History of the First Council of Nice/Life of Constantine

by Dean Dudley

LIFE OF CONTSTANTINE.

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Constantine the Great, born A. D. 274, was named Constantine, Caius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Claudius. His father was Constantius Chlorus^[1] and the mother, his wife Helena.^[2] Being the eldest son, Constantine, soon after the death of his father, in 306, was proclaimed emperor by the troops, and in 307 married Fausta, the daughter of Maximian; but Eusebius says that God, the supreme governor of the world, by his own will, appointed Constantine to be prince and sovereign.

"It is my intention," continues Eusebius, "to pass over very many of the deeds of this thrice-blessed prince, as, for example, his conflicts and engagements in the field, and his triumphs, and to speak and write of those circumstances only which refer to his religious character."

The father of Constantino had three colleagues m the government, Diocletian,^[3] Maximian^[4] and Galerius,^[5] all of whom persecuted the Christians; but he was the friend of the Christians' God, and devoted to the love of Christ.

Constantine, soon after coming into power, resolved to destroy his colleague, Maxentius,^[6] who adhered to the old idolatry; but he felt the need of some more powerful aid than his army, especially on account of the wicked and magical enchantments which were so diligently practised by the tyrant. Therefore he began to seek for divine assistance.

What particularly confirmed him in this course was the recollection that his father, who had opposed the persecuting spirit of his colleagues, and honored the one Supreme God during his whole life, had found him to be the Saviour and Protector of his empire.

"Accordingly," says Eusebius, "he called on him, with earnest prayer and supplications, that he would reveal to him who he was, and stretch forth his right hand to help him in his present difficulties. And, while he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvellous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of which it might have been difficult to receive with credit, had it been related by any other person.

"But since the victorious emperor himself, long afterwards declared it to the writer of this history, when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could hesitate to credit the relation, especially since the testimony of after-time has established its truth? He said that about midday, when the sun was beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription: 'In hoc signo vinces!' ' Under this sign thou shalt counquer. '

"At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which happened to be following him on some expedition, and witnessed the miracle.

"He moreover said, that he doubted within himself what the import of this apparition could be. And while he continued to ponder and reason on its meaning, night imperceptibly drew on; and in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to procure a standard made in the likeness of that sign, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.

"At dawn he set his artificers to work, and had the signal made and beautified with gold and gems. The Romans now call it the 'Labarum.' It was in the following form: A long spear overlaid with gold, crossed by a piece, laid over it. On the top of all was a crown, formed of gold and jewels interwoven, on which were placed two letters indicaing the name of Christ; the Greek letter Ρ being intersected by Χ exactly in its centre. From the transverse piece, which crossed the spear, was suspended a banner of purple cloth covered with profuse embroidery of bright jewels and gold. It was of square form, and over it (beneath the cross) was placed a golden half-length picture of the emperor and his children. This standard he ordered to be carried at the head of all his armies."

Eusebius often calls it the "saving signal," the "salutary symbol," the "salutary trophy," &c., and he moreover says the emperor told him that none of those who bore this standard ever received a wound. All the enemies' darts would stick in the spear and not touch the bearer. It is singular that Eusebius seemed to believe all the miracles Constantine ever narrated, and they were numerous.

It is said in Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, that Eusebius was probably mistaken in regard to the emperor's vision being really seen by him; because the sign of the cross had long been used by the Christians; and it is more reasonable to suppose that Constantine only dreamed that he saw it in the heavens, as he described, with the inscription about conquering.

Eusebius is sometimes blamed for his adulation of this hero. In one place he says, God himself was present to aid him all through his reign, "holding him up to the human race as an exemplary pattern of godliness."

The first tyrant to be destroyed was Maxentius, who had been exceedingly wicked, but "his crowning point was having recourse to sorcery." When this colleague was overthrown, Constantine sang: "Who is like to Thee, O Lord, among the gods?" Then the victor set up his statue in Rome, holding in his hand the Labarum, with this inscription engraved upon it: "By virtue of this salutary sign, which is the true symbol of valor, I have preserved and liberated your city from the yoke of tyranny," &c.

