The cross on the spear of Roman triumph
Church upheavals in Byzantium. Photo: UOJ
Our previous article focused on Constantine’s battle against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312. According to later Church tradition, before the battle a sign of the Cross appeared in the sky, and Christ Himself commanded Constantine to place the Cross on his soldiers’ shields, telling him: “By this, conquer.” After such an unmistakable sign and such a brilliant victory, one might logically expect both the Cross as a symbol and Christianity as a lofty moral teaching to transform the empire’s politics and the emperor’s own actions.
But something quite different happened.
A severed head on a spear
Maxentius died on October 28, 312, drowning in the Tiber during his retreat. His body was recovered, desecrated and mutilated. His head was then cut off, mounted on a spear and carried through Rome the following day at the head of Constantine’s triumphal procession.
Modern historian Johannes Wienand draws attention to how unusual this was. As far as the surviving sources allow us to judge, it was “the first time that the severed head of a deposed emperor was carried through the city on a spear during a Roman triumph.” Making the spectacle even more disturbing was the fact that Constantine was married to Maxentius’ sister – meaning that the severed head carried before him was that of his own brother-in-law.
Maxentius’ head was later sent to Africa. A panegyric delivered by Nazarius in 321 explains the purpose in stark terms: “to pacify Africa.”
Pagan reliefs on a Roman arch
In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea claims that after his victory Constantine gave thanks to God and ordered that “the saving sign of the Cross” be placed in the hand of his statue in one of Rome’s busiest public places. According to Eusebius, the statue bore the inscription: “By this saving sign... I have freed your city from the yoke of the tyrant.” However, no other contemporary source confirms the existence of such a statue, nor is there any archaeological evidence that it existed.
But there is another monument, very well preserved, which interprets Constantine's victory in a decidedly non-Christian spirit.
In 315, three years after the battle, the Arch of Constantine was formally dedicated in Rome to commemorate the victory over Maxentius. It still stands beside the Colosseum today. It depicts Constantine offering sacrifices to the pagan deities Apollo, Hercules, Silvanus and Diana. One interesting detail is that some of the reliefs were taken from older imperial monuments dating to the second century, with the sculptors working on the arch simply recarving the faces as Constantine and members of his entourage.
The Arch of Constantine in Rome. Hadrianic medallion on the south side depicting a sacrifice to Diana. Photo: David Ohmer, Wikimedia Commons.
There is no Christian symbolism on the arch, but it does feature deities traditionally associated in Roman culture with military victory: Roma, Victoria and Mars. It also bears a monumental inscription stating that Constantine defeated Maxentius “by the inspiration of divinity.”
Based on the surviving sources, we cannot say with certainty that Constantine personally sacrificed to idols after 312 or attributed his victory to pagan gods. But one fact remains: the Arch of Constantine was designed to leave the Romans with precisely that impression – and to preserve it for centuries.
The title of pagan high priest
As is well known, Christianity from the very beginning was uncompromisingly opposed to the worship of pagan gods: “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” (2 Cor. 6:15–16).
Ancient Judaism took the same view: “For all the gods of the nations are demons: but the Lord made the heavens” (Ps. 95:5).
The absolute incompatibility of Christianity and idol worship was well understood. Nevertheless, Constantine retained the title of pontifex maximus – supreme pontiff – until his death. An official letter from Constantine and his sons to the Roman Senate dating to 337 has survived. Among his other titles, Constantine calls himself pontifex maximus.
At the time, this was not merely an ornamental title. As supreme pontiff, the emperor was the foremost member of the priestly college and head of the state religious system. His responsibilities included maintaining Rome’s proper relationship with the gods – the pax deorum. Although, to reiterate, there is no evidence that Constantine personally performed sacrifices.
And in those times this was no mere decoration. The emperor as high priest was the chief member of the priestly college and the head of the state religious system. His duties included maintaining the proper relationship between Rome and the gods (pax deorum). Though, we repeat once more, there is no evidence that Constantine personally offered sacrifices.
In 316, a coin was issued depicting Constantine together with the deity Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. The British Museum, which holds one such coin, points to the paradox: it was minted almost four years after the traditional date of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity.
Constantine and Sol Invictus on the same gold solidus. Ticinum, 316. British Museum, inv. 1863,0713.1.
Traditional Roman religion had priestly diviners known as haruspices. In 319, Constantine prohibited them from secretly visiting private homes, fearing political conspiracies, but instructed anyone wishing to consult them to go “to the public altars and shrines.”
In 320, he issued another order: if lightning struck the imperial palace or another public building, officials were to consult the haruspices “in accordance with the custom of ancient tradition,” determine the meaning of the omen, carefully record their interpretation and “report it to the emperor himself.” This order survives in the Codex Theodosianus.
Bloody executions in the imperial family
The methods used in the struggle for power did not change after 312 either.
In 313, Constantine and Licinius, who ruled the western and eastern parts of the empire respectively, met in Milan. There they jointly issued an edict of religious toleration and also cemented their relationship through marriage: Licinius married Constantine’s sister Constantia.
But by 316, a civil war for supremacy in the empire had broken out between the two rulers. Eutropius, a fourth-century Roman official and historian, states plainly that Constantine, “seeking dominion over the whole world,” went to war against Licinius despite their family ties.
Constantine won a series of military victories, but Licinius managed to retain control of the East, and a new peace agreement was concluded between them in 317. To reinforce it, three sons were simultaneously proclaimed Caesars: Constantine’s sons Crispus and Constantine II, and the young Licinius II, son of Licinius and Constantia.
