Edict Of Milan Analysis

In demanding such commitment, those won to Christianity were far more connected to its goals and purposes than believers to the general pagan movement. Further, “for Christians that were already firmly committed, the benefits of esteem and other worldly rewards far outweighed whatever cost in suffering martyrdom might bring. Paganism had nothing analogous to win such enthusiastic commitment” (Hamilton 38). Whereas, Christianity promised life after death in heaven while in the Roman religion, only gods went to heaven; emperors were considered gods, everyone else went to the underworld.

‘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.

On Doc A, It explains one of the many reasons the Romans persecuted the Christians. “As Christianity spread through the Roman world, some local officials feared that Christians were conspiring against them.” This quote not only shows why the Romans did what they did but it also kind of explains a little bit of background from the Romans side. It also says how there were some rulers that came to see Christianity as a threat to them and of course, they began to persecute the people who practiced it.

• Refers to rapid spread of Christianity among all classes of people, as well as Roman citizens that are sent to Rome for trial. “They have high ethical standards and if they repeatedly admit they honor Christ as God they are executed”.

* In this time, the man who was emperor was also believed to be god, and he expected to be worshipped as one. This includes having sacrifices and temples in his honor. It also meant that he was greatly offended any time one of his subjects proclaimed against this fact, and the emperor was certain to silence that person tortuously and publically as with Antioch.

The Christians refusal to sacrifice to the Pagan Gods, angered the Romans, as they believed by not doing so, their Gods would be enraged and bring disaster to them. With the Christians consistent refusal, things were starting to turn sour for them in the Empire, and the Christians boasting of their numbers, and those such as Celsus calling them frauds, trouble was brewing.

According to Constantine’s Porphyry Column, “Constantine brutally murdered his son and wife.” These acts were directly against the Christian church, which gave the people of the Roman Empire an inaccurate portrayal of the word of God. Many historians also believe that Constantine’s acceptance of Christianity was rooted in his hatred for the Jewish People. He used his negativity of Judaism as a way to promote his new laws. Many of his new laws had Christian Characteristics. He believed that these new laws would help him to dominate his people. Despite the fact that he gave Christians legal freedom to practice their religion, he made them feel subordinate. This is a crucial flaw in the strategy of Constantine. It removes the genuine nature of his acceptance. Because of this his actions are viewed as blasphemy rather than something to be celebrated. This is largely due to the fact that he accepted Christianity in the Roman Empire for selfish reasons. Because of his violent methods and selfish ruling, Constantine hurt Christianity’s image among the Roman people.

The conversion of Roman Emperor, Constantine, marked the start of a reform that would change Rome forever. A once pagan society, Rome was one of the last to grasp the Christianity concept. The start of “Christianizing” Rome began with two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and James, as well as the apostle Paul in the Roman province of Antioch during the first century ("New Women of Color Study Bible" 1742). From this, Christianity spread all over the province, by the time it got to Rome it was not widely practiced. It wasn’t until the reign of Constantine that Christianity took its place as the empires forefront religion. Since Rome was known for its worship and idolizing of gods, how and for what reasons did Constantine transform his subjects’ beliefs? According to authors, Ramsay MacMullen, John Curran, and A.H.M. Jones, a number of tactics were used to sway the masses’ minds. Use of coercion, money, and campaigns aided Constantine’s questionable Christian “cleanse”.

Section 1: Evaluation of sources This investigation will explore the question, ‘To what extent did the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, adopt and impose Christianity as a political strategy?'. This investigation will focus on the rise of Christianity, Constantine's role, the effect it had, and examining the impact and relationship of Constantine and Christianity. The two sources that will be examined in depth are, the Swiss historian, Jacob Burckhardt's book: ‘The age of Constantine the Great', 185, argues that Constantine was a scheming Emperor who exploited the numerous conflicting religions to maintain control and recover the economy after Civil War with Licinius had, whereas, the British historian, A.H.M Jones' book: ‘Constantine and the conversion of Europe', 1948, argues that Constantine

The Romans view on religions continued to change over the years of the empire. Roman views on religion were constantly changing throughout the history of the empire. At the beginning, Christianity was thought of as something that should not be allowed. Christians were persecuted and punished by the Romans for their contradicting beliefs. Later, in the fourth century, Christianity started to become acceptable and more people were converting from other religions. Christianity can be seen as something that helped the empire come together and stop the “war” of religions.

Even though Constantine (early 4th CE) and Augustus (early 1st century) ruled at different times during the Roman Empire, physically and ideologically, they ruled in many comparable ways. Both emperors strived for peace and unity throughout Rome, demonstrated by their actions (Lecture 3/14). Many emperors and bishops consider Constantine to be ‘August of the fourth century’ because of the similar ideals that he shared with August. Compared to Augustus’s attitudes towards religion, Constantine took similar actions to integrate Christianity into Roman society such as claiming relation to the Gods and identifying them as divine beings, and incorporating religion into the military victories. Through these acts, Constantine eagerly integrated the

The Romans had a religion that they believed in but was not something concrete and was not of having a central idea. The religion was based on a mix of certain traditions and beliefs. Religion was not never really a big factor in their Empire. The Romans were stubborn with religion and this could be the reason they had an attitude towards these aspects of life. According to St. Augustine’s book Confession, he states that there were a lot of fake gods and there were two major religions in the Roman Empire. The very first religion was Paganism and that’s what his father was known to believe. Then the second main religion was Christianity which his mother believed in. The emperor of Rome at this time, Constantine himself was not a Christian when he conquered Rome, but rather he had a religious conversion when he won the fight with contending tetrarchs at the Milvian bridge in 306 AD, with help of image of the Cross. The

Even though Constantine was the first emperor to introduce Rome to Christianity, Rome wasn’t completely Christian. Pagan was still practiced and the Christian church was built outside of Rome that way he didn’t offend his people since a few upper-class man were still pagan. The whole irony of this is that he wasn’t baptized yet and he was still practicing paganizing while claiming to be Christian. While on his journey he noticed he was starting to feel weak and after a time his illness started getting worse and had to halt his campaign against Persia. Constantine died on May 22, 337, in Ancyrona, near Nicomedia, Bithynia at the approximate age of 57. Before dying, he got baptized so he could rest in peace. (Constantine I

With its insistence on exclusive monotheistic worship of the Christian God it won where paganism could only fail, in demanding solitary allegiance to its movement (pp. 201-204). In demanding such commitment, those won to Christianity were far more allied to its goals and purposes than adherents to pagan movements that were non-exclusive. Further, the possibility of publicly suffering for their faith offered Christians the hope of enormous communal esteem. For those already firmly committed, the benefits of esteem and other-worldly reward far out-weighed whatever cost in suffering martyrdom might bring. Paganism had nothing analogous to win such enthusiastic commitment. Whereas, Christianity promised life after death in heaven while in the Roman religion, only gods went to heaven; emperors were considered gods, everyone else went to the underworld.

As we know, Romans were so religious, and they paid homage to their gods with building gigantic temples and statues, which now we may know many of them as wonders of the ancient world. Constantine was going to build churches in his empire as a place to practice Christianity; they