The Christian ministers at Rome^[7] were treated with great distinction, and all who had been imprisoned or banished were released or recalled. Costly offerings were made to the churches, and the poor were relieved, even from the emperor's private funds.

The next tyrant to he destroyed for his crimes and impiety was Maximian, "who was detected in a treasonable conspiracy," and after him others of the same family, "all their intentions being miraculously revealed by God through visions to his servant. For he frequently vouchsafed to him manifestations of himself, the divine presence appearing to him in a most marvellous manner, and giving to him many intimations of future events."

The third tyrant was Licinius, who had married the sister of Constantine. This colleague also "employed himself in machinations against his superior, and resolved at last to carry arms against God himself, whose worshipper he knew the emperor to be."

Licinius had forbidden women to receive instruction from the bishops, or even visit the churches with men, "directing the appointment of females to be the teachers of their own sex, and devised other means for effecting the ruin of the churches." The fourth tyrant, Galerius Valerius, ruler of the Eastern provinces, who stood in the way of Constantine, had a fatal disease overtake him, as a judgment from God. And he was loaded with an enormous quantity of fat, from gluttony. A vast number of worms swarmed in him, because he had persecuted Christians, and engaged in battle relying upon demons, whom he worshipped as gods. Maximin,^[8] and his children, were destroyed, A. D. 313, by Licinius.

Licinius, after some years of peaceful rule in Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, became engaged in other conflicts with Constantine, and, being taken prisoner, was put to death by his conqueror, together with his supporters.

Then Constantine adopted the title of " Victor," and so governed the Roman empire alone.

The exiled and enslaved martyrs were released, the confessors honored, and confiscated estates restored to the proper owners or heirs.

Laws were promulgated forbidding any one to erect images or practise divination, or offer sacrifice in any way in their private houses; churches were ordered to be built, and old ones to be repaired and enlarged. At this time the heathen temples were not closed or suppressed.

Great dissensions had arisen in the church of Egypt about the nature of Christ, and the time to celebrate Easter, by which Constantine was much troubled. He therefore ordered a convention to be held at Nicæa in Bithynia, to which bishops were invited from all parts of the world, hoping that harmony might result from the decision of such a Universal Assembly of the chief Christians of the world.

After these questions had been decided, the emperor directed his attention to building a great church at Jerusalem, on the spot where it was supposed the Holy Sepulchre had been discovered. The old cave was cleared of rubbish, and the most magnificent church in the world erected over it.

Helena Augusta,^[9] Constantine's aged mother, visited Palestine and built a church at Bethlehem, and another on the Mount of Olives. She gave many presents to the poor, released prisoners, did many acts of kindness, mingling with the ordinary worshippers in modest attire, and exhibited a true Christian spirit. She died in her eightieth year, in presence of the emperor. Her likeness was impressed on golden coins.

Now, at last, Constantine began to abolish idolatry at Constantinople, and to build churches there and in Nicomedia, &c. At his command the heathen temples and images were everywhere destroyed. In all his orders respecting church affairs, he acted like an ancient pope. Heresies were cursed and condemned, and heretics deprived of their right of holding meetings, and their houses of prayer were bestowed on the Catholic Church. Their books he ordered to be sought for and destroyed.

Constantine had his likeness represented on golden coins, with the eyes uplifted, in the attitude of prayer.

And our present legal institution of Sunday was established by this man's authority. "He enjoined on all the subjects of the Roman empire to observe the Lord's Day as a day of rest."

This decree for the general observance of Sunday^[10] appears to have been issued A. D. 321, before which time both "the old and new Sabbaths" were observed by Christians. Gibbon says he called the Lord's Day "Dies solis," that is, the Day of the Sun, or Sun'sday. "This day," he said, "should be regarded as a special occasion for prayer." And he gave his soldiers the following form of prayer to use: "We acknowledge thee the only God; we own thee as our King, and implore thy succor. By thy favor we have gotten the victory: through thee are we mightier than our enemies. We render thanks for thy past benefits, and trust thee for future blessings. Together we pray to thee, and beseech thee long to preserve to us, safe and triumphant, our Emperor Constantine and his pious sons." He encouraged celibacy, of the old virgin stamp, having a great veneration for it.

