Constantine the Great

Author: Hans A. Poelchau (USA), translated by Xu Shounan
Translator: Xu Shounan
Country of Origin:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: This is the reunion of Trier, Constantine, and his mother Helena. Since leaving Constantius, Helena has been living a life of anonymity, but now she can finally live a life of luxury. Today, even for tourists who are not interested in or have little knowledge of Roman history, the ruins of this city reveal the magnificent imperial atmosphere of the past. Like the Baths of Saint Barbara across the river and the Roman Bridge over the Moselle, Trier's famous landmark, the Black Gate, was also built in the 2nd century; the Arena was built even earlier, in the late 1st century. However, the Royal Baths (Figure 2), though dilapidated, are still impressive, and the so-called Basilica (actually the reception hall of the imperial palace), were all built during Constantine's reign. The Trier Cathedral was built in memory of Saint Peter and has a long history dating back to the time of Constantine: our medieval records show that Helena donated her "house" in Trier as a cathedral, and the Bishop of Agrigentum in Trier was fully dedicated to this church: most of the medieval sources about this narrative are unreliable, and it is said that the cathedral was completed many years after Helena left Trier and several years after the death of the Bishop of Agrigentum. Thus, it is not surprising that past scholars did not believe there was any connection between Helena and the Trier Cathedral. However, archaeological excavations in the middle of the cathedral in 1945–1946 and 1965–1968 greatly changed this original view. The workers unearthed a room about 10 meters long and 7 meters wide, which was built after 316 and destroyed after 330. Based on the location, construction date, and quality of decoration, researchers believe this room was once part of the imperial palace (Helena's house), which was used to expand the space of the Constantine Cathedral. The workers found the painted ceiling of the room on the original site, but it had shattered into thousands of pieces. After painstaking work, the 15 panels that made up the ceiling were restored to their original form, and these panels are now displayed in the Trier Diocesan Museum: four of the panels depict several ladies in luxurious and jewel-adorned attire. These women were not members of the imperial family or mythological figures. If they were members of the imperial family, these four women should be Helena, Constantine's mother; his wife Fausta; his half-sister Constantia; and the wife of his son Crispus, also named Helena. The author of this book believes these women are actually mythological figures. We can also learn from the construction projects of the emperors that they were very aware of the symbolic significance of this city. Diocletian restored the burned-down Senate House and the Julia Chapel of the Roman Forum, and he built the enormous Baths named after himself. Today, the National Museum and the Church of Saint Mary of the Angels are located within the area of these baths. Maxentius rebuilt the Temple of Venus and Roma in Rome, and the circular hall, which was mistakenly called the Temple of Romulus (named after his son Romulus, not the legendary founder of Rome), was also located within the forum. The new church was not completed (also known as the Constantine Church), all of which were located within the forum. There was also a circular arena and a mausoleum on the Appian Way. He also increased the height of the Aurelian Wall nearly twice. Ironically, on that fateful day in October 312, the wall did not save him. Although Constantine did not seem to like Rome, he could not break with tradition. On the Quirinal Hill, which is now the site of the presidential palace, he built a bath; on the sides of a obelisk, the statues of Castor and Pollux still exist today. He completed the unfinished large new church in the Roman Forum, added another semicircular room to the north, and built a second entrance to the south. This building was Rome's last great secular church and was truly called a masterpiece of engineering and architecture. The building includes a central nave and two side aisles, only the northern aisle remains today. The nave's roof is a cross-vault supported by eight massive columns, one of which still exists today, located in the Piazza San Maria Maggiore. Constantine gave his mother the Sessorian Palace (some remains of this building still exist and are quite impressive). One of its halls was later (the author of this book believes, under the rule of Constantine's son) converted into the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. It is said that his mother restored the bath later named after her, but this place no longer exists. The large quadrangular archway on the Boario Square is also likely to have originated during Constantine's reign. Constantine's church construction, in particular (Figure 3), is of great interest. The four "episcopal churches" of Rome are the Basilica of Saint John Lateran; the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City, which is different from the Basilica of Saint Peter in