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EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA

THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED EMPEROR CONSTANTINE

[The Bagster translation, revised by Ernest Cushing Richardson, Ph.D.,
Librarian and Associate Professor in Hartford Theological Seminary.]


BOOK I.

CHAPTER I: Preface.-- Of the Death of Constantine.

   ALREADY (1) have all mankind united in celebrating with joyous
festivities the completion of the second and third decennial period of this
great emperor's reign; already have we ourselves received him as a
triumphant conqueror in the assembly of God's ministers, and greeted him
with the due meed of praise on the twentieth anniversary of his reign: (2)
and still more recently we have woven, as it were, garlands of words,
wherewith we encircled his sacred head in his own palace on his thirtieth
anniversary. (3)

   But now, while I desire (4) to give utterance to some of the customary
sentiments, I stand perplexed and doubtful which way to turn, being wholly
lost in wonder at the extraordinary spectacle before me. For to whatever
quarter I direct my view, whether to the east, or to the west, or over the
whole world, or toward heaven itself, everywhere and always I see the
blessed one yet administering the self-same empire. On earth I behold his
sons, like some new reflectors of his brightness, diffusing everywhere the
luster of their father's character, (5) and himself still living and
powerful, and governing all the affairs of men more completely than ever
before, being multiplied in the succession of his children. They had indeed
had previously the dignity of Caesars; (6) but now, being invested with his
very self, and graced by his accomplishments, for the excellence of their
piety they are proclaimed by the titles of Sovereign, Augustus, Worshipful,
and Emperor.

CHAPTER II: The Preface continued.

   And I am indeed amazed, when I consider that he who was but lately
visible and present with us in his mortal body, is still, even after death,
when the natural thought disclaims everything superfluous as unsuitable,
most marvelously endowed with the same imperial dwellings, and honors, and
praises as heretofore. (1) But farther, when I raise my thoughts even to
the arch of heaven, and there contemplate his thrice-blessed soul in
communion with God himself, freed from every mortal and earthly vesture,
and shining in a refulgent robe of light, and when I perceive that it is no
more connected with the fleeting periods and occupations of mortal life,
but honored with an ever- blooming crown, and an immortality of endless and
blessed existence, I stand as it were without power of speech or thought
(2) and unable to utter a single phrase, but condemning my own weakness,
and imposing silence on myself, I resign the task of speaking his praises
worthily to one who is better able, even to him who, being the immortal God
and veritable Word, alone has power to confirm his own saying. (3)

CHAPTER III: How God honors Pious Princes, but destroys Tyrants.

   Having given assurance that those who glorify and honor him will meet
with an abundant recompense at his hands, while those who set themselves
against him as enemies and adversaries will compass the ruin of their own
souls, he has already established the truth of these his own declarations,
having shown on the one hand the fearful end of those tyrants who denied
and opposed him, (1) and at the same time having made it manifest that even
the death of his servant, as well as his life, is worthy of admiration and
praise, and justly claims the memorial, not merely of perishable, but of
immortal monuments.

   Mankind, devising some consolation for the frail and precarious
duration of human life, have thought by the erection of monuments to
glorify the memories of their ancestors with immortal honors. Some have
employed the vivid delineations and colors of painting (2); some have
carved statues from lifeless blocks of wood; while others, by engraving
their inscriptions deep on tablets (3) and monuments, have thought to
transmit the virtues of those whom they honored to perpetual remembrance.
All these indeed are perishable, and consumed by the lapse of time, being
representations of the corruptible body, and not expressing the image of
the immortal soul. And yet these seemed sufficient to those who had no
well-grounded hope of happiness after the termination of this mortal life.
But God, that God, I say, who is the common Saviour of all, having
treasured up with himself, for those who love godliness, greater blessings
than human thought has conceived, gives the earnest and first-fruits of
future rewards even here, assuring in some sort immortal hopes to mortal
eyes. The ancient oracles of the prophets, delivered to us in the
Scripture, declare this; the lives of pious men, who shone in old time with
every virtue, bear witness to posterity of the same; and our own days prove
it to be true, wherein Constantine, who alone of all that ever wielded the
Roman power was the friend of God the Sovereign of all, has appeared to all
mankind so clear an example of a godly life.

CHAPTER IV: That God honored Constantine.

   And God himself, whom Constantine worshiped, has confirmed this truth
by the clearest manifestations of his will, being present to aid him (1) at
the commencement, during the course, and at the end of his reign, and
holding him up to the human race as an instructive example of godliness.
Accordingly, by the manifold blessings he has conferred on him, he has
distinguished him alone of all the sovereigns of whom we have ever heard as
at once a mighty luminary and most clear-voiced herald of genuine piety.

CHAPTER V: That he reigned above Thirty Years, and lived above Sixty.

   With respect to the duration of his reign, God honored him with three
complete periods of ten years, and something more, extending the whole term
of his mortal life to twice this number of years. (1) And being pleased to
make him a representative of his own sovereign power, he displayed him as
the conqueror of the whole race of tyrants, and the destroyer of those God-
defying giants (2) of the earth who madly raised their impious arms against
him, the supreme King of all. They appeared, so to speak, for an instant,
and then disappeared: while the one and only true God, when he had enabled
his servant, clad in heavenly panoply, to stand singly against many foes,
and by his means had relieved mankind from the multitude of the ungodly,
constituted him a teacher of his worship to all nations, to testify with a
loud voice in the hearing of all that he acknowledged the true God, and
turned with abhorrence from the error of them that are no gods.

CHAPTER VI: That he was the Servant of God, and the Conqueror of Nations.

   Thus, like a faithful and good servant, did he act and testify, openly
declaring and confessing himself the obedient minister of the supreme King.
And God forthwith rewarded him, by making him ruler and sovereign, and
victorious to such a degree that he alone of all rulers pursued a continual
course of conquest, unsubdued and invincible, and through his trophies a
greater ruler than tradition records ever to have been before. So dear was
he to God, and so blessed; so pious and so fortunate in all that he
undertook, that with the greatest facility he obtained the authority over
more nations than any who had preceded him, (1) and yet retained his power,
undisturbed, to the very close of his life.

CHAPTER VII: Comparison with Cyrus, King of the Persians and with Alexander
of Macedon.

   Ancient history describes Cyrus, king of the Persians, as by far the
most illustrious of all kings up to his time. And yet if we regard the end
of his days, (1) we find it but little corresponded with his past
prosperity, since he met with an inglorious and dishonorable death at the
hands of a woman. (2)

   Again, the sons of Greece celebrate Alexander the Macedonian as the
conqueror of many and diverse nations; yet we find that he was removed by
an early death, before he had reached maturity, being carried off by the
effects of revelry and drunkenness. (3) His whole life embraced but the
space of thirty-two years, and his reign extended to no more than a third
part of that period. Unsparing as the thunderbolt, he advanced through
streams of blood and reduced entire nations and cities, young and old, to
utter slavery. But when he had scarcely arrived at the maturity of life,
and was lamenting the loss of youthful pleasures, death fell upon him with
terrible stroke, and, that he might not longer outrage the human race, cut
him off in a foreign and hostile land, childless, without successor, and
homeless. His kingdom too was instantly dismembered, each of his officers
taking away and appropriating a portion for himself. And yet this man is
extolled for such deeds as these. (4)

CHAPTER VIII: That he conquered nearly the Whole World.

   But our emperor began his reign at the time of life at which the
Macedonian died, yet doubled the length of his life, and trebled the length
of his reign. And instructing his army in the mild and sober precepts of
godliness, he carried his arms as far as the Britons, and the nations that
dwell in the very bosom of the Western ocean. He subdued likewise all
Scythia, though situated in the remotest North, and divided into numberless
diverse and barbarous tribes. He even pushed his conquests to the Blemmyans
and Ethiopians, on the very confines of the South nor did he think the
acquisition of the Eastern nations unworthy his care. In short, diffusing
the effulgence of his holy light to the ends of the whole world, even to
the most distant Indians, the nations dwelling on the extreme circumference
of the inhabited earth, he received the submission of all the rulers, (1)
governors, (2) and satraps of barbarous nations, who cheerfully welcomed
and saluted him, sending embassies and presents, and setting the highest
value on his acquaintance and friendship; insomuch that they honored him
with pictures and statues in their respective countries, and Constantine
alone of all emperors was acknowledged and celebrated by all.
Notwithstanding, even among these distant tions, he proclaimed the name of
his God in his royal edicts with all boldness.

CHAPTER IX: That he was the Son of a Pious Emperor, and bequeathed the
Power to Royal Sons.

   Nor did he give this testimony in words merely, while exhibiting
failure in his own practice, but pursued every path of virtue, and was rich
in the varied fruits of godliness. He ensured the affection of his friends
by magnificent proofs of liberality; and inasmuch as he governed on
principles of humanity, he caused his rule to be but lightly felt and
acceptable to all classes of his subjects; until at last, after a long
course of years, and when he was wearied by his divine labors, the God whom
he honored crowned him with an immortal reward, and translated him from a
transitory kingdom to that endless life which he has laid up in store for
the souls of his saints, after he had raised him up three sons to succeed
him in his power. As then the imperial throne had descended to him from his
father, so, by the law of nature, was it reserved for his children and
their descendants, and perpetuated, like some paternal inheritance, to
endless generations. And indeed God himself, who distinguished this blessed
prince with divine honors while yet present with us, and who has adorned
his death with choice blessings from his own hand, should be the writer of
his actions; since he has recorded his labors and successes on heavenly
monuments. (1)

CHAPTER X: Of the Need for this History, and its Value for Edification.

   HOWEVER, hard as it is to speak worthily of this blessed character, and
though silence were the safer and less perilous course, nevertheless it is
incumbent on me, if I would escape the charge of negligence and sloth, to
trace as it were a verbal portraiture, by way of memorial of the pious
prince, in imitation of the delineations of human art. For I should be
ashamed of myself were I not to employ my best efforts, feeble though they
be and of little value, in praise of one who honored God with such
surpassing devotion. I think too that my work will be on other grounds both
instructive and necessary, since it will contain a description of those
royal and noble actions which are pleasing to God, the Sovereign of all.
For would it not be disgraceful that the memory of Nero, and other impious
and godless tyrants far worse than he, should meet with diligent writers to
embellish the relation of their worthless deeds with elegant language, and
record them in voluminous histories, and that I should be silent, to whom
God himself has vouchsafed such an emperor as all history records not, and
has permitted me to come into his presence, and enjoy his acquaintance and
society? (1)

   Wherefore, if it is the duty of any one, it certainly is mine, to make
an ample proclamation of his virtues to all in whom the example of noble
actions is capable of inspiring the love of God. For some who have written
the lives of worthless characters, and the history of actions but little
tending to the improvement of morals, from private motives, either love or
enmity, and possibly in some cases with no better object than the display
of their own learning, have exaggerated unduly their description of actions
intrinsically base, by a refinement and elegance of diction. (2) And thus
they have become to those who by the Divine favor had been kept apart from
evil, teachers not of good, but of what should be silenced in oblivion and
darkness. But my narrative, however unequal to the greatness of the deeds
it has to describe, will yet derive luster even from the bare relation of
noble actions. And surely the record of conduct that has been pleasing to
God will afford a far from unprofitable, indeed a most instructive study,
to persons of well-disposed minds.

CHAPTER XI: That his Present Object is to record only the Pious Actions of
Constantine.

   IT is my intention, therefore, to pass over the greater part of the
royal deeds of this thrice-blessed prince; as, for example, his conflicts
and engagements in the field, his personal valor, his victories and
successes against the enemy, and the many triumphs he obtained: likewise
his provisions for the interests of individuals, his legislative enactments
for the social advantage of his subjects, and a multitude of other imperial
labors which are fresh in the memory of all; the design of my present
undertaking being to speak and write of those circumstances only which have
reference to his religious character.

   And since these are themselves of almost infinite variety, I shall
select from the facts which have come to my knowledge such as are most
suitable, and worthy of lasting record, and endeavor to narrate them as
briefly as possible. Henceforward, indeed, there is a full and opportunity
for celebrating in every way the praises of this truly blessed prince,
which hitherto we have been unable to do, oh the ground that we are
forbidden to judge any one blessed before his death, (1) because of the
uncertain vicissitudes of life. Let me implore then the help of God, and
may the inspiring aid of the heavenly Word be with me, while I commence my
history from the very earliest period of his life.

CHAPTER XII: That like Moses, he was reared in the Palaces of Kings.

   ANCIENT history relates that a cruel race of tyrants oppressed the
Hebrew nation; and that God, who graciously regarded them in their
affliction, provided that the prophet Moses, who was then an infant, should
be brought up in the very palaces and bosoms of the oppressors, and
instructed in all the wisdom they possessed. And when in the course of time
he had arrived at manhood, and the time was come for Divine justice to
avenge the wrongs of the afflicted people, then the prophet of God, in
obedience to the will of a more powerful Lord, forsook the royal household,
and, estranging himself in word and deed from the tyrants by whom he had
been brought up, openly acknowledging his true brethren and kinsfolk. Then
God, exalting him to be the leader of the whole nation, delivered the
Hebrews from the bondage of their enemies, and inflicted Divine vengeance
through his means on the tyrant race. This ancient story, though rejected
by most as fabulous, has. reached the ears of all. But now the same God has
given to us to be eye-witnesses of miracles more wonderful than fables,
and, from their recent appearance, more authentic than any report. For the
tyrants of our day have ventured to war against the Supreme God, and have
sorely afflicted His Church. (1) And in the midst of these, Constantine,
who was shortly to become their destroyer, but at that time of tender age,
and blooming with the down of early s youth, dwelt, as that other servant
of God had done, in the very home of the tyrants, (2) but t young as he was
did not share the manner of life of the ungodly: for from that early period
his noble nature, under the leading of the Divine Spirit, inclined him to
piety and a life acceptable to God. A desire, moreover, to emulate the
example of his father had its influence in stimulating the son to a
virtuous course of conduct His father was Constantius (3) (and we ought to
revive his memory at this time), the most illustrious emperor of our age;
of whose life it is necessary briefly to relate a few particulars, which
tell to the honor of his son.

CHAPTER XIII: Of Constantius his Father, who refused to imitate Diocletian,
Maximian, and Maxentius, (1) in their Persecution of the Christians.

   At a time when four emperors (2) shared the administration of the Roman
empire, Constantius alone, following a course of conduct different from
that pursued by his colleagues, entered into the friendship of the Supreme
God.

   For while they besieged and wasted the churches of God, leveling them
to the ground, and obliterating the very foundations of the houses of
prayer, (3) he kept his hands pure from their abominable impiety, and never
in any respect resembled them. They polluted their provinces by the
indiscriminate slaughter of godly men and women; but he kept his soul free
from the stain of this crime. (4)The involved in the mazes of impious
idolatry, enthralled first themselves, and then all under their authority,
in bondage to the errors of evil demons, while he at the same time
originated the profoundest peace throughout his dominions, and secured to
his subjects the privilege of celebrating without hindrance the worship of
God. In short, while his colleagues oppressed all men by the most grievous
exactions, and rendered their lives intolerable, and even worse than death,
Constantius alone governed his people with a mild and tranquil sway, and
exhibited towards them a truly parental and fostering care. Numberless,
indeed, are the other virtues of this man, which are the theme of praise to
all; of these I will record one or two instances, as specimens of the
quality of those which I must pass by in silence, and then I will proceed
to the appointed order of my narrative.

CHAPTER XIV: How Constantius his Father, being reproached with Poverty by
Diocletian, filled his Treasury, and afterwards restored the Money to those
by whom it had been contributed.

   In consequence of the many reports in circulation respecting this
prince, describing his kindness and gentleness of character, and the
extraordinary elevation of his piety, alleging too, that by reason of his
extreme indulgence to his subjects, he had not even a supply of money laid
up in his treasury; the emperor who at that time occupied the place of
supreme power sent to reprehend his neglect of the public weal, at the same
time reproaching him with poverty, and alleging in proof of the charge the
empty state of his treasury. On this he desired the messengers of the
emperor to remain with him awhile, and, calling together the wealthiest of
his subjects of all nations under his dominion, he informed them that he
was in want of money, and that this was the time for them all to give a
voluntary proof of their affection for their prince.

   As soon as they heard this (as though they had long been desirous of an
opportunity for showing the sincerity of their good will), with zealous
alacrity they filled the treasury with gold and silver and other wealth;
each eager to surpass the rest in the amount of his contribution: and this
they did with cheerful and joyous countenances. And now Constantius desired
the messengers of the great emperor (1) personally to inspect his
treasures, and directed them to give a faithful report of what they had
seen; adding, that on the present occasion he had taken this money into his
own hands, but that it had long been kept for his use in the custody of the
owners, as securely as if under the charge of faithful treasurers. The
ambassadors were overwhelmed with astonishment at what they had witnessed:
and on their departure it is said that the truly generous prince sent for
the owners of the property, and, after commending them severally for their
obedience and true loyalty, restored it all, and bade them return to their
homes.

   This one circumstance, then, conveys a proof of the generosity of him
whose character we are attempting to illustrate: another will contain the
clearest testimony to his piety.

CHAPTER XV: Of the Persecution raised by his Colleagues.

   By command of the supreme authorities of the empire, the governors of
the several provinces had set on foot a general persecution of the godly.
Indeed, it was from the imperial courts themselves that the very first of
the pious martyrs proceeded, who passed through those conflicts for the
faith, and most readily endured both fire and sword, and the depths of the
sea; every form of death, in short, so that in a brief time all the royal
palaces were bereft of pious men. (1) The result was, that the authors of
this wickedness were entirely deprived of the protecting care of God, since
by their persecution of his worshipers they at the same time silenced the
prayers that were wont to be made on their own behalf.

CHAPTER XVI: How Constantius, feigning Idolatry, expelled those who
consented to offer Sacrifice, but retained in his Palace all who were
willing to confess Christ.

   On the other hand, Constantius conceived an expedient full of sagacity,
and did a thing which sounds paradoxical, but in fact was most admirable.