In the thirtieth year of his reign, his great Church of the Holy Sepulchre having been founded, he wished to dedicate it in a becoming manner; and therefore he directed that the bishops who had assembled at the Synod of Tyre in Phœnicia, should be conveyed from there to Jerusalem as soon as they were ready to go; and most of them went to attend the dedication. It was the greatest synod of bishops, after that of Nicæa, that had ever assembled. There were present prelates from all the Roman provinces in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Eusebius says he was there and delivered several orations. He also shortly afterwards went to Constantinople and delivered another oration in the emperor's presence. About this time (A. D. 330) he founded Constantinople.^[11]

Constantine continued to build churches and compose religious discourses up to his last days.^[12] In the thirty-first year of his reign, and the sixty-third of his age, he fell sick, and desired the bishop where he was, in Nicomodia, to baptize him, which was done; and he thought this ceremony had the effect to purify and purge his soul from past errors. He put on white robes, refusing to wear purple any more, made some noble bequests, and died on the last day of the feast of Pentecost, May 22, 337. His body was laid in a golden coffin in the great Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, which he had built and designed for his sepulchre.

The religious belief of this wonderful man is a matter of deep interest. His theories are expressed in his own words, and his faith we may know by his deeds.

In a great oration addressed by him to the Assembly of the Saints, he declares that Providence rules all things like fate; that justice is ever done, and that men receive here what they merit from Heaven's almighty ruling hand. His precise words are,—

"The events which befall men are consequent upon the tenor of their lives. Pestilence, sedition, famine, and plenty are all regulated with reference to our course of life."^[13]

In regard to the philosophers, who search into the secrets of nature, he remarks, that they often obscure the truth, when the subject of their reasoning surpasses their powers. So Socrates played constantly with the subtleties of controversy. And Plato, although he was sound in asserting that the word (logos) is God, and also the Son of God, yet he errs by introducing a plurality of gods. Pythagoras lied when he said that his knowledge came directly as a revelation from God, for he received it from the Egyptian priests.

"The soul of man is eternal," says Constantine; "but all things which had a beginning must have an end."

The coming of Christ, he asserts, was predicted by the prophets, the sibyls, and sublime poets. Even Virgil refers to the Christians, where he sings,—

"Behold a new, a heaven-born race appears."

And again,—

"Begin, Sicilian Muse, a loftier strain,
The voice of Cuma's oracle is heard again."

"See where the circling years new blessings bring;
The virgin comes, and He, the long-wished king."

"Beneath whose reign, the iron offspring ends,—
And golden progeny from Heaven descends."

"His kingdom banished Virtue shall restore,
And Crime shall threat the guilty world no more."

—See Dryden's Virgil, Ecl. 4.

The emperor had great faith in prayer. He says, "The righteous prayer is a thing invincible, and no one fails to attain his object who addresses holy supplication to God." He believed in a judgment and future punishment for the wicked.

The principal faults of this founder of the Christian power in Rome were, according to Mosheim, Gibbon and other historians, very similar to those of our English sovereign Henry VIII., founder of the Protestant ascendency in Great Britain. He was wilful, voluptuous, and self-conceited. His heart was capable of extreme cruelty, as shown by his acts toward several of his near relatives.^[14] Even a son, named Crispus, fell a victim to his jealous resentment.^[15] He assumed that he was born to reign, and held his commission from God. The flattery of the prelates might have augmented this conceit; for it was sometimes excessively fulsome.

Eusebius says, that on one occasion a Christian orator asserted, in the emperor's presence, that he would share the Empire of Heaven with Christ in the world to come. See Life of Constantine, book IV. chap. 48; English translation of 1845 (anonymous), which I have often quoted.

