the original structures, eventually called the Augusteum, in honor of his mother Helena.
As the most prominent part of the jutting land mass and the most easily defended, the Augusteum became the spoke in a circle of urban growth that housed the most important offices of state. Nearby were the imperial palaces, the hip podrome and several of the great forums. The emperors and their families resided in the palaces, accompanied by government bureaucrats and ministers, the Scrinaris. Also, the Consistorium met there, and close by the Senate convened. The hippodrome served as the entertainment center for all residents. Smaller than the Circus Maximus, on which it was based, the hippodrome offered great games, chariot races and lavish spectacles, and seated over 60,000.
In the finest Roman tradition, several forums were erected to allow public assemblies and shopping areas, and no expense was spared in bringing the finest artisans and intel lectuals to the city. As in Rome, columns adorned the skyline. In the Forum of Constantine the Emperor was made eternal, with his own head mounted on top of a statue of Apollo at the peak of a column. In the Forum Tauri (from the reign of Theodosius I), one of the emperor’s columns towered above the landscape. Other monuments in the city included those dedicated to Arcadius, Aelia Eudoxia and Marcian, as well as those of Justinian, of a later era. Near the Forum Tauri was the city’s seat of learning, the Capitolium. There young studants from the various provinces studied under the foremost rhetoricians, grammarians, philosophers and academicians of the time. In 425, Theodosius II certified the University of Constantinople, which rivaled those of Antioch, Alexandria and, of course, Athens.
Three periods of growth took place within its borders. The first, from 324 to 330 AD, was when Constantine’s Wall established the perimeters from the Propontis to the Golden Horn. The second was from 330 to about 413 AD; when the population expanded beyond the walls and into the adjoining eastern districts. The last period of growth was from 413 AD to a time well beyond the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, when the walls established newer and wider borders.
Access could be gained through the ports, harbors or gates. The Golden Horn entrances included posts along the seawall and in the harbor of Prosphorion. Two main harbors served Propontis, the Theodosius and the Julian. Chains could be used to seal off the mouths of these harbors. As for the walls, the grand portal of Constantine’s Wall was the Golden Gate. Built by Theodosius I, the gate commemorated his victory over Maximus the usurper in 388 AD. A second Golden Gate loomed at the southern end of the Anthemian Walls (eventually renamed in honor of Theodosius). In the wider series of fortifications, the gates could be used either by the civilian population or the mil itary, depending upon classification. There were five entrances for the army and numerous ones for everyone else.
Entering the Golden Gate, a traveler would proceed north along the Middle Way, the road cutting through the city all the way to the Church of Saint Sophia. It crossed the Lycus River near the harbor of Theodosius and passed through most of the forums and many of the other build ings of importance, including the hippodrome and the Great Palace and the Palace of Hormisdas, constructed during Constantine’s reign to house a Persian prince.
As the center of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople had a population to rival Rome’s anywhere from 500,000 to 800,000 people. Aqueducts supplied the water needs, and Egypt’s fields provided the food. When the number of inhabitants began to outgrow the original boundaries of the city, towns such as Chrysopolis and Chalcedon could assume some of the population burdens. But a more permanent solution had to be found. At the same time, Constantinople needed even more defensive strength in the 4th and 5th centuries A D, as barbarians pillaged in the West and turned on the eastern borders.
Thus, in the first years of the reign of young Theodosius II, his Praetorian Prefect Anthemius took upon himself (c. 408-414 AD) the task of creating the strong fortifications still standing today. Anthemius placed the new wall approximately one mile to the west, along a wider line. Towers and gates, both civil and military, and fortified positions dotted this new structure.
Cyrus, a popular Praetorian prefect and prefect of the city (439 AD), extended the northern wall. No longer relying upon the Blachernae Palace for an anchor, it was linked to the seawall, defending the approaches to the city along the entire coastline. In the middle of the 5th century, a violent earthquake (not uncommon) shook the walls, and a Praetorian prefect by the name of Constantine ordered repairs to be made immediately. Another, smaller outer wall was added. The capacity to withstand attack became essential during the chaotic era of the 4th century. The Huns remained as a constant threat to Constantinople, as did other barbarian tribes. But the city served as a constant bulwark throughout the Late Roman Empire.