   He made a proposal to all the officers of his court, including even
those in the highest stations of authority, offering them the following
alternative: either that they should offer sacrifice to demons, and thus be
permitted to remain with him, and enjoy their usual honors; or, in case of
refusal, that they should be shut out from all access to his person, and
entirely disqualified from acquaintance and association with him.
Accordingly, when they had individually made their choice, some one way and
some the other; and the choice of each had been ascertained, then this
admirable prince disclosed the secret meaning of his expedient, and
condemned the cowardice and selfishness of the one party, while he highly
commended the other for their conscientious devotion to God. He declared,
too, that those who had been false to their God must be unworthy of the
confidence of their prince; for how was it possible that they should
preserve their fidelity to him, who had proved themselves faithless to a
higher power? He determined, therefore, that such persons should be removed
altogether from the imperial court, while, on the other hand, declaring
that those men who, in bearing witness for the truth, had proved themselves
to be worthy servants of God, would manifest the same fidelity to their
king, he en-trusted them with the guardianship of his person and empire,
saying that he was bound to treat such persons with special regard as his
nearest and most valued friends, and to esteem them far more highly than
the richest treasures.

CHAPTER XVII: Of his Christian Manner of Life.

   The father of Constantine, then, is said to have possessed such a
character as we have briefly described. And what kind of death was
vouchsafed to him in consequence of such devotion to God, and how far he
whom he honored made his lot to differ from that of his colleagues in the
empire, may be known to any one who will give his attention to the
circumstances of the case. For after he had for a long time given many
proofs of royal virtue, in acknowledging the Supreme God alone, and
condemning the polytheism of the ungodly, and had fortified his household
by the prayers of holy men, (1) he passed the remainder of his life in
remarkable repose and tranquillity, in the enjoyment of what is counted
blessedness, --neither molesting others nor being molested ourselves.

   Accordingly, during the whole course of his quiet and peaceful reign,
he dedicated his entire household, his children, his wife, and domestic
attendants, to the One Supreme God: so that the company assembled within
the walls of his palace differed in no respect from a church of God;
wherein were also to be found his ministers, who offered continual
supplications on behalf of their prince, and this at a time when, with
most,(2) it was not allowable to have any dealings with the worshipers of
God, even so far as to exchange a word with them.

CHAPTER XVIII: That after the Abdication of Diocletian and Maximian,
Constantius became Chief Augustus, and was blessed with a Numerous
Offspring.

   The immediate consequence of this conduct was a recompense from the
hand of God, insomuch that he came into the supreme authority of the
empire. For the older emperors, for some unknown reason, resigned their
power; and this sudden change took place in the first year after their
persecution of the churches. (1)

   From that time Constantius alone received the honors of chief Augustus,
having been previously, indeed, distinguished by the diadem of the imperial
Caesars, (2) among whom he held the first rank; but after his worth had
been proved in this capacity, he was invested with the highest dignity of
the Roman empire, being named chief Augustus of the four who were
afterwards elected to that honor. Moreover, he surpassed most of the
emperors in regard to the number of his family, having gathered around him
a very large circle of children both male and female. And, lastly, when he
had attained to a happy old age, and was about to pay the common debt of
nature, and exchange this life for another, God once more manifested His
power in a special manner on his behalf, by providing that his eldest son
Constantine should be present during his last moments, and ready to receive
the imperial power from his hands. (3)

CHAPTER XIX: Of his Son Constantine, who in his Youth accompanied
Diocletian into Palestine.

   The latter had been with his father's imperial colleagues, (1) and had
passed his life among them, as we have said, like God's ancient prophet.
And even in the very earliest period of his youth he was judged by them to
be worthy of the highest honor. An instance of this we have ourselves seen,
when he passed through Palestine with the senior emperor, (2) at whose
right hand he stood, and commanded the admiration of all who beheld him by
the indications he gave even then of royal greatness. For no one was
comparable to him for grace and beauty of person, or height of stature; and
he so far surpassed his compeers in personal strength as to be a terror to
them. He was, however, even more conspicuous for the excellence of his
mental (3) qualities than for his superior physical endowments; being
gifted in the first place with a sound judgment, (4) and having also reaped
the advantages of a liberal education. He was also distinguished in no
ordinary degree both by natural intelligence and divinely imparted wisdom.

CHAPTER XX: Flight of Constantine to his Father because of the Plots of
Diocletian. (1)

   The emperors then in power, observing his manly and vigorous figure and
superior mind, were moved with feelings of jealousy and fear, and
thenceforward carefully watched for an opportunity of inflicting some brand
of disgrace on his character. But the young man, being aware of their
designs, the details of which, through the providence of God, more than
once came to him, sought safety in flight; (2) in this respect again
keeping up his resemblance to the great prophet Moses. Indeed, in every
sense God was his helper; and he had before ordained that he should be
present in readiness to succeed his father.

CHAPTER XXI: Death of Constantius, who leaves his Son Constantine Emperor.
(1)

   IMMEDIATELY, therefore, on his escape from the plots which had been
thus insidiously laid for him, he made his way with all haste to his
father, and arrived at length at the very time that he was lying at the
point of death. (2) As soon as Constantius saw his son thus unexpectedly in
his presence, he leaped from his couch, embraced him tenderly, and,
declaring that the only anxiety which had troubled him in the prospect of
death, namely, that caused by the absence of his son, was now removed, he
rendered thanks to God, saying that he now thought death better than the
longest life, (3) and at once completed the arrangement of his private
affairs. Then, taking a final leave of the circle of sons and daughters by
whom he was surrounded, in his own palace, and on the imperial couch, he
bequeathed the empire, according to the law of nature, (4) to his eldest
son, and breathed his last.

CHAPTER XXII: How, after the Burial of Constantius, Constantine was
proclaimed Augustus by the Army.

   Nor did the imperial throne remain long unoccupied: for Constantine
invested himself with his father's purple, and proceeded from his father's
palace, presenting to all a renewal, as it were, in his own person, of his
father's life and reign. He then conducted the funeral procession in
company with his father's friends, some preceding, others following the
train, and performed the last offices for the pious deceased with an
extraordinary degree of magnificence, and all united in honoring this
thrice blessed prince with acclamations and praises, and while with one
mind and voice, they glorified the rule of the son as a living again of him
who was dead, they hastened at once to hail their new sovereign by the
titles of Imperial and Worshipful Augustus, with joyful shouts. (1) Thus
the memory of the deceased emperor received honor from the praises bestowed
upon his son, while the latter was pronounced blessed in being the
successor of such a father. All the nations also under his dominion were
filled with joy and inexpressible gladness at not being even for a moment
deprived of the benefits of a well ordered government.

   In the instance of the Emperor Constantius, God has made manifest to
our generation what the end of those is who in their lives have honored and
loved him.

CHAPTER XXIII: A Brief Notice of the Destruction of the Tyrants.

   With respect to the other princes, who made war against the churches of
God, I have not thought it fit in the present work to give any account of
their downfall, (1) nor to stain the memory of the good by mentioning them
in connection with those of an opposite character. The knowledge of the
facts themselves will of itself suffice for the wholesome admonition of
those who have witnessed or heard of the evils which severally befell them.

CHAPTER XXIV: It was by the Will of God that Constantine became possessed
of the Empire.

   Thus then the God of all, the Supreme Governor of the whole universe,
by his own will appointed Constantine, the descendant of so renowned a
parent, to be prince and sovereign: so that, while others have been raised
to this distinction by the election of their fellow- men, he is the only
one to whose elevation no mortal may boast of having contributed.

CHAPTER XXV: Victories of Constantine over the and the Britons.

   As soon then as he was established on the throne, he began to care for
the interests of his paternal inheritance, and visited with much
considerate kindness all those provinces which had previously been under
his father's government. Some tribes of the barbarians who dwelt on the
banks of the Rhine, and the shores of the Western ocean, having ventured to
revolt, he reduced them all to obedience, and brought them from their
savage state to one of gentleness. He contented himself with checking the
inroads of others, and drove from his dominions, like untamed and savage
beasts, those whom he perceived to be altogether incapable of the settled
order of civilized life. (1) Having disposed of these affairs to his
satisfaction, he directed his attention to other quarters of the world, and
first passed over to the British nations, (2) which lie in the very bosom
of the ocean. These he reduced to submission, and then proceeded to
consider the state of the remaining portions of the empire, that he might
be ready to tender his aid wherever circumstances might require it.

CHAPTER XXVI: How he resolved to deliver Rome from Maxentius.

   While, therefore, he regarded the entire world as one immense body, and
perceived that the head of it all, the royal city of the Roman empire, was
bowed down by the weight of a tyrannous oppression; at first he had left
the task of liberation to those who governed the other divisions of the
empire, as being his superiors in point of age. But when none of these
proved able to afford relief, and those who had attempted it had
experienced a disastrous termination of their enterprise, (1) he said that
life was without enjoyment to him as long as he saw the imperial city thus
afflicted, and prepared himself for the overthrowal of the tyranny.

CHAPTER XXVII: That after reflecting on the Dawn fall of those who had
worshiped Idols, he made Choice of Christianity.

   Being convinced, however, that he needed some more powerful aid than
his military forces could afford him, on account of the wicked and magical
enchantments which were so diligently practiced by the tyrant, (1) he
sought Divine assistance, deeming the possession of arms and a numerous
soldiery of secondary importance, but believing the co-operating power of
Deity invincible and not to be shaken. He considered, therefore, on what
God he might rely for protection and assistance. While engaged in this
enquiry, the thought occurred to him, that, of the many emperors who had
preceded him, those who had rested their hopes in a multitude of gods, and
served them with sacrifices and offerings, had in the first place been
deceived by flattering predictions, and oracles which promised them all
prosperity, and at last had met with an unhappy end, while not one of their
gods had stood by to warn them of the impending wrath of heaven; while one
alone who had pursued an entirely opposite course, who had condemned their
error, and honored the one Supreme God during his whole life, had formal I
him to be the Saviour and Protector of his empire, and the Giver of every
good thing. Reflecting on this, and well weighing the fact that they who
had trusted in many gods had also fallen by manifold forms of death,
without leaving behind them either family or offspring, stock, name, or
memorial among men: while the God of his father had given to him, on the
other hand, manifestations of his power and very many tokens: and
considering farther that those who had already taken arms against the
tyrant, and had marched to the battle-field under the protection of a
multitude of gods, had met with a dishonorable end (for one of them (2) had
shamefully retreated from the contest without a blow, and the other, (3)
being slain in the midst of his own troops, became, as it were, the mere
sport of death (4) ); reviewing, I say, all these considerations, he judged
it to be folly indeed to join in the idle worship of those who were no
gods, and, after such convincing evidence, to err from the truth; and
therefore felt it incumbent on him to honor his father's God alone.

CHAPTER XXVIII: How, while he was praying, God sent him a Vision of a Cross
of Light in the Heavens at Mid-day, with an Inscription admonishing him to
conquer by that.

   ACCORDINGLY 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 marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of
which it might have been hard to believe had it been related by any other
person. But since the victorious emperor himself long afterwards declared
it to the writer of this history, (1) when he was honored with his
acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could
hesitate to accredit the relation, especially since the testimony of after-
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 bearing the inscription,
CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and
his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed
the miracle. (2)

CHAPTER XXIX: How the Christ of God appeared to him in his Sleep, and
commanded him to use in his Wars a Standard made in the Form of the Cross.

   He said, moreover, 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 suddenly came on; then 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 make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the
heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.

CHAPTER XXX: The Making of the Standard of the Cross.

   AT dawn of day he arose, and communicated the marvel to his friends:
and then, calling together the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat
in the midst of them, and described to them the figure of the sign he had
seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones. And this
representation I myself have had an opportunity of seeing.

CHAPTER XXXI: A Description of the Standard of the Cross, which the Romans
now call the Labarum. (1)

   Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with
gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over
it. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones;
and within this, (2) the symbol of the Saviour's name, two letters
indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the
letter P being intersected by X in its centre: (3) and these letters the
emperor was in the habit of wearing on his helmet at a later period. From
the cross-bar of the spear was suspended a cloth, (4) a royal piece,
covered with a profuse embroidery of most brilliant precious stones; and
which, being also richly interlaced with gold, presented an indescribable
degree of beauty to the beholder. This banner was of a square form, and the
upright staff, whose lower section was of great length,(5) bore a golden
half-length portrait (6) of the pious emperor and his children on its upper
part, beneath the trophy of the cross, and immediately above the
embroidered banner.

   The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a
safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that
others similar to it should be carried at the head of all his armies.

CHAPTER XXXII: How Constantine received Instruction, and read the Sacred
Scriptures.

   These things were done shortly afterwards. But at the time above
specified, being struck with amazement at the extraordinary vision, and
resolving to worship no other God save Him who had appeared to him, he sent
for those who were acquainted with the mysteries of His doctrines, and
enquired who that God was, and what was intended by the sign of the vision
he had seen. They affirmed that He was God, the only begotten Son of the
one and only God: that the sign which had appeared was the symbol of
immortality, (1) and the trophy of that victory over death which He had
gained in time past when sojourning on earth. They taught him also the
causes of His advent, and explained to him the true account of His
incarnation. Thus he was instructed in these matters, and was impressed
with wonder at the divine manifestation which had been presented to his
sight. Comparing, therefore, the heavenly vision with the interpretation
given, he found his judgment confirmed; and, in the persuasion that the
knowledge of these things had been imparted to him by Divine teaching, he
determined thenceforth to devote himself to the reading of the Inspired
writings.

   Moreover, he made the priests of God his counselors, and deemed it
incumbent on him to honor the God who had appeared to him with all
devotion. And after this, being fortified by well-grounded hopes in Him, he
hastened to quench the threatening fire of tyranny.

CHAPTER XXXIII: Of the Adulterous Conduct of Maxentius at Rome. (1)

   For the who had tyrannically possessed himself of the imperial city,
(2) had proceeded to great lengths in impiety and wickedness, so as to
venture without hesitation on every vile and impure action.

   For example: he would separate women from their husbands, and after a
time send them back to them again, and these insults he offered not to men
of mean or obscure condition, but to those who held the first places in the
Roman senate. Moreover, though he shamefully dishonored almost numberless
free women, he was unable to satisfy his ungoverned and intemperate
desires. But (3) when he assayed to corrupt Christian women also, he could
no longer secure success to his designs, since they chose rather to submit
their lives (4) to death than yield their persons to be defiled by him.

CHAPTER XXXIV: How the Wife of a Prefect slew herself for Chastity's Sake.
(1)

   Now a certain woman, wife of one of the senators who held the authority
of prefect, when she understood that those who ministered to the tyrant in
such matters were standing before her house (she was a Christian), and knew
that her husband through fear had bidden them take her and lead her away,
begged a short space of time for arraying herself in her usual dress, and
entered her chamber. There, being left alone, she sheathed a sword in her
own breast, and immediately expired, leaving indeed her dead body to the
procurers, but declaring to all mankind, both to present and future
generations, by an act which spoke louder than any words, that the chastity
for which Christians are famed is the only thing which is invincible and
indestructible. Such was the conduct displayed by this woman.

CHAPTER XXXV: Massacre of the Roman People by Maxentius.

   All men, therefore, both people and magistrates, whether of high or low
degree, trembled through fear of him whose daring wickedness was such as I
have described, and were oppressed by his grievous tyranny. Nay, though
they submitted quietly, and endured this bitter servitude, still there was
no escape from the tyrant's sanguinary cruelty. For at one time, on some
trifling pretense, he exposed the populace to be slaughtered by his own
body-guard; and countless multitudes of the Roman people were slain in the
very midst of the city by the lances and weapons, not of Scythians or
barbarians, but of their own fellow-citizens. And besides this, it is
impossible to calculate the number of senators whose blood was shed with a
view to the seizure of their respective estates, for at different times and
on various fictitious charges, multitudes of them suffered death.

CHAPTER XXXVI: Magic Arts of Maxentius against Constantine; and Famine at
Rome.

   BUT the crowning point of the tyrant's wickedness was his having
recourse to sorcery: sometimes for magic purposes ripping up women with
child, at other times searching into the bowels of new-born infants. He
slew lions also. and practiced certain horrid arts for evoking demons, and
averting the approaching war, hoping by these means to get the victory. In
short, it is impossible to describe the manifold acts of oppression by
which this tyrant of Rome enslaved his subjects: so that by this time they
were reduced to the most extreme penury and want of necessary food, a
scarcity such as our contemporaries do not remember ever before to have
existed at Rome. (1)

CHAPTER XXXVII: Defeat of Maxentius's Armies in Italy.

   Constantine, however, filled with compassion on account of all these
miseries, began to arm himself with all warlike preparation against the
tyranny. Assuming therefore the Supreme God as his patron, and invoking His
Christ to be his preserver and aid, and setting the victorious trophy, the
salutary symbol, in front of his soldiers and body- guard, he marched with
his whole forces, trying to obtain again for the Romans the freedom they
had inherited from their ancestors.

   And whereas, Maxentius, trusting more in his magic arts than in the
affection of his subjects, dared not even advance outside the city gates,
(1) but had guarded every place and district and city subject to his
tyranny, with large bodies of soldiers, (2) the emperor, confiding in the
help of God, advanced against the first and second and third divisions of
the tyrant's forces, defeated them all with ease at the first assault, (3)
and made his way into the very interior of Italy.

CHAPTER XXXVIII: Death of Maxentius on the Bridge of the Tiber. (1)

   And already he was approaching very near-Rome itself, when, to save him
from the necessity of fighting with all the Romans for the tyrant's sake,
God himself drew the tyrant, as it were by secret cords, a long way outside
the gates. (2) And now those miracles recorded in Holy Writ, which God of
old wrought against the ungodly (discredited by most as fables, yet
believed by the faithful), did he in every deed confirm to all alike,
believers and unbelievers, who were eye-witnesses of the wonders. For as
once in the days of Moses and the Hebrew nation, who were worshipers of
God, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea and his
chosen chariot-captains are drowned in the Red Sea," (3) --so at this time
Maxentius, and the soldiers and guards (4) with him, "went down into the
depths like stone," (5) when, in his flight before the divinely-aided
forces of Constantine, he essayed to cross the river which lay in his way,
over which, making a strong bridge of boats, he had framed an engine of
destruction, really against himself, but in the hope of ca-snaring thereby
him who was beloved by God. For his God stood by the one to protect him,
while the other, godless, (6) proved to be the miserable contriver of these
secret devices to his own ruin. So that one might well say, "He hath made a
pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His
mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall. come down
upon his own pate." (7) Thus, in the present instance, under divine
direction, the machine erected on the bridge, with the ambuscade concealed
therein, giving way unexpectedly before the appointed time, the bridge
began to sink, and the boats with the men in them went bodily to the
bottom. (8) And first the wretch himself, then his armed attendants and
guards, even as the sacred oracles had before described, "sank as lead in
the mighty waters." (9) So that they who thus obtained victory from God
might well, if not in the same words, yet in fact in the same spirit as the
people of his great servant Moses, sing and speak as they did concerning
the impious tyrant of old: "Let us sing unto the Lord, for he hath been
glorified exceedingly: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
He is become my helper and my shield unto salvation." And again, "Who is
like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, marvelous in praises, doing wonders?" (10)

CHAPTER XXXIX: Constantine's Entry into Rome.