Constantine favored the Arians very much in some parts of his life, being under the influence of Eusebius of Nicomedia, by whom he was baptized and other Arian courtiers.

Constantino was peculiar in his dress, looks, and manners. In his later days he had a red complexion, and somewhat bloated appearance. His eyes were bright, and glared like those of a lion. His neck was thick, his voice soft and gentle.

The spear of the soldier was ever in his hand, and a helmet on his head, studded with jewels, and bound round with the Oriental diadem. He wore it on all occasions. His robe, of imperial purple or scarlet, was made of silk, richly embroidered with pearls and flowers, worked in gold. He took much care of his hair, at last wearing wigs of false hair, of various colors. His beard was shorn like that of the early Cæsars. His appetite was voracious, gluttonous. His wit was crisp and dry. He never lost his presence of mind.—Stanley.

Gibbon says of him: "In Constantine we may contemplate a hero, who so long inspired his subjects with love, and his enemies with terror, degenerating into a cruel and dissolute monarch, corrupted by his fortune, or raised by conquest, above the necessity of dissimulation. His old age was disgraced by the vices of rapaciousness and prodigality, and he lost the esteem of his subjects."

The emperor had been twice married. His first wife was Minervina, of obscure family, who bore him the son, Crispus. The brothers of Constantine were Julius Constantius, Dalmatius, and Hannibalianus,^[16] this last-named having no children. Gallus and Julian were sons of Julius Constantius, and Dalmatius had two sons, named Dalmatius and Hannibalianus. Crispus was an amiable and accomplished youth. Eusebius, the historian, calls him a "brave and pious son." He had been engaged in his father's wars since 17 years of age, and had the deserved esteem and admiration of the court, the army and the people. "This dangerous popularity," says Gibbon, "soon excited the attention of Constantine, who, both as a father and as a king, was impatient of an equal." He was confined almost as a prisoner to his father's court, and exposed, without power of defence, to the calumny of his enemies. The emperor began to hint at suspicions of a conspiracy against his person and government. By rewards he invited informers to accuse even his most intimate favorites. The adherents of Crispus were the victims chosen. Constantine soon ordered him to be apprehended and killed, and the only son^[17] of Constantia, the emperor's sister, in spite of her prayers and tears, shared the same fate. She did not long survive this blow, dying A. D. 329.

The church historian, Eusebius, first orator at the Nicene Council, no where mentions these horrible scenes in his prince's life. Other writers say that Fausta was the instigator of the murder of her stepson, Crispus. And they say Constantine so much repented of his cruelty, that he had her killed soon after, by being suffocated in a boiling hot bath. Philostorgius says the emperor murdered two wives, and that his three sons, who succeeded him were the sons of an adulteress. He declares that Fausta was innocent. Helena, the aged mother of Constantine, lamenting the fall of Crispus, soon revenged it; and Fausta was accused of adultery with a slave.^[18] Her condemnation quickly followed; although she and Constantine had been husband and wife for twenty years, and had four daughters^[19] and three sons, viz., Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, who became heirs to the Roman empire. Gibbon suggests some doubt about Fausta being destroyed. She was murdered privately in the imperial palace, if at all. "Chrysostom, the orator, indulges his fancy by exposing the naked empress on a desert mountain to be devoured by wild beasts."

Mosheim says, "Constantine's life was not such as the precepts of Christianity required." He put to death his own son, and his wife Fausta, on a groundless suspicion, and cut off his brother-in-law Licinius and the unoffending son of Licinius, contrary to his plighted word. Nevertheless, the Greek Church has canonized him, and adores the memory of St. Constantine.—J. R. Schlegel.

After his death, the bishop, to whom his will had been entrusted for Constantius, brought out a document as the will,^[20] which represented that the brothers and nephews of the late emperor had attempted to poison him, and directing that his death should be avenged on them. Whereupon the soldiers declared they would have no sovereigns but the sons of Constantine; and, Constantius probably conniving at the crime, his two uncles and several cousins, with some of their friends, were murdered in cold blood.—Gibbon.

