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October 312 A.D. Constantine's Victory
Graves,
Dan. “Constantine Triumphed Under the Sign of the Cross.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/constantine-triumphed-under-sign-of-cross-11629641.html. Accessed 5 Jun 2014.
Constantine's father had been
one of the rulers of the sprawling empire. After his death, his troops named
Constantine "Augustus." However, others wanted a piece of the action.
One of them, Maxentius, was determined to hold Italy and Africa for himself.
Constantine would have to defeat him in order to make good his claim to the
throne. Constantine's trusted friend and church historian Eusebius tells what
happened as the "Augustus" prepared for one of the most decisive
battles of history:
"Constantine was praying to
his father's god, beseeching him to tell him who he was and imploring him to
stretch out his right hand to help him in his present difficulties. While he
was fervently praying, an incredible sign appeared to him from heaven. (It
would be hard to believe his account if it had been told by anyone else. But
the victorious emperor long afterwards declared it to the writer of this
history -- when I was honored to meet and talk with him and he even confirmed
his statement by an oath. Thus, who could doubt him, especially since time has
established its truth?) He said that about noon, when the day was already
beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light
in the heavens, above the sun, and an inscription that said 'Conquer by This'
attached to it. Seeing this, he and his army, which followed him on an
expedition and witnessed the miracle, were struck with amazement.
"He said that he doubted
within himself what importance the vision might hold. He continued to ponder
its meaning through until he fell asleep. While sleeping, the Christ of God
appeared to him with the same sign he had seen earlier in the heavens. God
commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens
and to use it as a safeguard in all encounters with his enemies."
The upshot was that Constantine
defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, Rome. He honored Christian bishops
and meddled in their affairs the rest of his life. Constantine was baptized on
his death bed, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity.
Bibliography:
1. Aland, Kurt. Saints and Sinners; men and ideas in the early church.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.
2. "Constantine the Great and His Sons." New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1954.
3. Durant, Will. Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1944.
4. Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History. Various editions.
5. Herbermann, Charles G. and Georg Grupp. "Constantine the
Great." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
6. Various church histories such as LaTourette, Rodriguez, Chadwick and
more.
Last updated April,
2007.
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