Constantine had built his city as a point from which Christianity could spread to the entire world. Thus the city became a center of churches, reflecting the changes within the Roman Empire. The greatest religious structure was Saint Sophia’s Church. Finished around 360 AD, it represented the ideal of Great Wisdom. The church stood until the time of Justinian (ruled 527-565 AD), when the Nika Revolt destroyed it. Its successor was greater than the original. Other magnificent churches included (through the ages) the Holy Apostles, St. Euphemia, Theotokos, St. Irene, St. Thomas, St. Laurentius, St. Diamed, and Theotokos Hodegetria, among others.
A bastion of spiritual authority, Constantinople played a significant role in the evolution of Christian doctrine. From its thrones the Emperors and Empresses directed the implementation of Christianity as the religion of the state. And in bitter theological feuds with such heresies as Arianism, Donatism and Novatianism, the patriarch of Constantinople vied for influence with the Emperors, as Antioch, Alexandria and Rome formed joint and competing alliances.
Theodosius I summoned the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD to reaffirm the Nicene Creed. Theodosius II listened to both sides of a dispute over the nature of Christ but succumbed to the bribes and threats of Cyril of Alexandria over the Nestorians.
Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Empire until the fall of the West circa 476 AD, and served as the home of the Byzantine rulers until 1453 AD. In that year, it was finally captured by the Turks.
The Legal & Bureaucractic Reforms of Constantine
The Legal & Bureaucractic Reforms of Constantine
Diocletian had started the many processes of centralization, and Constantine first embraced them and then expanded on them. First he subjected the bureaucracy to a massive overhaul. All ministries were under the command of the MAGISTER OFFICIORUM (master of offices), who supervised the rapidly centralized government. Although this trend had been toward a greater imperial authority, under Constantine’s direction the bureaus grew even weightier, more demanding but mor efficient.
Officers of the civil service rose in rank to wield influence and titles. Finances were administered by the COMES sacrarum largitionum (Count of the Sacred Largesse) and the comes privatae largitionis (Count of the Privy Purse) (see COMES). In legal matters Constantine relied upon the Jurists and his quaester sacri palati (chief legal advisor). All of these reforms found body and substance in the altered CONSILIUM PRINCIPIS, now called the CONSISTORIUM. This council of permanent magistrates and ministers framed the legislative enactments of the imperial will and brought all of the provinces under control. The regions of the Empire were still under the authority of prefectures, but the prefects themselves were more answerable to the imperial house, and the functions of these offices were altered.
Following the battle at Milvian Bridge, Constantine destroyed the CASTRA PRAETORIA, the centuries-old barracks of the PRAETORIAN GUARD. The Praetorians were disbanded and their prefects stripped of military duties. They retained their political and legal powers, however, overseeing the DIOCESE of the prefecture. In the place of the Guard, the DOMESTICI of Diocletian, along with the PALATINI, emerged as the military powers.
Now Constantine recognized the need to make a parallel military structure that would mirror the improved governmental body. He thus organized the army into two main classes, the COMITATENSES and the LIMITANEI. The comitatenses was the emperor’s mobile army. The limitanei stood in the ways of war and in the art of leading others. A ruthless character was tempered by the Christian doctrine. A complex personality, Constantine stood as the corner stone of a new age.
Change in Status of Cities
London at this time was one of the western emperor’s most active mints, but it was destined to be permanently closed down about 325 AD, soon after the victory over Licinius had made Constantine master of the entire empire and given him control of the great minting establishments of the East.
The northern Italian cities of Ticinum and Milan were the nerve centers of Constantine’s government in the half decade. The frequent presence of the emperor and his court resulted in the production at Ticinum of some attractive and unusual types in gold, both solidi and multiple denominations (medallions). The latter would have been specially minted as imperial gifts to high officials and dignitaries on state occasions The Ticinum mint was finally closed about 326 AD and its staff transferred to Byzantium, now renamed Constantinople. Their task was to create the empire’s largest minting establishment, to be operating in time for the official dedication ceremonies of the new capital in 330 AD.
Nicomedia had been the principal residence of Diocletian, and Constantine spent a considerable amount of time there in the period following his victory over Licinius in 324 AD. However, with the formal dedication in 330 AD of Constantinople as the eastern imperial capital, Nicomedia lost much of its former prestige.