   HAVING then at this time sung these and suchlike praises to God, the
Ruler of all and the Author of victory, after the example of his great
servant Moses, Constantine entered the imperial city in triumph. And here
the whole body of the senate, and others of rank and distinction in the
city, freed as it were from the restraint of a prison, along with the whole
Roman populace, their countenances expressive of the gladness of their
hearts, received him with acclamations and abounding joy; men, women, and
children, with countless multitudes of servants, greeting him as deliverer,
preserver, and benefactor, with incessant shouts. But he, being possessed
of inward piety toward God, was neither rendered arrogant by these
plaudits, nor uplifted by the praises he heard: (1) but, being sensible
that he had received help from God, he immediately rendered a thanksgiving
to him as the Author of his victory.

CHAPTER XL: Of the Statue of Constantine holding a Cross, and its
Inscription.

   MOREOVER, by loud proclamation and monumental inscriptions he made
known to all men the salutary symbol, setting up this great trophy of
victory over his enemies in the midst of the imperial city, and expressly
causing it to be engraved in indelible characters, that the salutary symbol
was the safeguard of the Roman government and of the entire empire.
Accordingly, he immediately ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross
to be placed beneath the hand of a statue representing himself, in the most
frequented part of Rome, and the following inscription to be engraved on it
in the Latin language: BY VIRTUE OF THIS SALUTARY SIGN, WHICH IS THE TRUE
TEST OF VALOR, I HAVE PRESERVED AND LIBERATED YOUR CITY FROM THE YOKE OF
TYRANNY. I HAVE ALSO SET AT LIBERTY THE ROMAN SENATE AND PEOPLE, AND
RESTORED THEM TO THEIR ANCIENT DISTINCTION AND SPLENDOR. (1)

CHAPTER XLI: Rejoicings throughout the Provinces; and Constantine's Acts of
Grace.

   Thus the pious emperor, glorying in the confession of the victorious
cross, proclaimed the Son of God to the Romans with great boldness of
testimony. And the inhabitants of the city, one and all, senate and people,
reviving, as it were, from the pressure of a bitter and tyrannical
domination, seemed to enjoy purer rays of light, and to be born again into
a fresh and new life. All the nations, too, as far as the limit of the
western ocean, being set free from the calamities which had heretofore
beset them, and gladdened by joyous festivals, ceased not to praise him as
the victorious, the pious, the common benefactor: all, indeed, with one
voice and one mouth, declared that Constantine had appeared by the grace of
God as a general blessing to mankind. The imperial edict also was
everywhere published, whereby those who had been wrongfully deprived of
their estates were permitted again to enjoy their own, while those who had
unjustly suffered exile were recalled to their homes. Moreover, he freed
from imprisonment, and from every kind of danger and fear, those who, by
reason of the tyrant's cruelty, had been subject to these sufferings.

CHAPTER XLII: The Honors conferred upon Bishops, and the Building of
Churches.

   The emperor also personally inviting the society of God's ministers,
distinguished them with the highest possible respect and honor, showing
them favor in deed and word as persons consecrated to the service of his
God. Accordingly, they were admitted to his table, though mean in their
attire and outward appearance; yet not so in his estimation, since he
thought he saw not the man as seen by the vulgar eye, but the God in him.
He made them also his companions in travel, believing that He whose
servants they were would thus help him. Besides this, he gave from his own
private resources costly benefactions to the churches of God, both
enlarging and heightening the sacred edifices, (1) and embellishing the
august sanctuaries (2) of the church with abundant offerings.

CHAPTER XLIII: Canstantine's Liberality to the Poor.

   He likewise distributed money largely to those who were in need, and
besides these showing himself philanthropist and benefactor even to the
heathen, who had no claim on him; (1) and even for the beggars in the
forum, miserable and shiftless, he provided, not with money only, or
necessary food, but also decent clothing. But in the case of those who had
once been prosperous, and had experienced a reverse of circumstances, his
aid was still more lavishly bestowed. On such persons, in a truly royal
spirit, he conferred magnificent benefactions; giving grants of land to
some, and honoring others with various dignities. Orphans of the
unfortunate he cared for as a father, while he relieved the destitution of
widows, and cared for them with special solicitude. Nay, he even gave
virgins, left unprotected by their parents' death, in marriage to wealthy
men with whom he was personally acquainted. But this he did after first
bestowing on the brides such portions as it was fitting they should bring
to the communion of marriage. (2) In short, as the sun, when he rises upon
the earth, liberally imparts his rays of light to all, so did Constantine,
proceeding at early dawn from the imperial palace, and rising as it were
with the heavenly luminary, impart the rays of his own beneficence to all
who came into his presence. It was scarcely possible to be near him without
receiving some benefit, nor did it ever happen that any who had expected to
obtain his assistance were disappointed in their hope. (3)

CHAPTER XLIV: How he was present at the Synods of Bishops.

   SUCH, then, was his general character towards all. But he exercised a
peculiar care over the church of God: and whereas, in the several provinces
there were some who differed from each other in judgment, he, like some
general bishop constituted by God, convened synods of his ministers. Nor
did he disdain to be present and sit with them in their assembly, but bore
a share in their deliberations, ministering to all that pertained to the
peace of God. He took his seat, too, in the midst of them, as an individual
amongst many, dismissing his guards and soldiers, and all whose duty it was
to defend his person; but protected by the fear of God, and surrounded by
the guardianship of his faithful friends. Those whom he saw inclined to a
sound judgment, and exhibiting a calm and conciliatory temper, received his
high approbation, for he evidently delighted in a general harmony of
sentiment; while he regarded the unyielding wills aversion. (1)

CHAPTER XLV: His Forbearance with Unreasonable Men.

   MOREOVER he endured with patience some who were exasperated against
himself, directing them in mild and gentle terms to control themselves, and
not be turbulent. And some of these respected his admonitions, and
desisted; but as to those who proved incapable of sound judgment, he left
them entirely at the disposal of God, and never himself desired harsh
measures against any one. Hence it naturally happened that the disaffected
in Africa reached such a pitch of violence as even to venture on overt acts
of audacity; (1) some evil spirit, as it seems probable, being jealous of
the present great prosperity, and impelling these men to atrocious deeds,
that he might excite the emperor's anger against them. He gained nothing,
however, by this malicious conduct; for the emperor laughed at these
proceedings, and declared their origin to be from the evil one; inasmuch as
these were not the actions of sober persons, but of lunatics or demoniacs;
who should be pitied rather than punished; since to punish madmen is as
great folly as to sympathize with their condition is supreme philanthropy.
(2)

CHAPTER XLVI: Victories aver the Barbarians.

   THUS the emperor in all his actions honored God, the Controller of all
things, and exercised an unwearied (1) oversight over His churches. And God
requited him, by subduing all barbarous nations under his feet, so that he
was able everywhere to raise trophies over his enemies: and He proclaimed
him as conqueror to all mankind, and made him a terror to his adversaries:
not indeed that this was his natural character, since he was rather the
meekest, and gentlest, and most benevolent of men.

CHAPTER XLVII: Death of Maximin, (1) who had attempted a Conspiracy, and of
Others whom Constantine detected by Divine Revelation.

   WHILE he was thus engaged, the second of those who had resigned the
throne, being detected in a treasonable conspiracy, suffered a most
ignominious death. He was the first whose pictures, statues, and all
similar marks of honor and distinction were everywhere destroyed, on the
ground of his crimes and impiety. After him others also of the same family
were discovered in the act of forming secret plots against the emperor; 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 marvelous manner, and according
to him manifold intimations of future events. Indeed, it is impossible to
express in words the indescribable wonders of Divine grace which God was
pleased to vouchsafe to His servant. Surrounded by these, he passed the
rest of his life in security, rejoicing in the affection of his subjects,
rejoicing too because he saw all beneath his government leading contented
lives; but above all delighted at the flourishing condition of the churches
of God.

CHAPTER XLVIII: Celebration of Canstantine's Decennalia.

   WHILE he was thus circumstanced, he completed the tenth year of his
reign. On this occasion he ordered the celebration of general festivals,
and offered prayers of thanksgiving to God, the King of all, as sacrifices
without flame or smoke. (1) And from this employment he derived much
pleasure: not so from the tidings he received of the ravages committed in
the Eastern provinces.

CHAPTER XLIX: How Licinius oppressed the East.

   FOR he was informed that in that quarter a certain savage beast was
besetting both the church of God and the other inhabitants of the
provinces, owing, as it were, to the efforts of the evil spirit to produce
effects quite contrary to the deeds of the pious emperor: so that the Roman
empire, divided into two parts, seemed to all men to resemble night and
day; since darkness overspread the provinces of the East, while the
brightest day illumined the inhabitants of the other portion. And whereas
the latter were receiving manifold blessings at the hand of God, the sight
of these blessings proved intolerable to that envy which hates all good, as
well as to the tyrant who afflicted the other division of the empire; and
who, notwithstanding that his government was prospering, and he had been
honored by a marriage connection (1) with so great an emperor as
Constantine, yet cared not to follow the steps of that pious prince, but
strove rather to imitate the evil purposes and practice of the impious; and
chose to adopt the course of those whose ignominious end he had seen with
his own eyes, rather than to maintain amicable relations with him who was
his superior. (2)

CHAPTER L: How Licinius attempted a Conspiracy against Constantine.

   ACCORDINGLY he engaged in an implacable war against his benefactor,
altogether regardless of the laws of friendship, the obligation of oaths,
the ties of kindred, and already existing treaties. For the most benignant
emperor had given him a proof of sincere affection in bestowing on him the
hand of his sister, thus granting him the privilege of a place in family
relationship and his own ancient imperial descent, and investing him also
with the rank and dignity of his colleague in the empire. (1) But the other
took the very opposite course, employing himself in machinations against
his superior, and devising various means to repay his benefactor with
injuries. At first, pretending friendship, he did all things by guile and
treachery, expecting thus to succeed in concealing his designs; but God
enabled his servant to detect the schemes thus devised in darkness. Being
discovered, however, in his first attempts, he had recourse to fresh
frauds; at one time pretending friendship, at another claiming the
protection of solemn treaties. Then suddenly violating every engagement,
and again beseeching pardon by embassies, yet after all shamefully
violating his word, he at last declared open war, and with desperate
infatuation resolved thenceforward to carry arms against God himself, whose
worshiper he knew the emperor to be.

CHAPTER LI: Intrigues of Licinius against the Bishops, and his Prohibition
of Synods.

   AND at first he made secret enquiry respecting the ministers of God
subject to his dominion, who had never, indeed, in any respect offended
against his government, in order to bring false accusations against them.
And when he found no ground of accusation, and had no real ground of
objection against them, he next enacted a law, to the effect that the
bishops should never on any account hold communication with each other, nor
should any one of them absent himself on a visit to a neighboring church;
nor, lastly, should the holding of synods, or councils for the
consideration of affairs of common interest, (1) be permitted. Now this was
clearly a pretext for displaying his malice against us. For we were
compelled either to violate the law, and thus be amenable to punishment, or
else, by compliance with its injunctions, to nullify the statutes of the
Church; inasmuch as it is impossible to bring important questions to a
satisfactory adjustment, except by means of synods. In other cases also
this God-hater, being determined to act contrary to the God-loving prince,
enacted such things. For whereas the one assembled the priests of God in
order to honor them, and to promote peace and unity of judgment; the other,
whose object it was to destroy everything that was good, used all his
endeavors to destroy the general harmony.

CHAPTER LII: Banishment of the Christians, and Confiscation of their
Property.

   AND whereas Constantine, the friend of God, had granted to His
worshipers freedom of access to the imperial palaces; this enemy of God, in
a spirit the very reverse of this, expelled thence all Christians subject
to his authority. He banished those who had proved themselves his most
faithful and devoted servants, and compelled others, on whom he had himself
conferred honor and distinction as a reward for their former eminent
services, to the performance of menial offices as slaves to others; and at
length, being bent on seizing the property of all as a windfall for
himself, he even threatened with death those who professed the Saviour's
name. Moreover being himself of a nature hopelessly debased by sensuality,
and degraded by the continual practice of adultery and other shameless
vices, he assumed his own worthless character as a specimen of human nature
generally, and denied that the virtue of chastity and continence existed
among men.

CHAPTER LIII: Edict that Women should not meet with the Men in the
Churches.

   ACCORDINGLY he passed a second law, which enjoined that men should not
appear in company with women in the houses of prayer, and forbade women to
attend the sacred schools of virtue, or to receive instruction from the
bishops, directing the appointment of women to be teachers of their own
sex. These regulations being received with general ridicule, he devised
other, means for effecting the ruin of the churches. He ordered that the
usual congregations of the people should be held in the open country
outside the gates, alleging that the open air without the city was far more
suitable for a multitude than the houses of prayer within the walls.

CHAPTER LIV: That those who refuse to sacrifice are to be dismissed from
Military Service, and those in Prison not to be fed.

   FAILING, however, to obtain obedience in this respect also, at length
he threw off the mask, and gave orders that those who held military
commissions in the several cities of the empire should be deprived of their
respective commands, in case of their refusal to offer sacrifices to the
demons. Accordingly the forces of the authorities in every province
suffered the loss of those who worshiped God; and he too who had decreed
this order suffered loss, in that he thus deprived himself of the prayers
of pious men. And why should I still further mention how he directed that
no one should obey the dictates of common humanity by distributing food to
those who were pining in prisons, or should even pity the captives who
perished with hunger; in short, that no one should perform a virtuous
action, and that those whose natural feelings impelled them to sympathize
with their fellow-creatures should be prohibited from doing them a single
kindness? Truly this was the most utterly shameless and scandalous of all
laws, and one which surpassed the worst depravity of human nature: a law
which inflicted on those who showed mercy the same penalties as on those
who were the objects of their compassion, and visited the exercise of mere
humanity with the severest punishments. (1)

CHAPTER LV: The Lawless Conduct and Covetousness of Licinius.

   Such were the ordinances of Licinius. But why should I enumerate his
innovations respecting marriage, or those concerning the dying, whereby he
presumed to abrogate the ancient and wisely established laws of the Romans,
and to introduce certain barbarous and cruel institutions in their stead,
inventing a thousand pretenses for oppressing his subjects? Hence it was
that he devised a new method of measuring land, by which he reckoned the
smallest portion at more than its actual dimensions, from an insatiable
desire of acquisition. Hence too he registered the names of country
residents who were now no more, and had long been numbered with the dead,
procuring to himself by this expedient a shameful gain. His meanness was
unlimited and his rapacity insatiable. So that when he had filled all his
treasuries with gold, and silver, and boundless wealth, he bitterly
bewailed his poverty, and suffered as it were the torments of Tantalus. But
why should I mention how many innocent persons he punished with exile; how
much property he confiscated; how many men of noble birth and estimable
character he imprisoned, whose wives he handed over to be basely insulted
by his profligate slaves, and to how many married women and virgins he
himself offered violence, though already feeling the infirmities of age? I
need not enlarge on these subjects, since the enormity of his last actions
causes the former to appear trifling and of little moment. (1)

CHAPTER LVI: At length he undertakes to raise a Persecution.

   FOR the final efforts of his fury appeared in his open hostility to the
churches, and he directed his attacks against the bishops themselves, whom
he regarded as his worst adversaries, bearing special enmity to those men
whom the great and pious emperor treated as his friends. Accordingly he
spent on us the utmost of his fury, and, being transported beyond the
bounds of reason, he paused not to reflect on the example of those who had
persecuted the Christians before him, nor of those whom he himself had been
raised up to punish and destroy for their impious deeds: nor did he heed
the facts of which he had been himself a witness, though he had seen with
his own eyes the chief originator of these our calamities (whoever he was),
smitten by the stroke of the Divine scourge.

CHAPTER LVII: That Maximian, (1) brought Low by a Fistulous Ulcer with
Worms, issued an Edict in Favor of the Christians.

   FOR whereas this man had commenced the attack on the churches, and had
been the first to pollute his soul with the blood of just and godly men, a
judgment from God overtook him, which at first affected his body, but
eventually extended itself to his soul. For suddenly an abscess appeared in
the secret parts of his person, followed by a deeply seated fistulous
ulcer; and these diseases fastened with incurable virulence on the
intestines, which swarmed with a vast multitude of worms, and emitted a
pestilential odor. Besides, his entire person had become loaded, through
gluttonous excess, with an enormous quantity of fat, and this, being now in
a putrescent state, is said to have presented to all who approached him an
intolerable and dreadful spectacle. Having, therefore, to struggle against
such sufferings, at length, though late, he came to a realization of his
past crimes against the Church; and, confessing his sins before God, he put
a stop to the persecution of the Christians, and hastened to issue imperial
edicts and rescripts for the rebuilding of their churches, at the same time
enjoining them to perform their customary worship, and to offer up prayers
on his behalf. (2)

CHAPTER LVIII: That Maximin, who had persecuted the Christians, was
compelled to fly, and conceal himself in the Disguise of a Slave.