A few years later, however, the civil war resumed. In 324, after losing several battles, Licinius surrendered under a guarantee that his life would be spared. He was reduced to the status of a private citizen and sent to Thessalonica. Yet only a few months later, he was executed on Constantine’s orders. Eutropius states that this was done “in violation of the oath Constantine had sworn.”
In 326, Constantine ordered the execution of his eldest son, Crispus – the same Crispus who appears on a coin from 322–323 with the Chi-Rho on his shield. Crispus had been a successful military commander and only two years earlier had commanded the fleet in the war against Licinius.
Aurelius Victor, a fourth-century Roman historian and government official writing relatively close to the events, states plainly that Crispus died “by the judgment of his father... for what reason is unknown.” Later sources claimed that Crispus had allegedly had an affair with his stepmother Fausta. This account, however, is generally considered too late and contradictory to be regarded as reliable.
At roughly the same time, and likewise on Constantine’s orders, his nephew Licinius II, who was about ten years old, was executed. The sources attribute no specific crime to the boy, and the most obvious explanation is that he was eliminated as a potential representative of the defeated Licinian dynasty.
Then, later that same year, came the turn of Constantine’s wife Fausta. There is somewhat less certainty that she died specifically on Constantine’s orders, although most scholars consider this highly probable. Indirect support for this comes from the fact that after the deaths of Crispus and Fausta, references to both were removed from numerous documents and other records.
Zosimus, a pagan historian of the late fifth and early sixth centuries, provides some details. He claims that after Crispus’ execution, Constantine ordered Fausta to be locked in an overheated bath, where she died. This account, however, is regarded as only one of several possible versions.
Eutropius, who is regarded as a fairly impartial historian with respect to Constantine, sums up the results of his reign as follows: "In the early part of his reign he might have been compared to the best princes; in the latter part only to those of middling character."
Eutropius then lists Constantine’s virtues: his military ability, success in war, generosity, and interest in peaceful pursuits and education. But he goes on to say that after Constantine defeated Licinius and became sole ruler, his character changed: “The arrogance born of success altered Constantine somewhat from the former kindness of his character.”
Eutropius writes that Constantine “killed an outstanding man – his own son; then his sister’s son, a young man of good character; soon afterward his wife; and after that, numerous friends.”
Harsh laws of a new age
Eutropius also offers an assessment of Constantine’s legislation: “He enacted many laws: some good and just, most unnecessary, and some harsh.”
There were indeed many examples of “good and just” laws. In 315, for instance, Constantine ordered the state to assist parents who were too poor to feed a newborn child, so that poverty would not drive them to kill or abandon the infant (Codex Theodosianus 11.27.1–2).
Around 315–316, the emperor prohibited branding convicted criminals on the face, because the human face was created “in the likeness of heavenly beauty”; branding was permitted only on other parts of the body (CTh 9.40.2).
In 320, Constantine ordered improvements in the treatment of prisoners: they were not to be kept in shackles that “cut into the bones,” they were to be given daylight, and no one was to be allowed to die of hunger or exhaustion before standing trial.
In 321, the manumission of slaves performed in a church before a bishop and congregation was granted legal validity, making it considerably easier for slaves to obtain their freedom (CTh 4.7.1).
Crucifixion as a criminal punishment was also abolished under Constantine, although the exact date of the measure is unknown.
But alongside these laws existed those very "harsh" ones of which Eutropius wrote.
Here are several examples. In 313, an official administering imperial estates who was found guilty of extortion was to be burned alive (CTh 10.4.1). In 315, a slave or freedman found guilty of abducting a free person was to be thrown to wild beasts.
In 318–319, Constantine reinstated the ancient “punishment of the sack” for those who murdered close relatives. The condemned person was sewn into a leather sack together with snakes and thrown into the water (CTh 9.15.1).
In 319, a law concerning the killing of slaves was issued. If a slave died after his master had beaten him “for correction” with rods or straps, or kept him in chains, the death was not considered murder (CTh 9.12.1).
Particularly harsh was a 326 law concerning the abduction of girls. A nurse who assisted in an abduction was to have molten lead poured into her mouth and throat (CTh 9.24.1). Another law prescribed death for a free woman who had sexual relations with her slave: the woman was to be executed, while the slave was to be burned alive (CTh 9.9.1).
The difficult transformation of imperial power
The year 312 was not the birth of a “Christian empire,” but the beginning of a long and contradictory transition. Constantine gave the Church freedom, protection and state support, yet pagan symbolism and the influence of priestly institutions did not simply disappear. Meanwhile, the methods used in struggles for power and certain inhumane legal norms in some cases became even more brutal.
The Church venerates Constantine as Equal-to-the-Apostles, and his achievement was indeed that the Church gained a more privileged status and its subsequent development took the course we know from history. But recognizing someone as a saint does not canonize every action that person ever took. Church hagiography can freely acknowledge individual errors and even sins committed by saints.
All the more, an honest discussion of a man whose decisions affected the lives of millions and shaped the subsequent course of human history requires us to see not only the hagiographic image, but also the reality of his age. Otherwise, we risk distorting not so much the image of Constantine himself as the meaning of the Cross.
The Cross as a symbol entered into power earlier than Christian teaching was able to transform power itself.
In the next article, we will look at how the Cross became not only a religious but also a state symbol, and we will also try to determine what St. Helena may actually have found in Jerusalem.
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