Velletri; the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls; and the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. The first two were built under the command and support of Constantine, the third has an unclear relationship with him, and the fourth was built a century later. During the period when Constantine became the master of Rome, the royal properties in his hands included the Lateran Palace, named after the family (the Laterani) that once owned it but lost it to Nero. This palace was also called the House of Fausta, as it was part of Fausta's dowry. Constantine gave this palace to Pope Miltiades to live in, and the council to deal with the Donatist issue was held here. Next to the palace was the barracks of the single cavalry, which Constantine disbanded. Constantine ordered the demolition of these barracks to make space for his early Christian buildings, which were initially called the Basilica of the Savior or the Constantine Basilica but later the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, construction began before 315, perhaps as early as autumn 312. This was a large building, 98 meters long and 56 meters wide, notable for its nave, side aisles, a semicircular room, and wooden roof. The original building has been preserved almost entirely. He built a large octagonal baptistery next to the basilica, which became a model for later baptisteries. Since ancient times, the Basilica of Saint John Lateran has been a great mother church of Christianity, the cathedral of Rome, surpassing even the Basilica of Saint Peter. This new city imitated Rome in more than one way (Figure 7). Like the old capital, Constantinople was built on seven hills and divided into 14 administrative districts (though two were outside the city walls), and like Rome, it had a Senate; however, the members' rank was never as high as the members of the Roman Senate, who were merely classified as "distinguished" rather than "most distinguished," and there were two Senate buildings, not one. The people of Constantinople, like the people of Rome, enjoyed grain subsidies. As we saw in Chapter 6, when Constantine heard that Athanasius threatened to interfere with the grain shipments from Egypt to Constantinople, he immediately took action. Unlike Trier, Rome, or Jerusalem, this place gave Constantine an unprecedented opportunity to carry out large-scale construction and plans. However, Constantine did not need to devise entirely new plans. He retained some features of Severus's city, such as the Via Mese (the main street), the market (which became Augusteum, named after his mother Augusta), and the location of the circus. He expanded and beautified the existing Baths of Zeuxippus. Perhaps the so-called Column of the Goths already existed. This column may commemorate Claudius (who was said to be an ancestor of Constantine) defeating the Goths in Naissus (Constantine's birthplace) in 269. The inscription on the base of the column reads, "Thank you to fate for helping to defeat the Goths." Unfortunately, the inscription does not record who erected the column and when. It is also possible that the column was erected by Constantine himself later to celebrate his own victory over the Goths. Where the Blue Mosque now stands, Constantine built a palace (Figure 8). From this palace, one could directly overlook the imperial seats of the hippodrome, perhaps also leading to the Hagia Sophia Church. The entrance to this palace was magnificent and called the Iron Gate. Eusebius described a painting above the main gate, depicting Constantine receiving a victory and slaying a dragon; what does this dragon represent—Licinius, paganism, or more broadly, all evil forces? The Column of the Serpent, which was originally erected to commemorate the Greek victory over the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC, was one of the many items Constantine brought to decorate his city. Saint Jerome stated, "Almost every city was stripped bare by him." To this day, this column still stands in Constantinople, surrounded by railings, and its base is much lower than the current street level. The original golden triangle on the top of the column was lost in the 4th century BC; today, the base ring can still be seen in Delphi. At the southern end of the central axis, Constantine erected a towering obelisk, which was restored by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century. People are more likely to notice the great Egyptian obelisk, which was finally erected by Theodosius II near the other end of the central axis after decades of delay; this was one of the obelisks from Karnak that Thutmose III erected. The hippodrome was not only used for entertaining the people but also for some public activities of the state. Now, back to Constantine, there is no doubt that he had sympathy for Christians before 312 and converted to Christianity in 312. As time passed, he became more pious and more understanding of the religion. At the same time, he seemed to realize that his subjects, especially the nobles of the Roman Senate, were mostly pagans, and he did not want to offend them. He remained the high priest. The Christian symbol did not appear on his coins until much later. The famous triumphal arch dedicated to him by the Senate, completed in 