   SUCH was the punishment which he underwent who had commenced the
persecution. He, (1) however, of whom we are now speaking, who had been a
witness of these things, and known them by his own actual experience, all
at once banished the remembrance of them from his mind, and reflected
neither on the punishment of the first, nor the divine judgment which had
been executed on the second persecutor. (2) The latter had indeed
endeavored to outstrip his predecessor in the career of crime, and prided
himself on the invention of new tortures for us. Fire nor sword, nor
piercing with nails, nor yet wild beasts or the depths of the sea sufficed
him. In addition to all these, he discovered a new mode of punishment, and
issued an edict directing that their eyesight should be destroyed. So that
numbers, not of men only, but of women and children, after being deprived
of the sight of their eyes, and the use of the joints of their feet, by
mutilation or cauterization, were consigned in this condition to the
painful labor of the mines. Hence it was that this tyrant also was
overtaken not long after by the righteous judgment of God, at a time when,
confiding in the aid of the demons whom he worshiped as gods, and relying
on the countless multitudes of his troops, he had ventured to engage in
battle. For, feeling himself on that occasion destitute of all hope in God,
he threw from him the imperial dress which so ill became him, hid himself
with unmanly timidity in the crowd around him, and sought safety in flight.
(3)

   He afterwards lurked about the fields and villages in the habit of a
slave, hoping he should thus be effectually concealed. He had not, however,
eluded the mighty and all- searching eye of God: for even while he was
expecting to pass the residue of his days in security, he fell prostrate,
smitten by God's fiery dart, and his whole body consumed by the stroke of
Divine vengeance; so that all trace of the original lineaments of his
person was lost, and nothing remained to him but dry bones and a skeleton-
like appearance.

CHAPTER LIX: That Maximin, blinded by Disease, issued an Edict in Favor of
the Christians.

   AND still the stroke of God continued heavy upon him, so that his eyes
protruded and fell from their sockets, leaving him quite blind: and thus he
suffered, by a most righteous retribution, the very same punishment which
he had been the first to devise for the martyrs of God. At length, however,
surviving even these sufferings, he too implored pardon of the God of the
Christians, and confessed his impious fighting against God: he too
recanted, as the former persecutor had done; and by laws and ordinances
explicitly acknowledged his error in worshiping those whom he had accounted
gods, declaring that he now knew, by positive experience, that the God of
the Christians was the only true God. These were facts which Licinius had
not merely received on the testimony of others, but of which he had himself
had personal knowledge: and yet, as though his understanding had been
obscured by some dark cloud of error, persisted in the same evil course.


BOOK II.

CHAPTER I: Secret Persecution by Licinius, who causes Same Bishops to be
put to Death at Amasia of Pontus.

   In this manner, he of whom we have spoken continued to rush headlong
towards that destruction which awaits the enemies of God; and once more,
with a fatal emulation of their example whose ruin he had himself witnessed
as the consequence of their impious conduct, he re-kindled the persecution
of the Christians, like a long- extinguished fire, and fanned the
unhallowed flame to a fiercer height than any who had gone before him.

   At first, indeed, though breathing fury and threatenings against God,
like some savage beast of prey, or some crooked and wriggling serpent, he
dared not, from fear of Constantine, openly level his attacks against the
churches of God subject to his dominion; but dissembled the virulence of
his malice, and endeavored by secret and limited measures to compass the
death of the bishops, the most eminent of whom he found means to remove,
through charges laid against them by the governors of the several
provinces. And the manner in which they suffered had in it something
strange, and hitherto unheard of. At all events, the barbarities
perpetrated at Amasia of Pontus surpassed every known excess of cruelty.

CHAPTER II: Demolition of Churches, and Butchery of the Bishops.

   For in that city some of the churches, for the second time since the
commencement of the persecutions, were leveled with the ground, and others
were closed by the governors of the several districts, in order to prevent
any who frequented them from assembling together, or rendering due worship
to God. For he by whose orders these outrages were committed was too
conscious of his own crimes to expect that these services were performed
with any view to his benefit, and was convinced that all we did, and all
our endeavors to obtain the favor of God, were on Constantine's behalf.
These servile governors (1) then, feeling assured that such a course would
be pleasing to the impious tyrant, subjected the most distinguished
prelates of the churches to capital punishment. Accordingly, men who had
been guilty of no crime were led away, without cause (2) punished like
murderers: and some suffered a new kind of death, having their bodies cut
piecemeal; and, after this cruel punishment, more horrible than any named
in tragedy, being cast, as a food to fishes, into the depths of the sea.
The result of these horrors was again, as before, the flight of pious men,
and once more the fields and deserts received the worshipers of God. The
tyrant, having thus far succeeded in his object, he farther determined to
raise a general persecution of the Christians: (3) and he would have
accomplished his purpose, nor could anything have hindered him from
carrying his resolution into effect, had not he who defends his own
anticipated the coming evil, and by his special guidance conducted his
servant Constantine to this part of the empire, causing him to shine forth
as a brilliant light in the midst of the darkness and gloomy night.

CHAPTER III: How Constantine was stirred in Behalf of the Christians thus
in Danger of Persecution.

   He perceiving the evils of which he had heard to be no longer
tolerable, took wise counsel, and tempering the natural clemency of his
character with a certain measure of severity, hastened to succor those who
were thus grievously oppressed. For he judged that it would rightly be
deemed a pious and holy task to secure, by the removal of an individual,
the safety of the greater part of the human race. He judged too, that if he
listened to the dictates of clemency only, and bestowed his pity on one
utterly unworthy of it, this would, on the one hand, confer no real benefit
on a man whom nothing would induce to abandon his evil practices, and whose
fury against his subjects would only be likely to increase; (1) while, on
the other hand, those who suffered from his oppression would thus be
forever deprived of all hope of deliverance.

   Influenced by these reflections, the emperor resolved without farther
delay to extend a protecting hand to those who had fallen into such an
extremity of distress. He accordingly made the usual warlike preparations,
and assembled his whole forces, both of horse and foot. But before them all
was carried the standard which I have before described, as the symbol of
his full confidence in God.

CHAPTER IV: That Constantine prepared himself for the War by Prayer:
Licinius by the Practice of Divination.

   He took with him also the priests of God, feeling well assured that
now, if ever, he stood in need of the efficacy of prayer, and thinking it
right that they should constantly be near and about his person, as most
trusty guardians of the soul.

   Now, as soon as the tyrant understood that Constantine's victories over
his enemies were secured to him by no other means than the co-operation of
God, and that the persons above alluded to were continually with him and
about his person; and besides this, that the symbol of the salutary passion
preceded both the emperor himself and his whole army; he regarded these
precautions with ridicule (as might be expected), at the same time mocking
and reviling the emperor with blasphemous words.

   On the other hand, he gathered round himself Egyptian diviners and
soothsayers, with sorcerers and enchanters, and the priests and prophets of
those whom he imagined to be gods. He then, after offering the sacrifices
which he thought the occasion demanded, enquired how far he might reckon on
a successful termination of the war. They replied with one voice, that he
would unquestionably be victorious over his enemies, and triumphant in the
war: and the oracles everywhere held out to him the same prospect in
copious and elegant verses. The soothsayers certified him of favorable
omens from the flight of birds; the priests (1) declared the same to be
indicated by the motion of the entrails of their victims. Elevated,
therefore, by these fallacious assurances, he boldly advanced at the head
of his army, and prepared for battle.

CHAPTER V: What Licinius, while sacrificing in a Grove, said concerning
Idols, and concerning Christ.

   And when he was now ready to engage, he desired the most approved of
his body-guard (1) and his most valued friends to meet him in one of the
places which they consider sacred. It was a well-watered and shady grove,
and in it were several marble statues of those whom he accounted to be
gods. After lighting tapers and performing the usual sacrifices in honor of
these, he is said to have delivered the following speech:

   "Friends and fellow-soldiers! These are our country's gods, and these
we honor with a worship derived from our remotest ancestors. But he who
leads the army now opposed to us has proved false to the religion of his
forefathers, and adopted atheistic sentiments, honoring in his infatuation
some strange and unheard-of Deity, with whose despicable standard he now
disgraces his army, and confiding in whose aid he has taken up arms, and is
now advancing, not so much against us as against those very gods whom he
has forsaken. However, the present occasion shall prove which of us is
mistaken in his judgment, and shall decide between our gods and those whom
our adversaries profess to honor. For either it will declare the victory to
be ours, and so most justly evince that our gods are the true saviours and
helpers; or else, if this God of Constantine's, who comes we know not
whence, shall prove superior to our deities (who are many, and in point of
numbers, at least, have the advantage), let no one henceforth doubt which
god he ought to worship, but attach himself at once to the superior power,
and ascribe to him the honors of the victory. Suppose, then, this strange
God, whom we now regard with ridicule, should really prove victorious; then
indeed we must acknowledge and give him honor, and so bid a long farewell
to those for whom we light our tapers in vain. But if our own gods triumph
(as they undoubtedly will), then, as soon as we have secured the present
victory, let us prosecute the war without delay against these despisers of
the gods."

   Such were the words he addressed to those then present, as reported not
long after to the writer of this history by some who heard them spoken. (2)
And as soon as he had concluded his speech, he gave orders to his forces to
commence the attack.

CHAPTER VI: An Apparition seen in the Cities subject to Licinius, as of
Constantine's Troops passing through them.

   WHILE these things were taking place a supernatural appearance is said
to have been observed in the cities subject to the tyrant's rule. Different
detachments of Constantine's army seemed to present themselves to the view,
marching at noonday through these cities, as though they had obtained the
victory. In reality, not a single soldier was anywhere present at the time,
and yet this appearance was seen through the agency of a divine and
superior power, and foreshadowed what was shortly coming to pass. For as
soon as the armies were ready to engage, he who had broken through the ties
of friendly alliance (1) was the first to commence the battle; on which
Constantine, calling on the name of "God the Supreme Saviour," and giving
this as the watchword to his soldiers, overcame him in this first conflict:
and not long after in a second battle he gained a still more important and
decisive victory, the salutary trophy preceding the ranks of his army.

CHAPTER VII: That Victory everywhere followed the Presence of the Standard
of the Cross in Battle.

   Indeed, wherever this appeared, the enemy soon fled before his
victorious troops. And the emperor perceiving this, whenever he saw any
part of his forces hard pressed, gave orders that the salutary trophy
should be moved in that direction, like some triumphant charm (1) against
disasters: at which the combatants were divinely inspired, as it were, with
fresh strength and courage, and immediate victory was the result.

CHAPTER VIII: That Fifty Men were selected to carry the Cross.

   ACCORDINGLY, he selected those of his bodyguard who were most
distinguished for personal strength, valor, and piety, and intrusted them
with the sole care and defense of the standard. There were thus no less
than fifty men whose only duty was to surround and vigilantly defend the
standard, which they carried each in turn on their shoulders. These
circumstances were related to the writer of this narrative by the emperor
himself in his leisure moments, long after the occurrence of the events:
and he added another incident well worthy of being recorded.

CHAPTER IX: That One of the Cross-bearers, who fled from his Post, was
slain: while Another, who faithfully stood his Ground, was preserved.

   FOR he said that once, during the very heat of an engagement, a sudden
tumult and panic attacked his army, which threw the soldier who then bore
the standard into an agony of fear, so that he handed it over to another,
in order to secure his own escape from the battle. As soon, however, as his
comrade had received it, and he had withdrawn, and resigned all charge of
the standard, he was struck in the belly by a dart, which took his life.
Thus he paid the penalty of his cowardice and unfaithfulness, and lay dead
on the spot: but the other, who had taken his place as the bearer of the
salutary standard, found it to be the safeguard of his life. For though he
was assailed by a continual shower of darts, the bearer remained unhurt,
the staff of the standard receiving every weapon. It was indeed a truly
marvelous circumstance, that the enemies' darts all fell within and
remained in the slender circumference of this spear, and thus saved the
standard-bearer from death; so that none of those engaged in this service
ever received a wound.

   This story is none of mine, but for this, (1) too, I am indebted to the
emperor's own authority, who related it in my hearing along with other
matters. And now, having thus through the power of God secured these first
victories, he put his forces in motion and continued his onward march.

CHAPTER X: Furious Battles, and Constantine's Victories.

   The van, however, of the enemy, unable to resist the emperor's first
assault, threw down their arms, and prostrated themselves at his feet. All
these he spared, rejoicing to save human life. But there were others who
still continued in arms, and engaged in battle. These the emperor
endeavored to conciliate by friendly overtures, but when these were not
accepted he ordered his army to commence the attack. On this they
immediately turned and betook themselves to flight; and some were overtaken
and slain according to the laws of war, while others fell on each other in
the confusion of their flight, and perished by the swords of their
comrades.

CHAPTER XI: Flight, and Magic Arts of Licinius.

   In these circumstances their commander, finding himself bereft of the
aid of his followers, (1) having lost his lately numerous array, both of
regular and allied forces, having proved, too, by experience, how vain his
confidence had been in those whom he thought to be gods, ignominiously took
to flight, by which indeed he effected his escape, and secured his personal
safety, for the pious emperor had forbidden his soldiers to follow him too
closely, (2) and thus allowed him an opportunity for escape. And this he
did in the hope that he might hereafter, on conviction of the desperate
state of his affairs, be induced to abandon his insane and presumptuous
ambition, and return to sounder reason. So Constantine, in his excessive
humanity, thought and was willing patiently to bear past injuries, and
extend his forgiveness to one who so ill deserved it; but Licinius, far
from renouncing his evil practices, still added crime to crime, and
ventured on more daring atrocities than ever. Nay, once more tampering with
the detestable arts of magic, he again was presumptuous: so that it might
well be said of him, as it was of the Egyptian tyrant of old, that God had
hardened his heart. (3)

CHAPTER XII: How Constantine, after praying in his Tabernacle, obtained the
Victory.

   But while Licinius, giving himself up to these impieties, rushed
blindly towards the gulf of destruction, the emperor on the other hand,
when he saw that he must meet his enemies in a second battle, devoted the
intervening time to his Saviour. He pitched the tabernacle of the cross (1)
outside and at a distance from his camp, and there passed his time in a
pure and holy manner, offering up prayers to God; following thus the
example of his ancient prophet, of whom the sacred oracles testify, that he
pitched the tabernacle without the camp. (2) He was attended only by a few,
whose faith and pious devotion he highly esteemed. And this custom he
continued to observe whenever he meditated an engagement with the enemy.
For he was deliberate in his measures, the better to insure safety, and
desired in everything to be directed by divine counsel. And making earnest
supplications to God, he was always honored after a little with a
manifestation of his presence. And then, as if moved by a divine impulse,
he would rush from the tabernacle, and suddenly give orders to his army to
move at once without delay, and on the instant to draw their swords. On
this they would immediately commence the attack, fight vigorously, so as
with incredible celerity to secure the victory, and raise trophies of
victory over their enemies.

CHAPTER XIII: His Humane Treatment of Prisoners.

   Thus the emperor and his army had long been accustomed to act, whenever
there was a prospect of an engagement; for his God was ever present to his
thoughts, and he desired to do everything according to his will, and
conscientiously to avoid any wanton sacrifice of human life. He was anxious
thus for the preservation not only of his own subjects, but even of his
enemies. Accordingly he directed his victorious troops to spare the lives
of their prisoners, admonishing them, as human beings, not to forget the
claims of their common nature. And whenever he saw the passions of his
soldiery excited beyond control, he repressed their fury by a largess of
money, rewarding every man who saved the life of an enemy with a certain
weight of gold. And the emperor's own sagacity led him to discover this
inducement to spare human life, so that great numbers even of the
barbarians were thus saved, and owed their lives to the emperor's gold.

CHAPTER XIV: A Farther Mention of his Prayers in the Tabernacle.

   Now these, and a thousand such acts as these, were familiarly and
habitually done by the emperor. And on the present occasion he retired, as
his custom was before battle, to the privacy of his tabernacle, and there
employed his time in prayer to God. Meanwhile he strictly abstained from
anything like ease, or luxurious living, and disciplined himself by fasting
and bodily mortification, imploring the favor of God by supplication and
prayer, that he might obtain his concurrence and aid, and be ready to
execute whatever he might be pleased to suggest to his thoughts. In short,
he exercised a vigilant care over all alike, and interceded with God as
much for the safety of his enemies as for that of his own subjects.

CHAPTER XV: Treacherous Friendship, and Idolatrous Practices of Licinius.

   And inasmuch as he who had lately fled before him now dissembled his
real sentiments, and again petitioned for a renewal of friendship and
alliance, the emperor thought fit, on certain conditions, to grant his
request, (1) in the hope that such a measure might be expedient, and
generally advantageous to the community. Licinius, however, while he
pretended a ready submission to the terms prescribed, and attested his
sincerity by oaths, at this very time was secretly engaged in collecting a
military force, and again meditated war and strife, inviting even the
barbarians to join his standard, (2) and he began also to look about him
for other gods, having been deceived by those in whom he had hitherto
trusted. And, without bestowing a thought on what he had himself publicly
spoken on the subject of false deities, or choosing to acknowledge that God
who had fought on the side of Constantine, he made himself ridiculous by
seeking for a multitude of new gods.

CHAPTER XVI: How Licinius counseled his Soldiers not to attack the Standard
of the Cross.

   Having now learned by experience the Divine and mysterious power which
resided in the salutary trophy, by means of which Constantine's army had
become habituated to victory, he admonished his soldiers never to direct
their attack against this standard, nor even incautiously to allow their
eyes to rest upon it; assuring them that it possessed a terrible power, and
was especially hostile to him; so that they would do well carefully to
avoid any collision with it. And now, having given these directions, he
prepared for a decisive conflict with him whose humanity prompted him still
to hesitate, and to postpone the fate which he foresaw awaited his
adversary. The enemy, however, confident in the aid of a multitude of gods,
advanced to the attack with a powerful array of military force, preceded by
certain images of the dead, and lifeless statues, as their defense. On the
other side, the emperor, secure in the armor of godliness, opposed to the
numbers of the enemy the salutary and life-giving sign, as at once a terror
to the foe, and a protection from every harm. And for a while he paused,
and preserved at first the attitude of forbearance, from respect to the
treaty of peace to which he had given his sanction, that he might not be
the first to commence the contest.

CHAPTER XVII: Constantine's Victory.

   But as soon as he perceived that his adversaries persisted in their
resolution, and were already drawing their swords, he gave free scope to
his indignation, and by a single charge (1) overthrew in a moment the
entire body of the enemy, thus triumphing at once over them and their gods.

CHAPTER XVIII: Death of Licinius, and Celebration of the Event.

   He then proceeded to deal with this adversary of God and his followers
according to the laws of war, and consign them to fitting punishment.
Accordingly the tyrant himself, and they whose counsels had supported him
in his impiety, were together subjected to the just punishment of death.
After this, those who had so lately been deceived by their vain confidence
in false deities, acknowledged with unfeigned sincerity the God of
Constantine, and openly professed their belief in him as the true and only
God.