Constantine was not a great man in depth and penetration of intellect, but exceedingly shrewd, prompt, and energetic in all the affairs of life, and inspired by such unbounded selfish ambition, that he overcame difficulties, which far greater souls would have deemed insurmountable. His credulity and superstition, which arose probably from ignorance of even the first principles of natural science, were the only checks upon his evil propensities. And both the old religion and the new, as he understood them, taught that every event was a special providence, and Jehovah, or some other deity, was the first and only cause of all our fortunes. However, according to his plan, sovereigns were instruments to carry on the affairs of the world, so they might imitate the Heavenly King, and make laws for nations, slay their subjects at pleasure, as the laws of nature do, and wield the sword and fire, and every kind of vengeance, against their foes, without overstepping the bounds of their proper sphere; and whatever God allowed to be successful, bore the stamp of his approval, inasmuch as it would not have been permitted unless it were right.

He was taught by the bishops that God sent his only Son to be crucified for the benefit of mankind; therefore a sovereign might order his son to be sacrificed for the good and peace of society. Under the influence of such fanaticism, he perhaps committed all his bloody crimes without feeling their real enormity. But his character and influence cast a dark shade over the Christianity which he established.

"It is one of the most tragical facts of all history," says John Stuart Mill, "that Constantine, rather than Marcus Aurelius, was the first Christian Emperor. It is a bitter thought how different the Christianity of the world might have been, had it been adopted as the religion of the empire under the auspices of Marcus Aurelius, instead of those of Constantine."—Essay on Liberty, p. 58.

Dr. Stanley, of the Episcopal Church, gives some pointed, finishing touches to this sketch. He says the horrors of Constantine's domestic life, which he tried in vain to conceal, occurred about the time he conquered Maxentius. While he was at Rome, an inscription was found one day over the gates of the Palatine, catching at his weak points, Oriental luxury, and cruelty:—

"Saturni aurea sæcla quis requirit?
Sunt hæc gemmea, sed Neroniana."

Which I translate,—

"The golden times of Saturn, who'd restore?
Ours shine with gems, but Nero reigns once more."

Hosius, the emperor's counsellor in the West, came to Rome about that time with Helena, and relieved him of his deep distress, by assuring him that there are no sins so great, but in Christianity they may find forgiveness.

The emperor has been charged with a great many crimes besides these, which are proved. He was said to have sought absolution from the pagan priests, and even had an infant sacrificed and its entrails examined at the suggestion of a Jew. Many suspicions and legends against him are quoted at length by both heathen and Christian historians.

