CONSTANTINE
298
CONSTANTINE
the new religious tendencies, and receive the
Germanic tribes into the empire. This conviction
constantly spread, especially as Oonstantine's father
had obtained good results therefrom. In Gaul, Brit-
ain, and Spain, where Constantius Chlorus ruled,
peace and contentment prevailed, and the prosperity
of the provinces visibly increased, while in the East
prosperity was undermined by the existing confusion
and instability. But it was especially in the western
part of the empire that the veneration of Mithras pre-
dominated. Would it not be possible to gather all
the different nationalities around his altars? Could
not Sol Deus Inviclus, to whom even Constantine dedi-
cated his coins for a long time, or Sol Mithras Deus In-
viclus, venerated by Diocletian and Galerius, become
the supreme god of the empire? Constantine may
have pondered over this. Nor had he absolutely
rejected the thought even after a miraculous event
had strongly influenced him in favour of the CJod of
the ChrLstians.
In deciding for Christianity he w-as no doubt also influenced by reasons of conscience — reasons resulting from the unpression made on every unprejudiced per- son both by the Christians and by the moral force of Christianity, and from the practical knowledge which the emperors had of the Christian military officers and state officials. These reasons are, however, not men- tioned in history, which gives the chief prominence to a miraculous event. Before Constantine advanced against his rival Maxentius, according to ancient cus- tom he summoned the haruspices, w-ho prophesied dis- aster; so reports a pagan panegyrist. But when the gods would not aid him, continues this writer, one particular god urged him on, for Constantine had close relations with the divinity itself. Under what form this connexion with the deity manifested itself is told by Lactantius (De mort. persec, ch. xliv) and Eusebius (Vita Const., I, xxvi-xx.xi). He saw, accord- ing to the one in a dream, according to the other in a vision, a lieavenly manifestation, a brilliant light in which he believed he descried the cross or the mono- gram of Christ. Strengthened by this apparition, he advanced courageously to battle, defeated his rival, and won the supreme power. It was the result that gave to this vision its full importance, for when the emperor afterwards reflected on the event it was clear to him that the cross bore the inscription: hoc vinces (in this sign wilt thou conquer). A monogram com- bining the first letters, X and P, of the name of Christ (XPISTOS), a form that cannot be proved to have been used by Christians before, w-.-is made mic of the tokens of the standard and placed u|jMn ili.- l.,ilhn-iitn (q.v.). In addition, this ensign was plarril in tin hand of a statue of the emperor at Rome, the pedestal of which bore the inscription: "By the aid of this salutary token of strength I have freed mj' city from the yoke of tyranny and restored to the Roman Smiate and People the ancient splendour and glorj'." Dim'tly afd-r his victory Constantine granted tolerance to tluM 'liristians and next year (.313) took a further step in their favour. In 313 Licinius and he issued at Milan the famous joint edict of tolerance. This declared tlial, the two emperors had deliberated as to what woukl be advan- tageous for the security and welfare of the empire and had, above all, taken into consideration the service which man owed to the "deity' '. Therefore they had tlecided to grant Christians and all others freedom in the exercise of religion. Everyone might follow that religion which he considered the best. They hoped that "the deity enthroned in heaven" would grant favotir and protection to the emperors .and their sub- jects. This was in ilsc^lf quite enough to throw the pagans into the greatest astoni.shment. Wlien the wording of the edict is carefully examhied there is clear evidence of an effort to express the new tliought in a maimer too unmistakable to leave any doubt. The edict contains more than the belief, to which
Galerius at the end had given voice, that the persecu-
tions were useless, and it granted the Christians free-
dom of worship, while at the same time it endeavoured
not to affront the pagans. Without doubt the term
deity was deliberately chosen, for it does not exclude a
heathen interpretation. The cautious expression
probably originated in the imperial chancery, where
pagan conceptions and pagan forms of expression still
lasted for a long time. Nevertheless the change from
the bloody persecution of Christianity to the tolera-
tion of it, a step which implied its recognition, may
have startled many heathens and may have excited in
them the same astonishment that a German would feel
if an emperor who was a Social Democrat were to
seize the reins of government. The foundations of the
State would seem to such a one to rock. The Chris-
tians also may have been taken aback. Before this,
it is true, it had occurred to Melito of Sardes (Euse-
bius, Hist. EccL, IV, xxxiii) that the emperor might'
some day become a Christian, but Tertullian had
thought otherwise, and had written (Apol., xxi) the
memorable sentence: "Sed et Ciesares credidissent
super Christo, si aut Caesares non essent sceculo neces-
sarii, aut si et Christiani potuissent esse Cs'sares"
(But the Csesars also would have believed in Christ, if
either the Csesars had not been necessary to the world jj
or if Christians too could have been Caesars). Thesame
opinion was held by St. Justin (I, xii; II, xv). That
the empire should become Christian seemed to Justin
and many others an impossibility, and they were just
as little in the wrong as the optimists were in the right.
At all events, a happy day now dawned for the Chris-
tians. They must have felt as did the persecuted in
the time of the French Revolution when Robespierre
finally fell and the Reign of Terror was over. The
feeling of emancipation from danger is touchingly ex-
pressed in the treatise ascribed to Lactantius (De
mortibus persecut., in P. L., VII, 52), concerning the
ways in which death overtook the persecutors. It
says: "'\\'e should now give thanks to the Lord, Who
has gathered together the flock that was devastated
by ravening wolves. Who has exterminated the wild
beasts which drove it from the pasture. '\\'herc is
now the swarming multituile of our enemies, where
the haiigmen of Diocletian and Maximian? God has
swept them from the earth; let us therefore celebrate
His triumiili with joy; let us oKserve the victor^■ of
the Lonl with .songs of praise, and honour Him with
prayer day and night, so that the peace which we have
receiveil again after ten yeais of misery may be pre-
served to us." The imprisoned Christ iaiis were re
lea.sed from the prisons and mines, and were recc-i\eil
by their brethren in the Faith with acclaniatious ol
joy; the churches wer(> again filled, and those wht
had fallen away sought forgiveness.