CHAPTER XIX: Rejoicings and Festivities.

   And now, the impious being thus removed, the sun once more shone
brightly after the gloomy cloud of tyrannic power. Each separate portion of
the Roman dominion became blended with the rest; the Eastern nations united
with those of the West, and the whole body of the Roman empire was graced
as it were by its head in the person of a single and supreme ruler, whose
sole authority pervaded the whole. Now too the bright rays of the light of
godliness gladdened the days of those who had heretofore been sitting in
darkness and the shadow of death. Past sorrows were no more remembered, for
all united in celebrating the praises of the victorious prince, and avowed
their recognition of his preserver as the only true God. Thus he whose
character shone with all the virtues of piety, the emperor Victor, for he
had himself adopted this name as a most fitting appellation to express the
victory which God had granted him over all who hated or opposed him, (1)
assumed the dominion of the East, and thus singly governed the Roman
empire, re-united, as in former times, under one head. Thus, as he was the
first to proclaim to all the sole sovereignty of God, so he himself, as
sole sovereign of the Roman world, extended his authority over the whole
human race. Every apprehension of those evils under the pressure of which
all had suffered was now removed; men whose heads had drooped in sorrow now
regarded each other with smiling countenances, and looks expressive of
their inward joy. With processions and hymns of praise they first of all,
as they were told, ascribed the supreme sovereignty to God, as in truth the
King of kings; and then with continued acclamations rendered honor to the
victorious emperor, and the Caesars, his most discreet and pious sons. The
former afflictions were forgotten, and all past impieties forgiven: while
with the enjoyment of present happiness was mingled the expectation of
continued blessings in the future.

CHAPTER XX: Constantine's Enactments in Favor of the Confessors.

   MOREOVER, the emperor's edicts, permeated with his humane spirit, were
published among us also, as they had been among the inhabitants of the
other division of the empire; and his laws, which breathed a spirit of
piety toward God, gave promise of manifold blessings, since they secured
many advantages to his provincial subjects in every nation, and at the same
time prescribed measures suited to the exigencies of the churches of God.
For first of all they recalled those who, in consequence of their refusal
to join in idol worship, had been driven to exile, or ejected from their
homes by the governors of their respective provinces. In the next place,
they relieved from their burdens those who for the same reason had been
adjudged to serve in the civil courts, and ordained restitution to be made
to any who had been deprived of property. They too, who in the time of
trial had signalized themselves by fortitude of soul in the cause of God,
and had therefore been condemned to the painful labor of the mines, or
consigned to the solitude of islands, or compelled to toil in the public
works, all received an immediate release from these burdens; while others,
whose religious constancy had cost them the forfeiture of their military
rank, were vindicated by the emperor's generosity from this dishonor: for
he granted them the alternative either of resuming their rank, and enjoying
their former privileges, or, in the event of their preferring a more
settled life, of perpetual exemption from all service. Lastly, all who had
been compelled by way of disgrace and insult to serve in the employments of
women, (1) he likewise freed with the rest.

CHAPTER XXI: His Laws concerning Martyrs, and concerning Ecclesiastical
Property.

   Such were the benefits secured by the emperor's written mandates to the
persons of those who had thus suffered for the faith, d his laws made ample
provision for their property also.

   With regard to those holy martyrs of God who had laid down their lives
in the confession of His name, he directed that their estates should be
enjoyed by their nearest kindred; and, in default of any of these, that the
right of inheritance should be vested in the churches. Farther, whatever
property had been consigned to other parties from the treasury, whether in
the way of sale or gift, together with that retained in the treasury
itself, the generous mandate of the emperor directed should be restored to
the original owners. Such benefits did his bounty, thus widely diffused,
confer on the Church of God.

CHAPTER XXII: How he won the Favor of the People.

   But his munificence bestowed still further and more numerous favors on
the heathen peoples and the other nations of his empire. So that the
inhabitants of our [Eastern] regions, who had heard of the privileges
experienced in the opposite portion of the empire, and had blessed the
fortunate recipients of them, and longed for the enjoyment of a similar lot
for themselves, now with one consent proclaimed their own happiness, when
they saw themselves in possession of all these blessings; and confessed
that the appearance of such a monarch to the human race was indeed a
marvelous event, and such as the world's history had never yet recorded.
Such were their sentiments.

CHAPTER XXIII: That he declared God to be the Author of his Prosperity: and
concerning his Rescripts.

   AND now that, through the powerful aid of God his Saviour, all nations
owned their subjection to the emperor's authority, he openly proclaimed to
all the name of Him to whose bounty he owed all his blessings, and declared
that He, and not himself, was the author of his past victories. This
declaration, written both in the Latin and Greek languages, he caused to be
transmitted through every province of the empire. Now the excellence of his
style of expression (1) may be known from a perusal of his letters
themselves which were two in number; one addressed to the churches of God;
the other to the heathen population in the several cities of the empire.
The latter of these I think it well to insert here as connected with my
present subject, in order on the one hand that a copy of this document may
be recorded as matter of history, and thus preserved to posterity, and on
the other that it may serve to confirm the truth of my present narrative.
It is taken from an authentic copy of the imperial statute in my own
possession and the signature in the emperor's own handwriting attaches as
it were the impress of truth to the statement I have made.

CHAPTER XXIV: Law of Constantine respecting Piety towards God, and the
Christian Religion. (1)

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS to the inhabitants of the
province of Palestine.

   "To all who entertain just and sound sentiments respecting the
character of the Supreme Being, it has long been most clearly evident, and
beyond the possibility of doubt, how vast a difference there has ever been
between those who maintain a careful observance of the hallowed duties of
the Christian religion, and those who treat this religion with hostility or
contempt. But at this present time, we may see by stilt more manifest
proofs, and still more decisive instances, both how unreasonable it were to
question this truth, and how mighty is the power of the Supreme God: since
it appears that they who faithfully observe His holy laws, and shrink from
the transgression of His commandments, are rewarded with abundant
blessings, and are endued with well- grounded hope as well as ample power
for the accomplishment of their undertakings. On the other hand, they who
have cherished impious sentiments have experienced results corresponding to
their evil choice. For how is it to be expected that any blessing would be
obtained by one who neither desired to acknowledge nor duly to worship that
God who is the source of all blessing? Indeed, facts themselves are a
confirmation of what I say.

CHAPTER XXV: An Illustration from Ancient Times.

   "FOR certainly any one who will mentally retrace the course of events
from the earliest period down to the present time, and will reflect on what
has occurred in past ages, will find that all who have made justice and
probity the basis of their conduct, have not only carried their
undertakings to a successful issue, but have gathered, as it were, a store
of sweet fruit as the produce of this pleasant root. Again, whoever
observes the career of those who have been bold in the practice of
oppression or injustice; who have either directed their senseless fury
against God himself, or have conceived no kindly feelings towards their
fellow-men, but have dared to afflict them with exile, disgrace,
confiscation, massacre, or other miseries of the like kind, and all this
without any sense of compunction, or wish to direct thoughts to a better
course, will find that such men have received a recompense proportioned to
their crimes. And these are results which might naturally and reasonably be
expected to ensue?

CHAPTER XXVI: Of Persecuted and Persecutors.

   "For whoever have addressed themselves with integrity of purpose to any
course of action, keeping the fear of God continually before their
thoughts, and preserving an unwavering faith in him, without allowing
present fears or dangers to outweigh their hope of future blessings--such
persons, though for a season they may have experienced painful trials, have
borne their afflictions lightly, being supported by the belief of greater
rewards in store for them; and their character has acquired a brighter
luster in proportion to the severity of their past suffer-rags. With
regard, on the other hand, to those who have either dishonorably slighted
the principles of justice, or refused to acknowledge the Supreme God
themselves, and yet have dared to subject others who have faithfully
maintained his worship to the most cruel insults and punishments; who have
failed equally to recognize their own wretchedness in oppressing others on
such grounds, and the happiness and blessing of those who preserved their
devotion to God even in the midst of such sufferings: with regard, I say,
to such men, many a time have their armies been slaughtered, many a time
have they been put to flight; and their warlike preparations have ended in
total ruin and defeat.

CHAPTER XXVII: How the Persecution became the Occasion of Calamities to the
Aggressors.

   "From the causes I have described, grievous wars arose, and destructive
devastations. Hence followed a scarcity of the common necessaries of life,
and a crowd of consequent miseries: hence, too, the authors of these
impieties have either met a disastrous death of extreme suffering, or have
dragged out an ignominious existence, and confessed it to be worse than
death itself, thus receiving as it were a measure of punishment
proportioned to the heinousness of their crimes. (1) For each experienced a
degree of calamity according to the blind fury with which he had been led
to combat, and as he thought, defeat the Divine will: so that they not only
felt the pressure of the ills of this present life, but were tormented also
by a most lively apprehension of punishment in the future world. (2)

CHAPTER XXVIII: That God chose Constantine to be the Minister of Blessing.

   "AND now, with such a mass of impiety oppressing the human race, and
the commonwealth in danger of being utterly destroyed, as if by the agency
of some pestilential disease, and therefore needing powerful and effectual
aid; what was the relief, and what the remedy which the Divinity devised
for these evils? (And by Divinity is meant the one who is alone and truly
God, the possessor of almighty and eternal power: and surely it cannot be
deemed arrogance in one who has received benefits from God, to acknowledge
them in the loftiest terms of praise.) I myself, then, was the instrument
whose services He chose, and esteemed suited for the accomplishment of his
will. Accordingly, beginning at the remote Britannic ocean, and the regions
where, according to the law of nature, the sun sinks beneath the horizon,
through the aid of divine power I banished and utterly removed every form
of evil which prevailed, in the hope that the human race, enlightened
through my instrumentality, might be recalled to a due observance of the
holy laws of God, and at the same time our most blessed faith might prosper
under the guidance of his almighty hand.

CHAPTER XXIX: Constantine's Expressions of Piety towards God; and Praise of
the Confessors.

   "I said, (1) under the guidance of his hand; for I would desire never
to be forgetful of the gratitude due to his grace. Believing, therefore,
that this most excellent service had been confided to me as a special gift,
I proceeded as far as the regions of the East, which, being under the
pressure of severer calamities, seemed to demand still more effectual
remedies at my hands. At the same time I am most certainly persuaded that I
myself owe my life, my every breath, in short, my very inmost and secret
thoughts, entirely to the favor of the Supreme God. Now I am well aware
that they who are sincere in the pursuit of the heavenly hope, and have
fixed this hope in heaven itself as the peculiar and predominant principle
of their lives, have no need to depend on human favor, but rather have
enjoyed higher honors in proportion as they have separated themselves from
the inferior and evil things of this earthly existence. Nevertheless I deem
it incumbent on me to remove at once and most completely from all such
persons the hard necessities laid upon them for a season, and the unjust
inflictions under which they have suffered, though free from any guilt or
just liability. For it would be strange indeed, that the fortitude and
constancy of soul displayed by such men should be fully apparent during the
reign of those whose first object it was to persecute them on account of
their devotion to God, and yet that the glory of their character should not
be more bright and blessed, under the administration of a prince who is His
servant.

CHAPTER XXX: A Law granting Release from Exile, from Service in the Courts,
and from the Confiscation of Property.

   "LET all therefore who have exchanged their country for a foreign land,
because they would not abandon that reverence and faith toward God to which
they had devoted themselves with their whole hearts, and have in
consequence at different times been subject to the cruel sentence of the
courts; together with any who have been enrolled in the registers of the
public courts though in time past exempt from such office let these, I say,
now render thanks to God the Liberator of all, in that they are restored to
their hereditary property, and their wonted tranquility. Let those also who
have been despoiled of their goods, and have hitherto passed a wretched
existence, mourning under the loss of all that they possessed, once more be
restored to their former homes, their families, and estates, and receive
with joy the bountiful kindness of God.

CHAPTER XXXI: Release likewise granted to Exiles in the Islands.

   "FURTHERMORE, it is our command that all those who have been detained
in the islands against their will should receive the benefit of this
present provision; in order that they who rill now have been surrounded by
rugged mountains and the encircling barrier of the ocean, being now set
free from that gloomy and desolate solitude, may fulfill their fondest wish
by revisiting their dearest friends. Those, too, who have prolonged a
miserable life in the midst of abject and wretched squalor, welcoming their
restoration as an unlooked-for gain, and discarding henceforth all anxious
thoughts, may pass their lives with us in freedom from all fear. For that
any one could live in a state of fear under our government, when we boast
and believe ourselves to be the servants of God, would surely be a thing
most extraordinary even to hear of, and quite incredible; and our mission
is to rectify the errors of the others.

CHAPTER XXXII: And to those ignominiously employed in the Mines and_Public
Works.

   "AGAIN, with regard to those who have been condemned either to the
grievous labor of the mines, or to service in the public works, let them
enjoy the sweets of leisure in place of these long-continued toils, and
henceforth lead a far easier life, and more accordant with the wishes of
their hearts, exchanging the incessant hardships of their tasks for quiet
relaxation. And if any have forfeited the common privilege of liberty, or
have unhappily suffered dishonor, (1) let them hasten back every one to the
country of his nativity, and resume with becoming joy their former
positions in society, from which they have been as it were separated by
long residence abroad.

CHAPTER XXXIII: Concerning those Confessors engaged in Military Service.

   "ONCE more, with respect to those who had previously been preferred to
any military distinction, of which they were afterwards deprived, for the
cruel and unjust reason that they chose rather to acknowledge their
allegiance to God than to retain the rank they held; we leave them perfect
liberty of choice, either to occupy their former stations, should they be
content again to engage in military service, or after an honorable
discharge, to live in undisturbed tranquillity. For it is fair and
consistent that men who have displayed such magnanimity and fortitude in
meeting the perils to which they have been exposed, should be allowed the
choice either of enjoying peaceful leisure, or resuming their former rank.

CHAPTER XXXIV: The Liberation of Free Persons condemned to labor in the
Women's Apartments, or to Servitude.

   "LASTLY, if any have wrongfully been deprived of the privileges of
noble lineage, and subjected to a judicial sentence which has consigned
them to the women's apartments (1) and to the linen making, there to
undergo a cruel and miserable labor, or reduced them to servitude for the
benefit of the public treasury, without any exemption on the ground of
superior birth; let such persons, resuming the honors they had previously
enjoyed, and their proper dignities, henceforward exult in the blessings of
liberty, and lead a glad life. Let the free man, (2) too, by some injustice
and inhumanity, or even madness, made a slave, who has felt the sudden
transition from liberty to bondage, and ofttimes bewailed his unwonted
labors, return to his family once more a free man in virtue of this our
ordinance, and seek those employments which befit a state of freedom; and
let him dismiss from his remembrance those services which he found so
oppressive, and which so ill became his condition.

CHAPTER XXXV: Of the Inheritance of the Property of Martyrs and Confessors,
also of those who had suffered Banishment or Confiscation of Property.

   " Nor must we omit to notice those estates of which individuals have
been deprived on various pretenses. For if any of those who have engaged
with dauntless and resolute determination in the noble and divine conflict
of martyrdom have also been stripped of their fortunes; or if the same has
been the lot of the confessors, who have won for themselves the hope of
eternal treasures; or if the loss of property has befallen those who were
driven from their native land because they would not yield to the
persecutors, and betray their faith; lastly, if any who have escaped the
sentence of death have yet been despoiled of their worldly goods; we ordain
that the inheritances of all such persons be transferred to their nearest
kindred. And whereas the laws expressly assign this right to those most
nearly related, it will be easy to ascertain to whom these inheritances
severally belong. And it is evidently reasonable that the succession in
these cases should belong to those who would have stood in the place of
nearest affinity, had the deceased experienced a natural death.

CHAPTER XXXVI: The Church is declared Heir of those who leave no Kindred;
and the Free Gifts of such Persons Confirmed.

   "But should there be no surviving relation to succeed in due course to
the property of those above-mentioned, I mean the martyrs, or confessors,
or those who for some such cause have been banished from their native land;
in such cases we ordain that the church locally nearest in each instance
shall succeed to the inheritance. And surely it will be no wrong to the
departed that that church should be their heir, for whose sake they have
endured every extremity of suffering. We think it necessary to add this
also, that in case any of the above-mentioned persons have donated any part
of their property in the way of free gift, possession of such property
shall be assured, as is reasonable, to those who have thus received it.

CHAPTER XXXVII: Lands, Gardens, or Houses, but not Actual Produce from
them, are to be given back.

   "AND that there may be no obscurity in this our ordinance, but every
one may readily apprehend its requirements, let all men hereby know that if
they are now maintaining themselves in possession of a piece of land, or a
house, or garden, or anything else which had appertained to the before-
mentioned persons, it will be good and advantageous for them to acknowledge
the fact, and make restitution with the least possible delay. On the other
hand, although it should appear that some individuals have reaped abundant
profits from this unjust possession, we do not consider that justice
demands the restitution of such profits. They must, however, declare
explicitly what amount of benefit they have thus derived, and from what
sources, and entreat our pardon for this offense; in order that their past
covetousness may in some measure be atoned for, and that the Supreme God
may accept this compensation as a token of contrition, and be pleased
graciously to pardon the sin.

CHAPTER XXXVIII: In what Manner Requests should be made for these.

   "BUT it is possible that those who have become masters of such property
(if it be right or possible to allow them such a title) will assure us by
way of apology for their conduct, that it was not in their power to abstain
from this appropriation at a time when a spectacle of misery in all its
forms everywhere met the view; when men were cruelly driven from their
homes, slaughtered without mercy, thrust forth without remorse: when the
confiscation of the property of innocent persons was a common thing, and
when persecutions and property seizures were unceasing. If any defend their
conduct by such reasons as these, and still persist in their avaricious
temper, they shall be made sensible that such a course will bring
punishment on themselves, and all the more because this correction of evil
is the very characteristic of our service to the Supreme God. So that it
will henceforth be dangerous to retain what dire necessity may in time past
have compelled men to take; especially because it is in any case incumbent
on us to discourage covetous desires, both by persuasion, and by warning
exam-pies.

CHAPTER XXXIX: The Treasury must restore Lands, Gardens, and Houses to the
Churches.

