THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE

The Life of Constantine

The Life of Constantine

Thesis statement

Christians very often have had to follow the advice of our Saviour to be subtle as serpents and gentle as doves. We may think of the great leaders of the Church, saints, martyrs or bishops. But I believe that these words can be related to a Roman emperor, too.

Introduction

The paper discusses the strong relationship between the Christian Church and Roman imperial power that has been mentioned throughout the books that are “The Life of Constantine", the "Donation of Constantine", "On the Donation of Constantine. (Bleckmann, 2008)

At the beginning of the fourth century, Constantine the Great produced a revolutionary transformation, celebrating the incredible “marriage” between the civil state and the Christian Church. During Constantine's reign, a religion which had been persecuted and considered a dangerous sect became licita and was integrated into the life of the empire.

Discussion

The decisive step was made through the famous Edict of Milan. In 313 Constantine and his brother-in-law, the emperor Licinius, declared Christianity a free religion in the Roman Empire: “With happy auspices … we decided to establish rules by which respect and reverence for the deity would be secured, to give the Christians and all others liberty to follow whatever worship they choose, so that whatsoever divine and heavenly powers exist might be enabled to show favour to us and to all who live under our authority.”The edict was just a meeting of two realities, a foretaste of the future relationship. A good diplomat, Constantine knew that in a pagan state a formerly persecuted religion could not be implemented overnight, so this was just the first link in his political chain.

Christianity and the Unity of the Empire

Indeed, Constantine had to be careful. Other attempts to introduce a new religion led to great conflicts. In this way the emperor Heliogabalus tried to impose the worship of the oriental god El-Gabal in Rome. He changed the traditions and started to wear an unusual oriental ceremonial dress. He showed little respect for the Roman sacred fire and removed the statue of Minerva from the forum. The emperor was murdered after only four years, in 222. For this reason, Constantine was to act step by step, with great patience. (Cameronm, 2003) The close relationship between politics and religion was regarded only as an alliance but in fact shaped both sides into suitable partners. Constantine introduced new and unusual rituals for the Roman world into his life: prayers, celebrations of the Christian feasts and meetings with the clergy. Christian symbols became present everywhere: a cross of precious stones appeared in his private apartments, and in front of the portico of the palace the emperor was painted holding a cross and stepping on a dragon. The apogee was no doubt his request to receive the baptism and also, for the first time in history, Constantine as a defunct emperor was the subject of the Christians. The liberated Church considered its protector “equal to the apostles” and raised ...