315, can serve as an example. The arch was not decorated with Christian symbols and was neutral in religious terms: it said, "With the guidance of the gods and his great mind," Constantine defeated the "tyrant" (Maxentius). He was the "liberator of this city" and the "establisher of peace." The prevailing view is that Constantine was baptized shortly before his death (see Chapter 10). This does not mean Constantine was not pious. In the 4th and 5th centuries, Christians were often baptized in their later years. Not only Constantine but also Constantius II, Theodosius I, and even Saint Ambrose did so. Saint Augustine commented on this in his Confessions. However, the church did not encourage this practice. In the early 5th century, Vita Silvestri, or Acta Silvestri, in his Lives of the Saints, gave a strange account of Constantine's conversion. It did not mention the vision he saw before the battle with Maxentius. Constantine was described as an initial persecutor of paganism, ordering all Christians to sacrifice. Pope Silvester and the clergy retreated to the Salarian Hill outside the city. At this time, Constantine contracted leprosy, and the pagan priests advised him to bathe in the blood of infants to cure it, but Constantine felt pity for the infants and did not follow their advice; he sent away the infants and their mothers who had gathered to sacrifice for him. Then he dreamed of the Apostles Peter and Paul. He brought Pope Silvester from the Salarian Hill and asked him to interpret the dream, and he accepted Christianity. After a week of fasting and prayer, Pope Silvester baptized him in Rome, curing his leprosy at the same time. Then Silvester added another achievement to his accomplishments: he defeated a dragon that threatened the Roman citizens. All of this was said to have happened shortly after Constantine entered Rome. From the chronological point of view alone, we cannot accept these accounts: Silvester did not become pope until 314. We have other evidence to consider. Bishop Hosius was considered one of Constantine's most trusted advisors. Constantine asked another Christian, the learned Lactantius, to be responsible for the education of his son Crispus (though we do not know when Lactantius took office or the religious stance of Crispus). Lactantius, in his On the Death of the Persecutors (around 314 AD), described Constantine as a "Roman emperor who rejects error, acknowledges and honors the one God." Between 317 and 324 (or 325 in Antioch), Constantine's Address to the Saints, delivered on a Friday, also shows his gradually changing religious beliefs and the influence of Lactantius. His legislation clearly favored Christianity; in 318, he expanded the jurisdiction of bishops; in 320, he lifted the Augustan restrictions on single individuals; in 321, he made it legal to inherit property to the church; and the same year, he agreed to the liberation of slaves within the church. Licinius was different. He had initially agreed to a policy of tolerance, which was also implemented for a while. His wife and Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea corresponded, and we can see from these letters that his wife was a devout Christian. However, he himself never converted to Christianity. Before the war with Maximinus Daia in 313, he had his soldiers recite a prayer to the single god instead of the Christian prayer. His coins show that he followed the traditional quadrumvirate established by Diocletian, worshipping Jupiter as his protector. He suspected his Christian subjects supported Constantine. He later took some oppressive measures: he replaced Christians working in the imperial court, ordered Christians not to worship in churches but to do so in open places outside the city, with men and women separated, and bishops not to visit each other's cities, using these methods to prevent Christians from holding meetings or ordaining other bishops. Although Bishop Eusebius of Nikomedia, who was beloved by Constantia and quite influential at court, Licinius still implemented these measures. It seems that something happened?
Figure Captions:
Figure 1: Map of the Roman Empire
Figure 2: Royal Baths of Trier
Figure 3: Map of Roman Christian Churches in the Constantine Era
Figure 4: Constantine Silver Coin
Figure 5: Council of Nicaea
Figure 6: Distribution of Christian Churches in Jerusalem during the Constantine Era
Figure 7: Map of Constantinople
Figure 8: Great Palace of Constantinople
Figure 9: Genealogy of the Constantine Dynasty
Figure 10: Giant Statue of Constantine in Marble
Preface
Chapter 1: The Soldier Emperor and Diocletian
Chapter 2: Constantine's Rise
Chapter 3: Constantine's Conversion
Chapter 4: Constantine—The Sole Ruler of the West
Chapter 5: Conflict with Licinius
Chapter 6: The Arian Controversy, the Council of Nicaea, and Its Aftermath
Chapter 7: Crisis of the Imperial Family
Chapter 8: The New Rome
Chapter 9: Constantine's Government
Chapter 10: Constantine's Later Years, Death, and Burial
Chapter 11: Constantine's Image in Roman Art
Chapter 12: Evaluation
Appendices:
Appendix 1: Sources for Constantine's Reign
Appendix 2: Greek and Latin Terms
Appendix 3: Notes on Names
Appendix 4: Creeds
Appendix 5: Major Events in Roman History (235–337 AD)
Bibliography