   "Nor shall the treasury itself, should it have any of the things we
have spoken of, be permitted to keep them; but, without venturing as it
were to raise its voice against the holy churches, it shall justly
relinquish in their favor what it has for a time unjustly retained. We
ordain, therefore, that all things whatsoever which shall appear
righteously to belong to the churches, whether the property consist of
houses or fields and gardens, or whatever the nature of it may be, shall be
restored in their full value and integrity, and with undiminished right of
possession.

CHAPTER XL.

   The Tombs of Martyrs and the Cemeteries to be transferred to the
Possession of the Churches.

   "Again, with respect to those places which are honored in being the
depositories of the remains of martyrs, and continue to be memorials of
their glorious departure; how can we doubt that they rightly belong to the
churches, or refrain from issuing our injunction to that effect? For surely
there can be no better liberality, no labor more pleasing or profitable,
than to be thus employed under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, in order
that those things which have been appropriated on false pretenses by unjust
and wicked men, may be restored, as justice demands, and once more secured
to the holy churches.

CHAPTER XLI: Those who have purchased Property belonging to the Church, or
received it as a Gift, are to restore it.

   "AND since it would be wrong in a provision intended to include all
cases, to pass over those who have either procured any such property by
right of purchase from the treasury, or have retained it when conveyed to
them in the form of a gift; let all who have thus rashly indulged their
insatiable thirst of gain be assured that, although by daring to make such
purchases they have done all in their power to alienate our clemency from
themselves, they shall nevertheless not fail of obtaining it, so far as is
possible and consistent with propriety in each case. So much then is
determined.

CHAPTER XLII: An Earnest Exhortation to worship God.

   "AND now, since it appears by the clearest and most convincing
evidence, that the miseries which erewhile oppressed the entire human race
are now banished from every part of the world, through the power of
Almighty God, and at the same time the counsel and aid which he is pleased
on many occasions to administer through our agency; it remains for all,
both individually and unitedly, to observe and seriously consider how great
this power and how efficacious this grace are, which have annihilated and
utterly destroyed this generation, as I may call them, of most wicked and
evil men; have restored joy to the good, and diffused it over all
countries; and now guarantee the fullest authority both to honor the Divine
law as it should be honored, with all reverence, and pay due observance to
those who have dedicated themselves to the service of that law. These
rising as from some dark abyss and, with an enlightened knowledge of the
present course of events, will henceforward render to its precepts that
becoming reverence and honor which are consistent with their pious
character.

   Let this ordinance be published in our Eastern provinces." (1)

CHAPTER XLIII: How the Enactments of Constantine were carried into Effect.

   Such were the injunctions contained in the first letter which the
emperor addressed to us. And the provisions of this enactment were speedily
carried into effect, everything being conducted in a manner quite different
from the atrocities which had but lately been daringly perpetrated during
the cruel ascendancy of the tyrants. Those persons also who were legally
entitled to it, received the benefit of the emperor's liberality.

CHAPTER XLIV: That he promoted Christians to Offices of Government, and
forbade Gentiles in Such Stations to offer Sacrifice.

   After this the emperor continued to address himself to matters of high
importance, and first he sent governors to the several provinces, mostly
such as were devoted to the saving faith; and if any appeared inclined to
adhere to Gentile worship, he forbade them to offer sacrifice. This law
applied also to those who surpassed the provincial governors in rank and
dignity, (1) and even to those who occupied the highest station, and held
the authority of the Praetorian Praefecture. (2) If they were Christians,
they were free to act consistently with their profession; if otherwise, the
law required them to abstain from idolatrous sacrifices.

CHAPTER XLV: Statutes which forbade Sacrifice, and enjoined the Building of
Churches.

   Soon after this, two laws were promulgated about the same time; one of
which was intended to restrain the idolatrous abominations which in time
past had been practiced in every city and country; and it provided that no
one should erect images, or practice divination and other false and foolish
arts, or offer sacrifice in any way. (1) The other statute commanded the
heightening of the oratories, and the enlargement in length and breadth of
the churches of God; as though it were expected that, now the madness of
polytheism was wholly removed, pretty nearly all mankind would henceforth
attach themselves to the service of God. His own personal piety induced the
emperor to devise and write these instructions to the governors of the
several provinces: and the law farther admonished them not to spare the
expenditure of money, but to draw supplies from the imperial treasury
itself. Similar instructions were written also to the bishops of the
several churches; and the emperor was pleased to transmit the same to
myself, being the first letter which he personally addressed to me.

CHAPTER XLVI: Constantine's Letter to Eusebius and Other Bishops,
respecting the Building of Churches, with Instructions to repair the Old,
and erect New Ones on a Larger Scale, with the Aid of the Provincial
Governors.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Eusebius.

   "Forasmuch as the unholy and willful rule of tyranny has persecuted the
servants of our Saviour until this present time, I believe and have fully
satisfied myself, best beloved brother, that the buildings belonging to all
the churches have either become ruinous through actual neglect, or have
received inadequate attention from the dread of the violent spirit of the
times.

   "But now, that liberty is restored, and that serpent (1) driven from
the administration of public affairs by the providence of the Supreme God,
and our instrumentality, we trust that all can see the efficacy of the
Divine power, and that they who through fear of persecution or through
unbelief have fallen into any errors, will now acknowledge the true God,
and adopt in future that course of life which is according to truth and
rectitude. With respect, therefore, to the churches over which you yourself
preside, as well as the bishops, presbyters, and deacons of other churches
with whom you are acquainted, do you admonish all to be zealous in their
attention to the buildings of the churches, and either to repair or enlarge
those which at present exist, or, in cases of necessity, to erect new ones.

   "We also empower you, and the others through you, to demand what is
needful for the work, both from the provincial governors and from the
Praetorian Praefect. For they have received instructions to be most
diligent in obedience to your Holiness's orders. God preserve you, beloved
brother." A copy of this charge was transmitted throughout all the
provinces to the bishops of the several churches: the provincial governors
received directions accordingly, and the imperial statute was speedily
carried into effect.

CHAPTER XLVII: That he wrote a Letter in Condemnation of Idolatry.

   MOREOVER, the emperor, who continually made progress in piety towards
God, dispatched an admonitory letter to the inhabitants of every province,
respecting the error of idolatry into which his predecessors in power bad
fallen, in which he eloquently exhorts his subjects to acknowledge the
Supreme God, and openly to profess their allegiance to his Christ as their
Saviour. This letter also, which is in his own handwriting, I have judged
it necessary to translate from the Latin for the present work, in order
that we may hear, as it were, the voice the emperor himself uttering these
sentiments in the audience of all mankind.

CHAPTER XLVIII: Constantine's Edict to the People of the Provinces
concerning the Error of Polytheism, commencing with Some General Remarks on
Virtue and Vice.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to the people of the Eastern
provinces.

   "Whatever is comprehended under the sovereign (1) laws of nature, seems
to convey to all men an adequate idea of the forethought and intelligence
of the divine order. Nor can any, whose minds are directed in the true path
of knowledge to the attainment of that end, entertain a doubt that the just
perceptions of sound l reason, as well as those of the natural vision
itself, through the sole influence of genuine virtue, lead to the knowledge
of God. Accordingly no wise man will ever be surprised when he sees the
mass of mankind influenced by opposite sentiments. For the beauty of virtue
would be useless (2) and unperceived, did not vice display in contrast with
it the course of perversity and folly. Hence it is that the one is crowned
with reward, while the most high God is himself the administrator of
judgment to the other.

   "And now I will endeavor to lay before you all as explicitly as
possible, the nature of my own hopes of future happiness. (3)

CHAPTER XLIX: Concerning Constantine's Pious Father, and the Persecutors
Diocletian and Maximian.

   "The former emperors I have been accustomed to regard as those with
whom I could have no sympathy, (1) on account of the savage cruelty of
their character. Indeed, my father was the only one who uniformly practiced
the duties of humanity, and with admirable piety called for the blessing of
God the Father on all his actions, but the rest, unsound in mind, were more
zealous of cruel than gentle measures; and this disposition they indulged
without restraint, and thus persecuted the true doctrine during the whole
period of their reign. Nay, so violent did their malicious fury become,
that in the midst of a profound peace, as regards both the religious and
ordinary interests of men, they kindled, as it were, the flames of a civil
war. (2)

CHAPTER L: That the Persecution originated an Account of the Oracle of
Apollo, who, it was said, could not give Oracles because of "the Righteous
Men."

   "About that time it is said that Apollo spoke from a deep and gloomy
cavern, and through the medium of no human voice, and declared that the
righteous men on earth were a bar to his speaking the truth, and
accordingly that the oracles from the tripod were fallacious. Hence it was
that he suffered his tresses to droop in token of grief, (1) and mourned
the evils which the loss of the oracular spirit would entail on mankind.
But let us mark the consequences of this.

CHAPTER LI: That Constantine, when a Youth, heard from him who wrote the
Persecution Edict that "the Righteous Men" were the Christians.

   "I call now on thee, most high God, to witness that, when young, I
heard him who at that time was chief among the Roman emperors, unhappy,
truly unhappy as he was, and laboring under mental delusion, make earnest
enquiry of his attendants as to who these righteous ones on earth were, and
that one of the Pagan priests then present replied that they were doubtless
the Christians. This answer he eagerly received, like some honeyed draught,
and unsheathed the sword which was ordained for the punishment of crime,
against those whose holiness was beyond reproach. Immediately, therefore,
he issued those sanguinary edicts, traced, if I may so express myself, with
a sword's point dipped in blood; at the same time commanding his judges to
tax their ingenuity for the invention of new and more terrible punishments.

CHAPTER LII: The Manifold Forms of Torture and Punishment practiced against
the Christians.

   "Then, indeed, one might see with what arrogance those venerable
worshipers of God were daily exposed, with continued and relentless
cruelty, to outrages of the most grievous kind, and how that modesty of
character (1) which no enemy had ever treated with disrespect, became the
mere sport of their infuriated fellow-citizens. Is there any punishment by
fire, are there any tortures or forms of torment, which were not applied to
all, without distinction of age or sex? Then, it may be truly said, the
earth shed tears, the all-encircling compass of heaven mourned because of
the pollution of blood; and the very light of day itself was darkened in
grief at the spectacle.

CHAPTER LIII: That the Barbarians kindly received the Christians.

   "But what is the consequence of this? Why, the barbarians themselves
may boast now of the contrast their conduct presents to these creel deeds;
for they received and kept in gentlest captivity those who then fled from
amongst us, and secured to them not merely safety from danger, but also the
free exercise of their holy religion. And now the Roman people bear that
lasting stain which the Christians, at that time driven from the Roman
world, and taking refuge with the barbarians, have branded on them.

CHAPTER LIV: What Vengeance overtook those who on Account of the Oracle
raised the Persecution.

   "But why need I longer dwell on these lamentable events, and the
general sorrow which in consequence pervaded the world? The perpetrators of
this dreadful guilt are now no more: they have experienced a miserable end,
and are consigned to unceasing punishment in the depths of the lower world.
They encountered each other in civil strife, and have left neither name nor
race behind. And surely this calamity would never have befallen them, had
not that impious deliverance of the Pythian oracle exercised a delusive
power over them. (1)

CHAPTER LV: Constantine gives Glory to God, makes Grateful Acknowledgment
of the Sign of the Cross, and prays for the Churches and People.

   "AND now I beseech thee, most mighty God, to be merciful and gracious
to thine Eastern nations, to thy people in these provinces, worn as they
are by protracted miseries; and grant them healing through thy servant. Not
without cause, O holy God, do I prefer this prayer to thee, the Lord of
all. Under thy guidance have I devised and accomplished measures fraught
with blessings: preceded by thy sacred sign I have led thy armies to
victory: and still, on each occasion of public danger, I follow the same
symbol of thy perfections while advancing to meet the foe. Therefore have I
dedicated to thy service a soul duly attempered by love and fear. For thy
name I truly love, while I regard with reverence that power of which thou
hast given abundant proofs, to the confirmation and increase of my faith. I
hasten, then, to devote all my powers to the restoration of thy most holy
dwelling-place, which those profane and impious men have defiled by the
contamination of violence.

CHAPTER LVI: He prays that All may be Christians, but compels None.

   "MY own desire is, for the common good of the world and the advantage
of all mankind, that thy people should enjoy a life of peace and
undisturbed concord. Let those, therefore, who still delight in error, be
made welcome to the same degree of peace and tranquillity which they have
who believe. For it may be that this restoration of equal privileges to all
will prevail to lead them into the straight path. Let no one molest
another, but let every one do as his soul desires. Only let men of sound
judgment be assured of this, that those only can live a life of holiness
and purity, whom thou callest to a reliance on thy holy laws. With regard
to those who will hold themselves aloof from us, let them have, if they
please, their temples (1) of lies: we have the glorious edifice of thy
truth, which thou hast given us as our native home. (2) We pray, however,
that they too may receive the same blessing, and thus experience that
heartfelt joy which unity of sentiment inspires.

CHAPTER LVII: He gives Glory to God, who has given Light by his Son to
those who were in Error.

   "And truly our worship is no new or recent thing, but one which thou
hast ordained for thine own due honor, from the time when, as we believe,
this system of the universe was first established. And, although mankind
have deeply fallen, and have been seduced by manifold errors, yet hast thou
revealed a pure light in the person of thy Son, that the power of evil
should not utterly prevail, and hast thus given testimony to all men
concerning thyself.

CHAPTER LVIII: He glorifies him again for his Government of the Universe.

   "THE truth of this is assured to us by thy works. It is thy power which
removes our guilt, and makes us faithful. The sun and the moon have their
settled course. The stars move in no uncertain orbits round this
terrestrial globe. The revolution of the seasons recurs according to
unerring laws. The solid fabric of the earth was established by thy word:
the winds receive their impulse at appointed times; and the course of the
waters continues with ceaseless flow, (1) the ocean is circumscribed by an
immovable barrier, and whatever is comprehended within the compass of earth
and sea, is all contrived for wondrous and important ends.

   "Were it not so, were not all regulated by the determination of thy
will, so great a diversity, so manifold a division of power, would
unquestionably have brought ruin on the whole race and its affairs. For
those agencies which have maintained a mutual strife (2) would thus have
carried to a more deadly length that hostility against the human race which
they even now exercise, though unseen by mortal eyes.

CHAPTER LIX: He gives Glory to God, as the Constant Teacher of Good.

   "ABUNDANT thanks, most mighty God, and Lord of all, be rendered to
thee, that, by so much as our nature becomes known from the diversified
pursuits of man, by so much the more are the precepts of thy divine
doctrine confirmed to those whose thoughts are directed aright, and who are
sincerely devoted to true virtue. As for those who will not allow
themselves to be cured of their error, let them not attribute this to any
but themselves. For that remedy which is of sovereign and healing virtue is
openly placed within the reach of all. Only let not any one inflict an
injury on that religion which experience itself testifies to be pure and
undefiled. Henceforward, therefore, let us all enjoy in common the
privilege placed within our reach, I mean the blessing of peace,
endeavoring to keep our conscience pure from all that is contrary.

CHAPTER LX: An Admonition at the Close of the Edict, that No One should
trouble his Neighbor.

   "ONCE more, let none use that to the detriment of another which he may
himself have received on conviction of its truth; but let every, one, if it
be possible, apply what he has understood and known to the benefit of his
neighbor; if otherwise, let him relinquish the attempt. For it is one thing
voluntarily to undertake the conflict for immortality, another to compel
others to do so from the fear of punishment.

   "These are our words; and we have enlarged on these topics more than
our ordinary clemency would have dictated, because we were unwilling to
dissemble or be false to the true faith; and the more so, since we
understand there are some who say that the rites of the heathen temples,
and the power of darkness, have been entirely removed. We should indeed
have earnestly recommended such removal to all men, were it not that the
rebellious spirit of those wicked errors still continues obstinately fixed
in the minds of some, so as to discourage the hope of any general
restoration of mankind to the ways of truth." (1)

CHAPTER LXI: How Controversies originated at Alexandria through Matters
relating to Arius. (1)

   In this manner the emperor, like a powerful herald of God, addressed
himself by his own letter to all the provinces, at the same time warning
his subjects against superstitious 2 error, and encouraging them in the
pursuit of true godliness. But in the midst of his joyful anticipations of
the success of this measure, he received tidings of a most serious
disturbance which had invaded the peace of the Church. This intelligence he
heard with deep concern, and at once endeavored to devise a remedy for the
evil. The origin of this disturbance may be thus described. The people of
God were in a truly flourishing state, and abounding in the practice of
good works. No terror from without assailed them, but a bright and most
profound peace, through the favor of God, encompassed his Church on every
side. Meantime, however, the spirit of envy was watching to destroy our
blessings, which at first crept in unperceived, but soon revelled in the
midst of the assemblies of the saints. At length it reached the bishops
themselves, and arrayed them in angry hostility against each other, on
pretense of a jealous regard for the doctrines of Divine truth. Hence it
was that a mighty fire was kindled as it were from a little spark, and
which, originating in the first instance in the Alexandrian church, (3)
overspread the whole of Egypt and Libya, and the further Thebaid.
Eventually it extended its ravages to the other provinces and cities of the
empire; so that not only the prelates of the churches might be seen
encountering each other in the strife of words, but the people themselves
were completely divided, some adhering to one faction and others to
another. Nay, so notorious did the scandal of these proceedings become,
that the sacred matters of inspired teaching were exposed to the most
shameful ridicule in the very theaters of the unbelievers.

CHAPTER LXII: Concerning the Same Arius, and the Melitians. (1)

   Some thus at Alexandria maintained an obstinate conflict on the highest
questions. Others throughout Egypt and the Upper Thebaid, were at variance
on account of an earlier controversy: so that the churches were everywhere
distracted by divisions. The body therefore being thus diseased, the whole
of Libya caught the contagion; and the rest of the remoter provinces became
affected with the same disorder. For the disputants at Alexandria sent
emissaries to the bishops of the several provinces, who accordingly ranged
themselves as partisans on either side, and shared in the same spirit of
discord.

CHAPTER LXIII: How Constantine sent a Messenger and a Letter concerning
Peace.

   As soon as the emperor was informed of these facts, which he heard with
much sorrow of heart, considering them in the light of a calamity
personally affecting himself, he forthwith selected from the Christians in
his train one whom he well knew to be approved for the sobriety and
genuineness of his faith, (1) and who had before this time distinguished
himself by the boldness. of his religious profession, and sent him to
negotiate peace (2) between the dissentient parties at Alexandria. He also
made him the bearer of a most needful and appropriate letter to the
original movers of the strife: and this letter, as exhibiting a specimen of
his watchful care over God's people, it may be well to introduce into this
our narrative of his life. Its purport was as follows.

