A Military Officer At The Time

‘Christians to the lions’ as Trajan would say, an emperor in the early centuries Christianity to them have alienated the favour of their gods which has and would continue to cause disasters in the Roman Empire. The misfortune of Christians did not stop during this period, but it did come to a composed halt as Galerius, gave Christians the right to worship in some sense. Christianity during the early stages was clearly a course of persecution and forced pagan accusations. Constantine dramatically changed the recourse of religions with the battle of Milvian Bridge as Christianity became the predominant religion of the Roman Empire.

Constantine made many contributions as a leader. One contribution that he made as a leader was after his father died. Western Rome was experiencing many civil wars at the time. Maximian’s son, Maxentius, felt entitled to the land because it had once belonged to his father. Constantine felt authorized to take the land because it had also once belonged to his father. Constantine was successful at

Diocletian’s final policy was an unethical policy towards Christians. Diocletian destroyed the Christians’ church, published an edict that deprived Christians of all honours and dignities, made Christians undergo torture, determined that all lawsuits against Christians would be accepted, and that they should not be free or have suffrage. The overall effect of Diocletian’s policies gave the Roman Empire a strong and efficient government and the frontiers were successfully defended against the Persians and Barbarians. However, the persecution of the Christians was cruel and many people were burdened. The results of Diocletian’s policies could go either way but the important thing to remember is that he made a mark in history by refurbishing the Roman

The life of Constantine, a Roman emperor from 306 to 337 AD, is explained by two different accounts that differ from each other. The first one that was written by Eusebius in 337 AD states that Constantine is a victorious, pious emperor who helps others and orders the construction of sacred places to honor Christ. The second account was written in 520 AD by Zosimus and it states that Constantine is an impious, arrogant and selfish emperor who is responsible of the Roman Empire’s collapse.

and how it was run. All in all, the way that the empire was run under Claudius was very well off.

They had crossed the Danube River and attacked a Roman City. As soon as Aurelius and Verus raised the necessary funds for their troops, they went off to fight the invaders. Aurelius continued to chase off the Germans alone after his adopted brother, Verus, died in 169ce.

Flavius Valerius Constantinus’s exact birthdate is unassured; however, many historians believe he was born around the years of 272 to 280 CE. Constantine had got a head start in the race considering his father, Constantius, was a military commander and a Caesar of Western Rome. The young man was full of energy and always lively with whatever he did. He was given the job of a highly ranked officer. His motives were to rule Western Rome after his father and lead a well-structured society. Along the way of Constantine’s journey to power, many disputes arose. In 305 CE, sometime near May, Diocletian (Galerius’s father) and Maximian both let go of their power, leaving Galerius in control of the east and Constantius as Caesar of the west. This created

When the pagan Romans wanted Christianity to be the official church of the Holy Empire, they needed to rethink the concept of God; this concept not only vitiated the core of the Christian doctrine from within, but also endangered the Roman Empire itself. Constantine as the leader of the Empire decided to take action and remedy the situation.

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. He started his reign in 306 AD. During this time the Roman Empire was still composed mainly of pagans. Although the population of Christians was on the rise, in the beginning of the fourth century Christians made up only 10 percent of the population in the Roman Empire. There were approximately five million Christian in the Roman Empire meaning that they were still the minority (Waldron). His conversion was an important turning point not only for Christians but also for the Roman Empire as a whole. Although most Romans still believed in Greco-Roman religions, Constantine decided to become a Christian because he knew that it would be beneficial for his role as emperor. His conversion was prompted by his desire to end the tetrarchy structure of he Roman Empire and to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The story of Constantine’s conversion was told through Eucbuius of Caersera. His recount of the story is skewed by his bias. In order to show a more holistic view of the story I will be comparing his account to the account of Andreas. Constantine had other motives for converting to Christianity such as Alföldi. Constantine’s decision to become a Christian was influenced by numerous external factors. Constantine emulated the monotheistic nature of Christianity and used it as the foundation of his reign and used Christianity to advance his political agenda.

Constantine was believed to be born on February 22, either in 272 or 273 AD. The exact date and year is not definite. He was the son of Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius Augustus (mainly known as Constantius Chlorus) and Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta (mainly known as Saint Helena). His father was an officer of the army, and his mother was an inn keeper’s daughter. His father later divorced his mother Helena, and married Flavia Maximiania Theodora; his commanding officer’s daughter. Constantius Chlorus was ranked to Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west in 293. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a

Christianity being embraced to the Roman society was not a small feat. During this time Christians were heavily persecuted and often put to death. Christianity was considered prohibited cult and following this religion was a capital offence. The polytheistic Romans were extremely tolerant of other religions They allowed the worship of native gods and goddesses throughout their provinces and even adopted some of the deities. (Duiker) As long as the religious practices did not affect the order of the public and the religion guaranteed favor towards the state. However Christianity was considered a threat to the state and civil order due to its monotheism and was considered very exclusive. As long as the empires religious practices involved gods and goddess who ultimately protected and sustain the empire, officials we accepting of it. The first persecution of Christians was around year 64. Emperor Nero was the first emperor to persecute Christians. In 303 the empire had its last attack of persecution of Christians. The attack lasted until 311 when Emperor Galerius got sick and began to pray to the Christian god. (Andrea)

In the mid-3rd century the Roman Empire had all but fallen. Diocletian acted to save the corpulent empire by delegating, and these acts held the empire together for another century or more. However, the actions of

Justinian, whose full name was Flavius Anicius Julianus Justinianus, was born around 483 AD at Tauresium in Illyricum in the Balkans of present-day central Europe. He was the nephew of Byzantine Emperor Justin, the son of Justin's sister Vigilantia (Fortescue).

Constantine 's faith in christianity was founded much later in his life. The association he had in christianity was thanks to a battle for the control of the Western Roman Empire. In 312 A.D. Constantine

Emperor Constantine I effectively ended Roman paganism as he ended the tetrarchy. From a land of many gods and multiple emperors, Constantine ushered in an era defined by the principle of one God, one Emperor, and one Empire (Early Christianity, 9/11). Why he did so, whether it was solely for the political stability offered by a unified Church, or because of a personal motivation and dedication to the Christian faith, is a question tied to another: What exactly were Constantine’s beliefs? Was he a devout Christian? What was the depth of his faith? Constantine was a Christian, but also a political opportunist, and brilliant, if often brutal, statesman, and his choice of Christianity as the glue to hold the Roman Empire of the fourth century together is most certainly a fusion of these personal and political motivations.