The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire (47 page)

Constantine changed the course of European history by converting the official Empire to Christianity and by moving the capital to Constantinople (ancient Byzantium, modern Istanbul). He set the stage for over a thousand more years of Roman imperial survival.

Christian historians have portrayed Constantine as the opposite of the Dark Lord Diocletian, but in fact, Constantine continued many policies of his predecessor. Although he was sole ruler, Constantine passed on divided rule to his sons (it didn't work any better with them). During his rule, he adopted some aspects of the tetrarchy by appointing four prefects over the most important prefectures (Italy, Gaul, Illyrium, the east) and giving them executive control over all facets except military command. He continued military reorganization along Diocletian's model.

Constantine also continued Diocletian's economic and social programs. His laws bound people even tighter to their occupations, social positions, and location. One of his new taxes was so onerous that it was said that every collection year wailing went up throughout the cities in anticipation of the beatings people would get for failing to pay in full. Parents reportedly had to sell children into slavery and prostitution, and the provinces complained bitterly about being forced into destitution. On the other hand, Constantine
was
able to stabilize the currency and imperial finances for the future. So, at least in business ethics, you could see his practices as a good thing.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Istanbul, the modern name for Constantinople, has been in use since about the eleventh century. It comes from a corruption of the Greek
eis ten polin
(to the city), the reply travelers gave when asked where they were going. Sacked by the Crusaders in 1204 and eventually conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, modern Istanbul remains a luscious and cacophonous mix of ages, cultures, sights, sounds, and tastes.

Finally, by aligning himself with the church, Constantine turned himself into the figure that Diocletian had sought to become. He rewelded politics and religion and expanded upon Diocletian's practices of imbuing the imperial court with pomp and an aura of sacred importance. But instead of the earthly representative of Jupiter, Constantine became the earthly representative of God. You can see this idea in his self-proclaimed title of
Isoapostelis
(Equal of the Apostles) and especially in his planned burial in the Church of the Holy Apostles. Surrounded by 12 sarcophagi for each apostle, Constantine's sarcophagus was placed in the center, the symbolic place of Christ. He remains venerated as a Saint by the Greek, Armenian, and Russian Orthodox Churches.

The tetrarchs transformed their regional capitals into imperial cities. Constantine looked for a new center of power from which to rule without the baggage and isolation of Rome. He chose the site of the ancient
Greek city of Byzantium, which lay along the Bosporus strait. The site offered rich trade routes, commanded the entrance to the Black Sea, and sat on the fault line between Asia and Europe.

Constantine's rebuilding program began in 325 and laid the foundations of the great walls in 328. It was an enormous building program, and Constantine was determined to make the city a worthy capital. An imperial palace and senate house, libraries and universities, hippodrome and forum looked back to one history; magnificent new churches (Holy Peace, Holy Wisdom, The Twelve Apostles) looked back to another. He had to pillage a lot of material from pagan shrines such as Delphi to do it, but on May 11, 330, the new city,
Nova Roma,
had its opening ceremony and received privileges formerly granted to Rome. Nova Roma soon was called Constantinople, but in all respects was intended to be the “new” Rome, the center of a new Empire summed up a new sound bite: one ruler, one world, one creed.

 
Roamin' the Romans
Constantine continued to patronize the former capital with buildings and churches. He completed the Basilica of Maxentius and the last of the great imperial public baths. Constantine's religious building construction in Rome included the original churches of St. John Lateran and St. Peter's. Helena, Constantine's mother, was buried in Rome at Tor Pignattara and Constantina, his daughter, in a mausoleum that is now the Church of Santa Constanza. You will find the remains of his famous colossal statue in the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline.

Well, the “one creed” part was tough. Constantine's first taste of discord was the Donatist Schism in Africa while he was still an Augustus. Donatists were radical followers of the bishop Donatus. They felt that the pope was too forgiving of backsliders during the Diocletian persecutions. They elected Donatus, who had endured nine rackings (a rack is an instrument of torture) during the persecutions, as a rouge bishop of Carthage. Widespread riots broke out when Constantine summoned two councils in 313 and 314 and backed their decisions against the Donatists. Constantine ordered the Donatists suppressed in 314, but gave up the persecution in 321 in frustration. He was just feeding the fire: These martyrs weren't amateur, they were
professional.

Later, another major doctrinal controversy arose between the church hierarchy and followers of the bishop Arian concerning the nature of Christ's divinity. Under Licinius, the controversy raged between Christian communities and among the clergy until Licinius, angry at the disturbances and suspecting Constantine's complicity, began to persecute both sides again.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
At Nicea, the difference between the Arians and the others came down to one letter. The Arians asserted that Christ was
homioousios
(of a like, but not identical, substance) while the others asserted that Christ was
homoousios
(of the exact same substance). Arian lost because the majority refused to budge an iota—the name for the Greek letter “i” that the Arians wanted in the language of the Nicene Creed. Arianism became a heresy, and the other became orthodox (correct belief) doctrine.

 
When in Rome
The
Nicene Creed
(“Nicene” from the Council of Nicea, “Creed” from the Latin
credo
, “I believe”) is a fundamental declaration and definition of what (orthodox) Christians believe. It lays out the basic tenants of faith regarding the nature of God, the trinity (God the Father, God the Son [Jesus], God the Holy Spirit), and the Church.

As sole emperor, Constantine wanted the same organizational unity in the church that he wanted for the Empire. He didn't care so much for the fine points of the Arian dispute, and said so in a letter to the respective leaders in which he asked for reconciliation. When that didn't work, he brought bishops, at state expense, from all over Europe to a council at Nicea in 325. There, he gave the council's keynote address (in Greek) and oversaw the debate.

The Nicene Council developed the famous
Nicene Creed
,
established the date for Easter and other matters of orthodox belief, organized the Catholic Church, and rejected Arian and commanded his writings to be burnt. This did not end things, however, because Arians remained a prominent unorthodox sect of heretics. Some later emperors saw things their way, and Arian missionaries made great strides among the Germanic and Gothic peoples who overran the Nicene west. Later popes found orthodox champions in the Frankish kings, but the Arian controversy packed a lot of punch into one small iota.

Faith and hope may have abided in the imperial household, but love was a problem. Constantine's son Crispus by his first wife, was a successful and talented heir. But Constantine's second wife, the Empress Fausta, wanted her sons to succeed in Crispus's place. She accused Crispus of trying to rape her. Constantine's edicts on sexual crimes saw to his execution. Later, Fausta found herself in hot water for this accusation. Helena convinced her son Constantine that Fausta had concocted the story, and Constantine had his wife scalded to death in a steam bath.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Constantine's harsh laws concerning sexual crimes are indicative of a deep distrust of women. Rapists were burned alive, but girls who were raped away from home were also harshly punished (a version of “If you were there you must have done something to deserve it or wanted it to happen”). Girls who eloped with lovers were burned along with their lovers. If a female attendant helped in the elopement, she was executed by pouring molten lead down her throat. If parents concealed the fact that their daughter was pregnant out of wedlock, they were deported.