Constantine`s monetary policy was closely linked to his religious policy; The increase in minting was associated with the confiscation of all gold, silver, and bronze statues from pagan temples between 331 and 336, which were declared imperial property. Two imperial commissioners for each province were responsible for procuring the statues and melting them down for immediate minting, with the exception of a number of bronze statues used as public monuments in Constantinople. [269] Constantine, however, kept his distance from the Italian conflict. In the spring and summer of 307 he had left Gaul and gone to Britain to avoid any involvement in the Italian riots; Instead of providing military aid to Maxentius, he sent his troops against the Germanic tribes along the Rhine.[112] In 308 he attacked the territory of the Bructeri and built a bridge over the Rhine at Colonia Agrippinensium (Cologne). In 310, he marched on the North Rhineland and fought the Franks. When he wasn`t campaigning, he toured his country, promoting his goodwill and supporting business and art. His refusal to participate in the war increased his popularity among his people and strengthened his power base in the West. [113] Maximian returned to Rome in the winter of 307-308, but soon fell out with his son. In early 308, after an unsuccessful attempt to usurp the title of Maxentius, Maximian returned to the court of Constantine. [114] The first documented official persecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire occurred in 64 AD, when, as reported by Roman historian Tacitus, Emperor Nero attempted to blame Christians for the great fire of Rome. According to church tradition, Peter and Paul were martyred during Nero`s reign in Rome. Modern historians, however, debate whether the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews before Nerva changed the Fiscus Judaicus in 96, whose observant Jews paid the tax and Christians did not. [8] As emperor, Constantine continued the usual practice of building monuments and basilicas (public buildings).
Their characteristic forms helped form the standard of the churches, with a nave and apses for the side altars. In Rome, Constantine built the first basilicas of St. Peter and St. John Lateran. His new imperial city of Constantinople was famous for its imperial architecture. Bishop Donatus refused, and his followers moved to North Africa, where they confronted Augustine of Hippo a hundred years later. By issuing the order, Constantine effectively became the official head of the Church. This was reflected by Augustus (r. 27 BC). – 14 AD). A.D.) When he combined the position of Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religion, with his role as first citizen. In 324, Constantine defeated Licinius and became the sole emperor.
In this position, he essentially expanded Aurelian`s ideas by now being able to impose “one God, one emperor, one church.” Constantine`s adherence to Christianity was closely linked to his rise to power. He fought at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in the name of the Christian god after receiving instructions in a dream to paint the Christian monogram on the shields of his troops. This is the account of the Christian apologist Lactantius. A slightly different version offered by Eusebius relates a vision that Constantine saw during the campaign against Maxentius, in which the Christian sign appeared in the sky with the legend “In this sign of victory”. Despite Caesar`s authority for reporting to Eusebius late in life, it is generally more problematic than the other, but a religious experience on the march of Gaul is also suggested by a pagan orator who, in a speech from 310, refers to a vision of Apollo received by Constantine in a sanctuary in Gaul. During the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 AD), Christianity began to become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain as to Constantine`s reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often debated the early form of Christianity he joined. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether, in his youth, he embraced the Christianity of his mother Helena or, as Eusebius of Caesarea claims, encouraged her to convert to the faith he himself had adopted. In the cultural realm, Constantine revived the closely shaved facial fashion of previous emperors, originally introduced by Scipio Africanus to the Romans and transformed by Hadrian into bearding. This new Roman imperial fashion lasted until the reign of Phocas in the 7th century.
[302] [303] When Constantine founded his new capital in 330 AD, the city that was to be called Constantinople had changed hands several times among the regional superpowers. Darius I of Persia, the Delian League, the Spartans and Alexander the Great had all ruled the strategic port of Byzantium on the Bosphorus, a strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.