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1. He was a son of Eutropius, a nobleman of Dardania, in Mœsia, and his wife, Claudia, a niece of the Emperor Claudius, of the Flavian line. The designation, "Chlorus," was given him on account of the paleness of his complexion.
2. Helena was the daughter of an inn-keeper at Drepanum.
3. The parents of Diocletian had been slaves in the house of Anulinus, a Roman senator. He became a soldier, and gradually rose, on account of his great talents, till he arrived at the imperial throne. "His reign was more illustrious," says Gibbon, "than that of any of his predecessors."
4. Marcus Valerius Maximian, of obscure parentage, was named by Diocletian, his colleague in the Roman Empire, A. D. 286. Put to death by order of Constantine, at Marseilles, A. D. 310. He was the father of Fausta, second wife of Constantine. His first wife was Minervina, of obscure family. We are not told what became of her.
5. Galerius was a herdsman in his youth. He assumed the name of Valerius, and is called also Armentarius. He was a brave general, and was raised by Diocletian to the title of Cæsar, and married Valeria, daughter of Diocletian.
6. Maxentius was son of Maximian, and was proclaimed Emperor at Rome, A. D. 306. He fell at the battle of the Milvian Bridge, A. D. 312, fighting against Constantine. He was a vile tyrant, but not a persecutor. Milman. Gibbon says (year 312), Constantine, after the victory over Maxentius, put to death his two sons, and carefully extirpated his whole race.
7. Stanley says, Constantine, doubtless, gave the Palace of the Lateran to Silvester, Bishop of Rome, and this was the beginning of the papal ascendency. This palace had been the estate of Fausta, the wife of the emperor.
8. There were six sovereigns of the Roman Empire, A. D. 308, namely, Galerius, Maximian, Constantine, Maxentius, Licinius, and Maximin. Of these, Constantine alone survived at the time of the Council of Nice. Only one of them had died a natural death; i. e., Galerius, in 311. Maximin was conquered by Licinius, and fled to Tarsus, where ho is said to have been poisoned in 313. His name was Maximin Daia, or Daza, and he had been an Illyrian peasant, being made Cæsar by Galerius, who was a relative, A. D. 303.
9. Augusta was her title, probably bestowed by Constantine. Maximian, when he made Constantius-Chlorus "Cæsar," required him to divorce Helena, and marry his wife's daughter, Theodora. At this time, Constantine was eighteen years old. Helena, while in Palestine, discovered the Holy Sepulchre and the true cross, and superintended the building of the great church at Jerusalem, over the Holy Sepulchre, as well as others in the Holy Land.
10. It was not generally called "Sunday" before this time; probably, never so called. Constantine had claimed Apollo, the sun-god, as his patron, and even after becoming a Christian he stamped Apollo's imago on one side of his coin, and the initials of Christ on the other. The earlier Fathers of the Church observed the first day of the week as a day of rejoicing and triumph, because Christ, on that day, triumphed over the grave, and initiated the resurrection. They did not wholly cease from labor, but observed the old Sabbath as a day of rest. The first day of the week was, by them, called the "Lord's Day."
11. "Of all the events of his life," says Dean Stanley, "this choice is the most convincing and enduring proof of his real genius. No city, chosen by the art of man, has been so well chosen, and so permanent."
12. The emperor used to preach in his palace halls to thousands of people, who would gather there out of curiosity to hear him.
13. He trusted in Providence, like Cromwell, and had a standing army of 300,000 men, and twenty-nine naval squadrons.
14. Gibbon says, that, after Constantine had put his wife's father to death, in Gaul, he gained a victory over the Franks and Allemanni, and gave their chiefs to be devoured by wild beasts in the public ampitheatre of Treves. Another historian says, a great number of the French youth were also exposed to the same cruel and ignominious death. "Yet," says Gibbon, "his reign in Gaul, excepting his destruction of Maximian, seems to have been the most innocent and even virtuous period of his life."
15. Julian charged his uncle, Constantine, who was also the father of his wife, with being "a voluptuary, a profligate and a murderer." Dean Stanley says, he put to death live of his near relatives, one being his wife, Fausta, and one, an eleven-year old son of Licinus and his wife Constantia, Constantine's own sister.
16. These three were brothers only by being sons of his father. Their mother was Theodora, the second wife of Chlorus. She was also the mother of Constantia, who married Licinius, and was a woman of great abilities and kindness of heart. She belonged to the Arian sect, and had Eusebius of Nicomedia for her spiritual adviser.
17. This boy's name was Licinius, aged eleven years. He had the title of Cæsar.
18. Or soldier of the Imperial Guard. But it was, probably, a false charge. Fausta's death occurred, A. D. 327. Helena died 328. Crispus and his friends were put to death in 326.
19. Constantine's four daughters were: 1, Constantia, wife of Hannibalianus, son of Dalmatius, half-brother to the emperor; 2, Constantina; 3, Flavia Maxima, wife of Gratian, the son of Valentinian; 4, Helena, wife of Julian, son of the emperor's half-brother Constantius.
20. The will was confided to a chaplain, who gave it to Eusebius of Nicomedia, and this bishop not liking to keep it in his hands, put it into the hand of the dead emperor, where Constantius found it.—Stanley, Philostorgius.