CHAPTER LXIV: Constantine's Letter to Alexander the Bishop, and Arius the
Presbyter.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Alexander and Arius.

   "I call that God to witness, as well I may, who is the helper of my
endeavors, and the Preserver of all men, that I had a twofold reason for
undertaking that duty which I have now performed.

CHAPTER LXV: His Continual Anxiety for Peace.

   "MY design then was, first, to bring the diverse judgments formed by
all nations respecting the Deity to a condition, as it were, of settled
uniformity; and, secondly, to restore to health the system of the world,
then suffering under the malignant power of a grievous distemper. Keeping
these objects in view, I sought to accomplish the one by the secret eye of
thought, while the other I tried to rectify by the power of military
authority. For I was aware that, if I should succeed in establishing,
according to my hopes, a common harmony of sentiment among all the servants
of God, the general course of affairs would also experience a change
correspondent to the pious desires of them all.

CHAPTER LXVI: That he also adjusted the Controversies which had arisen in
Africa.

   "Finding, then, that the whole of Africa was pervaded by an intolerable
spirit of mad folly, through the influence of those who with heedless
frivolity had presumed to rend the religion of the people into diverse
sects; I was anxious to check this disorder, and could discover no other
remedy equal to the occasion, except in sending some of yourselves to aid
in restoring mutual harmony among the disputants, after I had removed that
common enemy (1) of mankind who had interposed his lawless sentence for the
prohibition of your holy synods.

CHAPTER LXVII: That Religion began in the East.

   "For since the power of Divine light, and the law of sacred worship,
which, proceeding in the first instance, through the favor of God, from the
bosom, as it were, of the East, have illumined the world, by their sacred
radiance, I naturally believed that you would be the first to promote the
salvation of other nations, and resolved with all energy of thought and
diligence of enquiry to seek your aid. As soon, therefore, as I had secured
my decisive victory and unquestionable triumph over my enemies, my first
enquiry was concerning that object which I felt to be of paramount interest
and importance.

CHAPTER LXVIII: Being grieved by the Dissension, he counsels Peace.

   "BUT, O glorious Providence of God! how deep a wound did not my ears
only, but my very heart receive in the report that divisions existed among
yourselves more grievous still than those which continued in that country!
(1) so that you, through whose aid I had hoped to procure a remedy for the
errors of others, are in a state which needs healing even more than theirs.
And yet, having made a careful enquiry into the origin and foundation of
these differences, I find the cause to be of a truly insignificant
character, and quite unworthy of such fierce contention. Feeling myself,
therefore, compelled to address you in this letter, and to appeal at the
same time to your unanimity (2) and sagacity, I call on Divine Providence
to assist me in the task, while I interrupt your dissension in the
character of a minister of peace. And with reason: for if I might expect,
with the help of a higher Power, to be able without difficulty, by a
judicious appeal to the pious feelings of those who heard me, to recall
them to a better spirit, even though the occasion of the disagreement were
a greater one, how can I refrain from promising myself a far easier and
more speedy adjustment of this difference, when the cause which hinders
general harmony of sentiment is intrinsically trifling and of little
moment?

CHAPTER LXIX: Origin of the Controversy between Alexander and Arius, and
that these Questions ought not to have been discussed.

   "I UNDERSTAND, then, that the origin of the present controversy is
this. When you, Alexander, demanded of the presbyters what opinion they
severally maintained respecting a certain passage in the Divine law, (1) or
rather, I should say, that you asked them something connected with an
unprofitable question, then you, Arius, inconsiderately insisted on (2)
what ought never to have been conceived at all, or if conceived, should
have been buried in profound silence. Hence it was that a dissension arose
between you, fellowship was withdrawn, (3) and the holy people, rent into
diverse parties, no longer preserved the unity of the one body. Now,
therefore, do ye both exhibit an equal degree of forbearance, (4) and
receive the advice which your fellow-servant righteously gives. What then
is this advice? It was wrong in the first instance to propose such
questions as these, or to reply to them when propounded. For those points
of discussion which are enjoined by the authority of no law, but rather
suggested by the contentious spirit which is fostered by misused leisure,
even though they may be intended merely as an intellectual exercise, ought
certainly to be confined to the region of our own thoughts, and not hastily
produced in the popular assemblies, nor unadvisedly intrusted to the
general ear. For how very few are there able either accurately to
comprehend, or adequately to explain subjects so sublime and abstruse in
their nature? Or, granting that one were fully competent for this, how many
people will he convince? Or, who, again, in dealing with questions of such
subtle nicety as these, can secure himself against a dangerous declension
from the truth? It is incumbent therefore on us in these cases to be
sparing of our words, lest, in case we ourselves are unable, through the
feebleness of our natural faculties, to give a clear explanation of the
subject before us, or, on the other hand, in case the slowness of our
hearers' understandings disables them from arriving at an accurate
apprehension of what we say, from one or other of these causes the people
be reduced to the alternative either of blasphemy or schism.

CHAPTER LXX: An Exhortation to Unanimity.

   "LET therefore both the unguarded question and the inconsiderate answer
receive your mutual forgiveness. (1) For the cause of your difference has
not been any of the leading doctrines or precepts of the Divine law, nor
has any new heresy respecting the worship of God arisen among you. You are
in truth of one and the same judgment: (2) you may therefore well join in
communion and fellowship.

CHAPTER LXXI: There should be no Contention in Matters which are in
themselves of Little Moment.

   "For as long as you continue to contend about these small and very
insignificant questions, it is not fitting that so large a portion of God's
people should be under the direction of your judgment, since you are thus
divided between yourselves. I believe it indeed to be not merely
unbecoming, but positively evil, that such should be the case. But I will
refresh your minds by a little illustration, as follows. You know that
philosophers, though they all adhere to one system, are yet frequently at
issue on certain points, and differ, perhaps, in their degree of knowledge:
yet they are recalled to harmony of sentiment by the uniting power of their
common doctrines. If this be true, is it not far more reasonable that you,
who are the ministers of the Supreme God, should be of one mind respecting
the profession of the same religion? But let us still more thoughtfully and
with closer attention examine what I have said, and see whether it be right
that, on the ground of some trifling and foolish verbal difference between
ourselves, brethren should assume towards each other the attitude of
enemies, and the august meeting of the Synod be rent by profane disunion,
because of you who wrangle together on points so trivial and altogether
unessential? This is vulgar, and rather characteristic of childish
ignorance, than consistent I with the wisdom of priests and men of sense.
Let us withdraw ourselves with a good will from these temptations of the
devil. Our great God and common Saviour of all has granted the same light
to us all. Permit me, who am his servant, to bring my task to a successful
issue, under the direction of his Providence, that I may be enabled,
through my exhortations, and diligence, and earnest admonition, to recall
his people to communion and fellowship. For since you have, as I said, but
one faith, and one sentiment respecting our religion, and since the Divine
commandment in all its parts enjoins on us all the duty of maintaining a
spirit of concord, let not the circumstance which has led to a slight
difference between you, since it does not affect the validity of the whole,
cause any division or schism among you. And this I say without in any way
desiring to force you to entire unity of judgment in regard to this truly
idle question, whatever its real nature may be. For the dignity of your
synod may be preserved, and the communion of your whole body maintained
unbroken, however wide a difference may exist among you as to unimportant
matters. For we are not all of us like-minded on every subject, nor is
there such a thing as one disposition and judgment common to all alike. As
far, then, as regards the Divine Providence, let there be one faith, and
one understanding among you, one united judgment in reference to God. But
as to your subtle disputations on questions of little or no significance,
though you may be unable to harmonize in sentiment, such differences should
be consigned to the secret custody of your own minds and thoughts. And now,
let the preciousness of common affection, let faith in the truth, let the
honor due to God and to the observance of his law continue immovably among
you. Resume, then, your mutual feelings of friendship, love, and regard:
restore to the people their wonted embracings; and do ye yourselves, having
purified your souls, as it were, once more acknowledge one another. For it
often happens that when a reconciliation is effected by the removal of the
causes of enmity, friendship becomes even sweeter than it was before.

CHAPTER LXXII: The Excess of his Pious Concern caused him to shed Tears;
and his Intended Journey to the East was postponed because of These Things.

   "RESTORE me then my quiet days, and untroubled nights, that the joy of
undimmed light, the delight of a tranquil life, may henceforth be my
portion. Else must I needs mourn, with constant tears, nor shall I be able
to pass the residue of my days in peace. For while the people of God, whose
fellow-servant I am, are thus divided amongst themselves by an unreasonable
and pernicious spirit of contention, how is it possible that I shall be
able to maintain tranquillity of mind? And I will give you a proof how
great my sorrow has been on this behalf. Not long since I had visited
Nicomedia, and intended forthwith to proceed from that city to the East. It
was while I was hastening towards you, and had already accomplished the
greater part of the distance, that the news of this matter reversed my
plan, that I might not be compelled to see with my own eyes that which I
felt myself scarcely able even to hear. Open then for me henceforward by
your unity of judgment that road to the regions of the East which your
dissensions have closed against me, and permit me speedily to see
yourselves and all other peoples rejoicing together, and render due
acknowledgment to God in the language of praise and thanksgiving for the
restoration of general concord and liberty to all."

CHAPTER LXXIII: The Controversy continues without Abatement, even after the
Receipt of This Letter.

   IN this manner the pious emperor endeavored by means of the foregoing
letter to promote the peace of the Church of God. And the excellent man (1)
to whom it was intrusted performed his part not merely by communicating the
letter itself, but also by seconding the views of him who sent it; for he
was, as I have said, in all respects a person of pious character. The evil,
however, was greater than could be remedied by a single letter, insomuch
that the acrimony of the contending parties continually increased, and the
effects of the mischief extended to all the Eastern provinces. These things
jealousy and some evil spirit who looked with an envious eye on the
prosperity of the Church, wrought.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I: A Comparison of Constantine's Piety with the Wickedness of the
Persecutors.

   IN this manner that spirit who is the hater of good, actuated by envy
at the blessing enjoyed by the Church, continued to raise against her the
stormy troubles of intestine discord, in the midst of a period of peace and
joy. Meanwhile, however, the divinely- favored emperor did not slight the
duties befitting him, but exhibited in his whole conduct a direct contrast
to those atrocities of which the cruel tyrants had been lately guilty, (1)
and thus triumphed over every enemy that opposed him. For in the first
place, the tyrants, being themselves alienated from the true God, had
enforced by every compulsion the worship of false deities: Constantine
convinced mankind by actions as well as words, (2) that these bad but an
imaginary existence, and exhorted them to acknowledge the only true God.
They had derided his Christ with words of blasphemy: he assumed that as his
safeguard a against which they directed their blasphemies, and gloried in
the symbol of the Saviour's passion. They had persecuted and driven from
house and home the servants of Christ: he recalled them every one, and
restored them to their native homes. They had covered them with dishonor:
he made their condition honorable and enviable in the eyes of all. They had
shamefully plundered and sold the goods of godly men: Constantine not only
replaced this loss, but still further enriched them with abundant presents.
They had circulated injurious calumnies, through their written ordinances,
against the prelates of the Church: he on the contrary, conferred dignity
on these individuals by personal marks of honor, and by his edicts and
statutes raised them to higher distinction than before. They had utterly
demolished and razed to the ground the houses of prayer: he commanded that
those which still existed should be enlarged, and that new ones should be
raised on a magnificent scale at the expense of the imperial treasury. They
had ordered the inspired records to be burnt and utterly destroyed: he
decreed that copies of them should be multiplied, and magnificently adorned
(4) at the charge of the imperial treasury. They had strictly forbidden the
prelates, anywhere or on any occasion, to convene synods; whereas he
gathered them to his court from every province, received them into his
palace, and even to his own private apartments and thought them worthy to
share his home and table. They had honored the demons with offerings:
Constantine exposed their error, and continually distributed the now
useless materials for sacrifice, to those who would apply them to a better
use. They had ordered the pagan temples to be sumptuously adorned: he razed
to their foundations those of them which had been the chief objects of
superstitious reverence. They had subjected God's servants to the most
ignominious punishments: he took vengeance on the persecutors, and
inflicted on them just chastisement in the name of God, while he held the
memory of his holy martyrs in constant veneration. They had driven God's
Worshipers from the imperial palaces: he placed full confidence in them at
all times, and knowing them to be the better disposed and more faithful
than any beside. They, the victims of avarice, voluntarily subjected
themselves as it were to the pangs of Tantalus: he with royal magnificence
unlocked all his treasures, and distributed his gifts with rich and high-
souled liberality. They committed countless murders, that they might
plunder or confiscate the wealth of their victims; while throughout the
reign of Constantine the sword of justice hung idle everywhere, and both
people and municipal magistrates (5) in every provence were governed rather
by paternal authority than by any constraining. (6) Surely it must seem to
all who duly regard these facts, that a new and fresh era of existence had
begun to appear, and a light heretofore unknown suddenly to dawn from the
midst of darkness on the human race: and all must confess that these things
were entirely the work of God, who raised up this pious emperor to
withstand the multitude of the ungodly.

CHAPTER II: Father Remarks on Constantine's Piety, and his Open Testimony
to the Sign of the Cross.

   AND when we consider that their iniquities were without example, and
the atrocities which they dared to perpetrate against the Church such as
had never been heard of in any age of the world, well might God himself
bring before us something entirely new, and work thereby effects such as
had hitherto been never either recorded or observed. And what miracle was
ever more marvelous than the virtues of this our emperor, whom the wisdom
of God has vouchsafed as a gift to the human race? For truly he maintained
a continual testimony to the Christ of God with all boldness, and before
all men; and so far was he from shrinking from an open profession of the
Christian name, that he rather desired to make it manifest to all that he
regarded this as his highest honor, now impressing on his face the salutary
sign, and now glorying in it as the trophy which led him on to victory. (1)

CHAPTER III: Of his Picture surmounted by a Cross and having beneath it a
Dragon.

   AND besides this, he caused to be painted on a lofty tablet, and set up
in the front of the portico of his palace, so as to be visible to all, a
representation of the salutary sign placed above his head, and below it
that hateful and savage adversary of mankind, who by means of the tyranny
of the ungodly had wasted the Church of God, falling headlong, under the
form of a dragon, to the abyss of destruction. For the sacred oracles in
the books of God's prophets have described him as a dragon and a crooked
serpent; (1) and for this reason the emperor thus publicly displayed a
painted (2) resemblance of the dragon beneath his own and his children's
feet, stricken through with a dart, and cast headlong into the depths of
the sea.

   In this manner he intended to represent the secret adversary of the
human race, and to indicate that he was consigned to the gulf of perdition
by virtue of the salutary trophy placed above his head. This allegory,
then, was thus conveyed by means of the colors of a picture: and I am
filled with wonder at the intellectual greatness of the emperor, who as if
by divine inspiration thus expressed what the prophets had foretold
concerning this monster, saying that "God would bring his great and strong
and terrible sword against the dragon, the flying serpent; and would
destroy the dragon that was in the sea.'' (3) This it was of which the
emperor gave a true and faithful representation in the picture above
described.

CHAPTER IV: A Farther Notice of the Controversies raised in Egypt by Arius.

   IN such occupations as these he employed himself with pleasure: but the
effects of that envious spirit which so troubled the peace of the churches
of God in Alexandria, together with the Theban and Egyptian schism,
continued to cause him no little disturbance of mind. For in fact, in every
city bishops were engaged in obstinate conflict with bishops, and people
rising against people; and almost like the fabled Symplegades, (1) coming
into violent collision with each other. Nay, some were so far transported
beyond the bounds of reason as to be guilty of reckless and outrageous
conduct, and even to insult the statues of the emperor. This state of
things had little power to excite his anger, but rather caused in him
sorrow of spirit; for he deeply deplored the folly thus exhibited by
deranged men.

CHAPTER V: Of the Disagreement respecting the Celebration of Easter.

   BUT before this time another most virulent disorder had existed, and
long afflicted the Church; I mean the difference respecting the salutary
feast of Easter. (1) For while one party asserted that the Jewish custom
should be adhered to, the other affirmed that the exact recurrence of the
period should be observed without following the authority of those who were
in error, and strangers to gospel grace.

   Accordingly, the people being thus in every place divided in respect of
this, (1) and the sacred observances of religion confounded for a long
period (insomuch that the diversity of judgment in regard to the time for
celebrating one and the same feast caused the greatest disagreement between
those who kept it, some afflicting themselves with fastings and
austerities, while others devoted their time to festive relaxation), no one
appeared who was capable of devising a remedy for the evil, because the
controversy continued equally balanced between both parties. To God alone,
the Almighty, was the healing of these differences an easy task; and
Constantine appeared to be the only one on earth capable of being his
minister for this good end. For as soon as he was made acquainted with the
facts which I have described, and perceived that his letter to the
Alexandrian Christians had failed to produce its due effect, he at once
aroused the energies of his mind, and declared that he must prosecute to
the utmost this war also against the secret adversary who was disturbing
the peace of the Church.

CHAPTER VI: How he ordered a Council to be held at Nicaea.

   THEN as if to bring a divine array against this enemy, he convoked a
general council, and invited the speedy attendance of bishops from all
quarters, in letters expressive of the honorable estimation in which he
held them. Nor was this merely the issuing of a bare command but the
emperor's good will contributed much to its being carried into effect: for
he allowed some the use of the public means of conveyance, while he
afforded to others an ample supply of horses (1) for their transport. The
place, too, selected for the synod, the city Nicaea in Bithynia (named from
"Victory"), was appropriate to the occasion. (2) As soon then as the
imperial injunction was generally made known, all with the utmost
willingness hastened thither, as though they would outstrip one another in
a race; for they were impelled by the anticipation of a happy result to the
conference, by the hope of enjoying present peace, and the desire of
beholding something new and strange in the person of so admirable an
emperor. Now when they were all assembled, it appeared evident that the
proceeding was the work of God, inasmuch as men who had been most widely
separated, not merely in sentiment but also personally, and by difference
of country, place, and nation, were here brought together, and comprised
within the walls of a single city, forming as it were a vast garland of
priests, composed of a variety of the choicest flowers.

