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Emperor Constantine
Aaron Erhardt

Constantine was the emperor of the Roman Empire from A.D. 306-337. He was not the sole ruler, however, until he dispatched Maxentius (A.D. 312) and Licinius (A.D. 324) in civil wars. He is known for reforming the military, revitalizing the economy, relocating the capital, and reversing the persecutory policies of the empire toward Christianity. Constantine was born in A.D. 272. His birthplace was Naissus, in the province of Moesia Superior. His original name was Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus. He was the son of Constantius and Helena. Constantius was a Roman emperor and is sometimes known by his nickname Chlorus. Helena was a Bithynian woman of low social status.

Constantine’s father left Helena to marry Theodora in A.D. 293 (some date this around A.D. 288-289). She was the daughter of Emperor Maximian. The marriage was politically motivated and resulted in Constantine having three half-brothers and three half-sisters.      

Constantine had two wives. He was first married to Minervina (A.D. 303-307). They had one son (Crispus). He then married Fausta (A.D. 307-326), who was the sister of Maxentius and the daughter of Maximian. This marriage was also politically motivated. Constantine and Fausta had three sons (Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans) and two daughters (Constantina and Helena). Constantine would later kill Crispus and Fausta.            

Constantine is most known for his relationship to Christianity. He did many things to promote and protect the Christian religion during his emperorship, though that came with a price.

Church and state were becoming closely intertwined. The church enjoyed the protection and patronage of the emperor, but in return it would have to deal with the authority of the emperor... Instead of persecuting the church, the emperor was telling it what to do. Constantine was the sole master of the Roman empire and, as far as he was concerned, this made him the sole master of the church too; he even called himself ‘bishop’ (Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity, pp. 77, 81).   

Constantine claimed to have seen a cross of light in the sky with the inscription “In this sign, you will conquer” just before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312. He also said that Christ told him to use the sign against his enemies in a dream. Constantine took the advice and was victorious, resulting in his so-called “conversion.”     

It is important to note that this was not a pure form of Christianity or a Scriptural conversion. Constantine was not baptized until A.D. 337, as he lay on his deathbed. (True baptism is a burial in water). Furthermore, Constantine retained the pagan title Pontifex Maximus, which emperor’s bore as heads of their priesthood.

Though Constantine promoted and protected Christianity, it was not made the “state religion” in an official sense during his reign. That occurred later under Emperor Theodosius.

In A.D. 313, Constantine and his co-emperor Licinius issued the “Edict of Milan.” The edict legalized Christianity. Below is an excerpt.

Wherefore, as I, Constantine Augustus, and I, Licinius Augustus, came under favorable auspices to Milan, and took under consideration all affairs that pertained to the public benefit and welfare, these things among the rest appeared to us to be most advantageous and profitable to all. We have resolved among the first things to ordain, those matters by which reverence and worship to the Deity might be exhibited. That is how we may grant likewise to the Christians, and to all, the free choice to follow that mode of worship which they may wish… that no freedom at all shall be refused to Christians, to follow or to keep their observances or worship… that each one of the Christians may freely and without molestation, pursue and follow that course and worship which he has proposed to himself… that you may know we have granted liberty and full freedom to the Christians, to observe their own mode of worship (Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, pp. 372-373).

The edict, which also restored property that had been taken from Christians, was a stunning reversal of state policy. After all, this was just a few years after the “Great Persecution” (A.D. 303-311).

In A.D. 325, Constantine convened the “First Council of Nicea.” The meeting took place in the city of Nicea (in Bythinia) and included about 318 bishops. The doctrine of Arius and other controversial matters were discussed. Arius did not believe that Christ was equal to the Father, or of the same substance. Constantine bore the expense of all who came. The result was the “Nicean Creed.” 

We believe in one God the Father almighty, maker of all things both visible and invisible, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the son of God, begotten by the Father, begotten — that is to say of the substance of the Father, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things on earth, who for us men and our salvation, came down and was made flesh, made man, suffered and rose again on the third day and went into the heavens and is to come again to judge both the quick and the dead, and in the Holy Ghost (quoted from History of the Church Through the Ages, p. 42).          

The council also set the day for Easter, a religious observance that first appears in the second century and is without divine authority.

There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians (Encyclopedia Britannica, VII, p. 859).

Constantine took part in settling doctrinal affairs, appointed Christians to high office, exempted the clergy from taxes, built basilicas, etc. This naturally led to a blending of church and state, which produced even more impurity in an already apostate form of Christianity. The church was socially strengthened but spiritually weakened. Its moral fabric eroded.        

These evil results may be summed up under the general designation of the secularization of the church… Christianity became a matter of fashion. The number of hypocrites and formal professors rapidly increased; strict discipline, zeal, self-sacrifice, and brotherly love proportionally ebbed away; and many heathen customs and usages, under altered names, crept into the worship of God and the life of the Christian people. The Roman state had grown up under the influence of idolatry, and was not to be magically transformed at a stroke. With the secularizing process, therefore, a paganizing tendency went hand in hand” (History of the Christian Church, III, pp. 125-126).    

One of the most notable moments in Constantine’s reign occurred in A.D. 324, when he moved the capital from Rome to the ancient site of Byzantium. It was called “New Rome” and then “Constantinople” in his honor. It had all the adornments one can imagine. The formal dedication took place in A.D. 330.         

The city was provided with all the amenities of Roman civilization — a forum, a basilica, public baths and the rest, as well as the trappings of the imperial court (Zondervan Handbook To The History of Christianity, p. 73.    

Constantine had spared the life of Licinius after his defeat in A.D. 324. This was probably for the sake of his wife, Constantine’s half-sister. However, the next year Constantine changed his mind and had Licinius executed (A.D. 325).  

Constantine was greatly influenced by his mother, Helena, and she was even given the title Augusta Imperatrix. Helena claimed to be a Christian and visited Palestine. Tradition says that she discovered the actual cross of Christ.  

Constantine was ambitious, organized, and very superstitious. Though he may have been one of the greatest emperors in Roman history, his impact on church history was for the worst. He secularized the church, paganized the church, extended the scope and power of councils, etc. He adopted his own model rather than trying to restore the one of the New Testament.    

In A.D. 337, Constantine died near Nicomedia. He was baptized shortly before his death at the hands of Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia. He had intended to be baptized in the Jordan River, but was unable to do so. Constantine’s body was interned at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Sadly, he has been revered as “Saint Constantine” and the “Thirteenth Apostle” by some churches.    

Note: The apostle Paul spoke of an apostasy that would occur within church government, which would ultimately lead to the “man of lawlessness” taking his seat in the temple of God. That would not happen, though, until some “restraining force” was removed (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12). This writer believes that the restraining force was the Roman Empire. So long as it persecuted the church, there would never be the structure in place for the office of “universal bishop.” However, when Constantine issued the “Edict of Milan” in A.D. 313, the church was no longer persecuted and its leaders were given state sponsorship. The restraint was removed. This eventually produced papal supremacy. (Emperor Phocas crowned Boniface III “universal bishop” in the seventh century).