CHAPTER VII: Of the General Council, at which Bishops from all Nations were
Present. (1)

   IN effect, the most distinguished of God's ministers from all the
churches which abounded in Europe, Lybia, (2) and Asia were here assembled.
And a single house of prayer, as though divinely enlarged, sufficed to
contain at once Syrians and Cilicians, Phoenicians and Arabians, delegates
from Palestine, and others from Egypt; Thebans and Libyans, with those who
came from the region of Mesopotamia. A Persian bishop too was present at
this conference, nor was even a Scythian found wanting to the number. (3)
Pontus, Galatia, and Pamphylia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Phrygia, furnished
their most distinguished prelates; while those who dwelt in the remotest
districts of Thrace and Macedonia, of Achaia and Epirus, were
notwithstanding in attendance. Even from Spain itself, one whose fame was
widely spread took his seat as an individual in the great assembly. (4) The
prelate of the imperial city (5) was prevented from attending by extreme
old age; but his presbyters were present, and supplied his place.
Constantine is the first prince of any age who bound together such a
garland as this with the bond of peace, and presented it to his Saviour as
a thank-offering for the victories he had obtained over every foe, thus
exhibiting in our own times a similitude of the apostolic company.

CHAPTER VIII: That the Assembly was composed, as in the days of the
Apostles, of Individuals from Various Nations.

   FOR it is said (1) that in the Apostles' age, there were gathered
"devout men from every nation under heaven"; among whom were Parthians, and
Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judea, and
Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and the
parts of Libya about Cyrene; and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. But that assembly was less, in that not
all who composed it were ministers of God; but in the present company, the
number of bishops exceeded two hundred and fifty, (2) while that of the
presbyters and deacons in their train, and the crowd of acolytes and other
attendants was altogether beyond computation.

CHAPTER IX: Of the Virtue and Age of the Two Hundred and Fifty Bishops.

   Of these ministers of God, some were distinguished by wisdom and
eloquence, others by the gravity of their lives, and by patient fortitude
of character, while others again united in themselves all these graces. (1)
There were among them men whose years demanded veneration: others were
younger, and in the prime of mental vigor; and some had but recently
entered on the course of their ministry. For the maintenance of all ample
provision was daily furnished by the emperor's command.

CHAPTER X: Council in the Palace. Constantine, entering, took his Seat in
the Assembly.

   Now when the appointed day arrived on which the council met for the
final solution of the questions in dispute, each member was present for
this in the central building of the palace, (1) which appeared to exceed
the rest in magnitude. On each side of the interior of this were many seats
disposed in order, which were occupied by those who had been invited to
attend, according to their rank. As soon, then, as the whole assembly had
seated themselves with becoming orderliness, a general silence prevailed,
in expectation of the emperor's arrival. And first of all, three of his
immediate family entered in succession, then others also preceded his
approach, not of the soldiers or guards who usually accompanied him, but
only friends in the faith. And now, all rising at the signal which
indicated the emperor's entrance, at last he himself proceeded through the
midst of the assembly, like some heavenly messenger of God, clothed in
raiment which glittered as it were with rays of light, reflecting the
glowing radiance of a purple robe, and adorned with the brilliant splendor
of gold and precious stones. Such was the external appearance of his
person; and with regard to his mind, it was evident that he was
distinguished by piety and godly fear. This was indicated by his downcast
eyes, the blush on his countenance, and his gait. For the rest of his
personal excellencies, he surpassed all present in height of stature and
beauty of form, as well as in majestic dignity of mien, and invincible
strength and vigor. All these graces, united to a suavity of manner, and a
serenity becoming his imperial station, declared the excellence of his
mental qualities to be above all praise. (2) As soon as he had advanced to
the upper end of the seats, at first he remained standing, and when a low
chair of wrought gold had been set for him, he waited until the bishops had
beckoned to him, and then sat down, and after him the whole assembly did
the same.

CHAPTER XI: Silence of the Council, after Some Words by the Bishop
Eusebius.

   The bishop who occupied the chief place in the right division of the
assembly (1) then rose, and, addressing the emperor, delivered a concise
speech, in a strain of thanksgiving to Almighty God on his behalf. When he
had resumed his seat, silence ensued, and all regarded the emperor with
fixed attention; on which he looked serenely round on the assembly with a
cheerful aspect, and, having collected his thoughts, in a calm and gentle
tone gave utterance to the following words.

CHAPTER XII: Constantine's Address to the Council concerning Peace.(1)

   "It was once my chief desire, dearest friends, to enjoy the spectacle
of your united presence; and now that this desire is fulfilled, I feel
myself bound to render thanks to God the universal King, because, in
addition to all his other benefits, he has granted me a blessing higher
than all the rest, in permitting me to see you not only all assembled
together, but all united in a common harmony of sentiment. I pray therefore
that no malignant adversary may henceforth interfere to mar our happy
state; I pray that, now the impious hostility of the tyrants has been
forever removed by the power of God our Saviour, that spirit who delights
in evil may devise no other means for exposing the divine law to
blasphemous calumny; for, in my judgment, intestine strife within the
Church of God, is far more evil and dangerous than any kind of war or
conflict; and these our differences appear to me more grievous than any
outward trouble. Accordingly, when, by the will and with the co-operation
of God, I had been victorious over my enemies, I thought that nothing more
remained but to render thanks to him, and sympathize in the joy of those
whom he had restored to freedom through my instrumentality; as soon as I
heard that intelligence which I had least expected to receive, I mean the
news of your dissension, I judged it to be of no secondary importance, but
with the earnest desire that a remedy for this evil also might be found
through my means, I immediately sent to require your presence. And now I
rejoice in beholding your assembly; but I feel that my desires will be most
completely fulfilled when I can see you all united in one judgment, and
that common spirit of peace and concord prevailing amongst you all, which
it becomes you, as consecrated to the service of God, to commend to others.
Delay not, then, dear friends: delay not, ye ministers of God, and faithful
servants of him who is our common Lord and Saviour: begin from this moment
to discard the causes of that disunion which has existed among you, and
remove the perplexities of controversy by embracing the principles of
peace. For by such conduct you will at the same time be acting in a manner
most pleasing to the supreme God, and you will confer an exceeding favor on
me who am your fellow- servant."

CHAPTER XIII: How he led the Dissentient Bishops to Harmony of Sentiment.

   As soon as the emperor had spoken these words in the Latin tongue,
which another interpreted, he gave permission to those who presided in the
council to deliver their opinions. On this some began to accuse their
neighbors, who defended themselves, and recriminated in their turn. In this
manner numberless assertions were put forth by each party, and a violent
controversy arose at the very commencement. Notwithstanding this, the
emperor gave patient audience to all alike, and received every proposition
with steadfast attention, and by occasionally assisting the argument of
each party in turn, he gradually disposed even the most vehement disputants
to a reconciliation. At the same time, by the affability of his address to
all, and his use of the Greek language, with which he was not altogether
unacquainted, he appeared in a truly attractive and amiable light,
persuading some, convincing others by his reasonings, praising those who
spoke well, and urging all to unity of sentiment, until at last he
succeeded in bringing them to one mind and judgment respecting every
disputed question.

CHAPTER XIV: Unanimous Declaration of the Council concerning Faith, and the
Celebration of Easter.

   The result was that they were not only united as concerning the faith,
but that the time for the celebration of the salutary feast of Easter was
agreed on by all. Those points also which were sanctioned by the resolution
of the whole body were committed to writing, and received the signature of
each several member. (1) Then the emperor, believing that he had thus
obtained a second victory over the adversary of the Church, proceeded to
solemnize a triumphal festival in honor of God.

CHAPTER XV: How Constantine entertained the Bishops on the Occasion of his
Vicennalia.

   About this time he completed the twentieth year of his reign. (1) On
this occasion public festivals were celebrated by the people of the
provinces generally, but the emperor himself invited and feasted with those
ministers of God whom he had reconciled, and thus offered as it were
through them a suitable sacrifice to God. Not one of the bishops was
wanting at the imperial banquet, (2) the circumstances of which were
splendid beyond description. Detachments of the body- guard and other
troops surrounded the entrance of the palace with drawn swords, and through
the midst of these the men of God proceeded without fear into the innermost
of the imperial apartments, in which some were the emperor's own companions
at table, while others reclined on couches arranged on either side. (3) One
might have thought that a picture of Christ's kingdom was thus shadowed
forth, and a dream rather than reality.

CHAPTER XVI: Presents to the Bishops, and Letters to the People generally.

   AFTER the celebration of this brilliant festival, the emperor
courteously received all his guests, and generously added to the favors he
had already bestowed by personally presenting gifts to each individual
according to his rank. He also gave information of the proceedings of the
synod to those who had not been present, by a letter in his own hand-
writing. And this letter also I will inscribe as it were on some monument
by inserting it in this my narrative of his life. It was as follows:

CHAPTER XVII: Constantine's Letter to the Churches respecting the Council
at Nicaea.

   "CONSTANTINUS AUGUSTUS, to the Churches. "Having had full proof, in the
general prosperity of the empire, how great the favor of God has been
towards us, I have judged that it ought to be the first object of my
endeavors, that unity of faith, sincerity of love, and community of feeling
in regard to the worship of Almighty God, might be preserved among the
highly favored multitude who compose the Catholic Church. And, inasmuch as
this object could not be effectually and certainly secured, unless all, or
at least the greater number of the bishops were to meet together, and a
discussion of all particulars relating to oar most holy religion to take
place; for this reason as numerous an assembly as possible has been
convened, at which I myself was present, as one among yourselves (and far
be it from me to deny that which is my greatest joy, that I am your fellow-
servant), and every question received due and full examination, until that
judgment which God, who sees all things, could approve, and which tended to
unity and concord, was brought to light, so that no room was left for
further discussion or controversy in relation to the faith.

CHAPTER XVIII: He speaks of their Unanimity respecting the Feast of Easter,
and against the Practice of the Jews.

   "AT this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter
was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present,
that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the
same day. For what can be more becoming or honorable to us than that this
feast from which we date our hopes of immortality, should be observed
unfailingly by all alike, according to one ascertained order and
arrangement? And first of all, it appeared an unworthy thing that in the
celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the
Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are,
therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul. For we have it in
our power, if we abandon their custom, to prolong the due observance of
this ordinance to future ages, by a truer order, which we have preserved
from the very day of the passion until the present time. Let us then have
nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received
from our Saviour a different way. A course at once legitimate and honorable
lies open to our most holy religion. Beloved brethren, let us with one
consent adopt this course, and withdraw ourselves from all participation in
their baseness. (1) For their boast is absurd indeed, that it is not in our
power without instruction from them to observe these things. For how should
they be capable of forming a sound judgment, who, since their parricidal
guilt in slaying their Lord, have been subject to the direction, not of
reason, but of ungoverned passion, and are swayed by every impulse of the
mad spirit that is in them? Hence it is that on this point as well as
others they have no perception of the truth, so that, being altogether
ignorant of the true adjustment of this question, they sometimes celebrate
Easter twice in the same year. Why then should we follow those who are
confessedly in grievous error? Surely we shall never consent to keep this
feast a second time in the same year. But supposing these reasons were not
of sufficient weight, still it would be incumbent on your Sagacities (2) to
strive and pray continually that the purity of your souls may not seem in
anything to be sullied by fellowship with the customs of these most wicked
men. We must consider, too, that a discordant judgment in a case of such
importance, and respecting such religious festival, is wrong. For our
Saviour has left us one feast in commemoration of the day of our
deliverance, I mean the day of his most holy passion; and he has willed
that his Catholic Church should be one, the members of which, however
scattered in many and diverse places, are yet cherished by one pervading
spirit, that is, by the will of God. And let your Holinesses' sagacity
reflect how grievous and scandalous it is that on the self-same days some
should be engaged in fasting, others in festive enjoyment; and again, that
after the days of Easter some should be present at banquets and amusements,
while others are fulfilling the appointed fasts. It is, then, plainly the
will of Divine Providence (as I suppose you all clearly see), that this
usage should receive fitting correction, and be reduced to one uniform
rule.

CHAPTER XIX: Exhortation to follow the Example of the Greater Part of the
World.

   "Since, therefore, it was needful that this matter should be rectified,
so that we might have nothing in common with that nation of parricides who
slew their Lord: and since that arrangement is consistent with propriety
which is observed by all the churches of the western, southern, and
northern parts of the world, and by some of the eastern also: for these
reasons all are unanimous on this present occasion in thinking it worthy of
adoption. And I myself have undertaken that this decision should meet with
the approval of your Sagacities, (1) in the hope that your Wisdoms (1) will
gladly admit that practice which is observed at once in the city of Rome,
and in Africa; throughout Italy, and in Egypt, in Spain, the Gauls,
Britain, Libya, and the whole of Greece; in the dioceses of Asia and
Pontus, and in Cilicia, with entire unity of judgment. And you will
consider not only that the number of churches is far greater in the regions
I have enumerated than in any other, but also that it is most fitting that
all should unite in desiring that which sound reason appears to demand, and
in avoiding all participation in the perjured conduct of the Jews. (2) In
fine, that I may express my meaning in as few words as possible, it has
been determined by the common judgment of all, that the most holy feast of
Easter should be kept on one and the same day. For on the one hand a
discrepancy of opinion on so sacred a question is unbecoming, and on the
other it is surely best to act on a decision which is free from strange
folly and error.

CHAPTER XX: Exhortation to obey the Decrees of the Council.

   "RECEIVE, then, with all willingness this truly Divine injunction, and
regard it as in truth the gift of God. For whatever is determined in the
holy assemblies of the bishops is to be regarded as indicative of the
Divine will. As soon, therefore, as you have communicated these proceedings
to all our beloved brethren, you are bound from that time forward to adopt
for yourselves, and to enjoin on others the arrangement above mentioned,
and the due observance of this most sacred day; that whenever I come into
the presence of your love, which I have long desired, I may have it in my
power to celebrate the holy feast with you on the same day, and may rejoice
with you on all accounts, when I behold the cruel power of Satan removed by
Divine aid through the agency of our endeavors, while your faith, and
peace, and concord ever? where flourish. God preserve you, beloved brethren

   The emperor transmitted a faithful copy (1) of this letter to every
province, wherein they who read it might discern as in a mirror the pure
sincerity of his thoughts, and of his piety toward God.

CHAPTER XXI: Recommendation to the Bishops, on their Departure, to Preserve
Harmony.

   AND now, when the council was on the point of being finally dissolved,
he summoned all the bishops to meet him on an appointed day, and on their
arrival addressed them in a farewell speech, in which he recommended them
to be diligent in the maintenance of peace, to avoid contentious
disputations, amongst themselves and not to be jealous, if any one of their
number should appear pre-eminent for wisdom and eloquence, but to esteem
the excellence of one a blessing common to all. On the other hand he
reminded them that the more gifted should forbear to exalt themselves to
the prejudice of their humbler brethren, since it is God's prerogative to
judge of real superiority. Rather should they considerately condescend to
the weaker, remembering that absolute perfection in any case is a rare
quality indeed. Each then, should be willing to accord indulgence to the
other for slight offenses, to regard charitably and pass over mere human
weaknesses; holding mutual harmony in the highest honor, that no occasion
of mockery might be given by their dissensions to those who are ever ready
to blaspheme the word of God: whom indeed we should do all in our power to
save, and this cannot be unless our conduct seems to them attractive. But
you are well aware of the fact that testimony is by no means productive of
blessing to all, since some who hear are glad to secure the supply of their
mere bodily necessities, while others court the patronage of their
superiors; some fix their affection on those who treat them with hospitable
kindness, others again, being honored with presents, love their benefactors
in return; but few are they who really desire the word of testimony, and
rare indeed is it to find a friend of truth. Hence the necessity of
endeavoring to meet the case of all, and, physician-like, to administer to
each that which may tend to the health of the soul, to the end that the
saving doctrine may be fully honored by all. Of this kind was the former
part of his exhortation; (1) and in conclusion he enjoined them to offer
diligent supplications to God on his behalf. Having thus taken leave of
them, he gave them all permission to return to their respective countries;
and this they did with joy, and thenceforward that unity of judgment at
which they had arrived in the emperor's presence continued to prevail, and
those who had long been divided were bound together as members of the same
body.

CHAPTER XXII: How he dismissed Some, and wrote Letters to Others; also his
Presents.

   Full of joy therefore at this success, the emperor presented as it were
pleasant fruits in the way of letters to those who had not been present at
the council. He commanded also that ample gifts of money should be bestowed
on all the people, both in the country and the cities, being pleased thus
to honor the festive occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his reign.

CHAPTER XXIII: How he wrote to the Egyptians, exhorting them to Peace.

   And now, when all else were at peace, among the Egyptians alone an
implacable contention still raged, (1) so as once more to disturb the
emperor's tranquillity, though not to excite his anger. For indeed he
treated the contending parties with all respect, as fathers, nay rather, as
prophets of God; and again he summoned them to his presence, and again
patiently acted as mediator between them, and honored them with gifts, and
communicated also the result of his arbitration by letter. He confirmed and
sanctioned the decrees of the council, and called on them to strive
earnestly for concord, and not to distract and rend the Church, but to keep
before them the thought of God's judgment. And these injunctions the
emperor sent by a letter written with his own hand.

CHAPTER XXIV: How he wrote Frequent Letters of a Religious Character to the
Bishops and People.

   But besides these, his writings are very numerous on kindred subjects,
and he was the author of a multitude of letters, some to the bishops, in
which he laid injunctions on them tending to the advantage of the churches
of God; and sometimes the thrice blessed one addressed the people of the
churches generally, calling them his own brethren and fellow-servants. But
perhaps we may hereafter find leisure to collect these despatches in a
separate form, in order that the integrity of our present history may not
be impaired by their insertion.

CHAPTER XXV: How he ordered the Erection of a Church at Jerusalem, in the
Holy Place of our Saviour's Resurrection.

   AFTER these things, the pious emperor addressed himself to another work
truly worthy of record, in the province of Palestine. What then was this
work? He judged it incumbent on him to render the blessed locality of our
Saviour's resurrection an object of attraction and veneration to all. He
issued immediate injunctions, therefore, for the erection in that spot of a
house of prayer: and this he did, not on the mere natural impulse of his
own mind, but being moved in spirit by the Saviour himself.

CHAPTER XXVI: That the Holy Sepulchre had been covered with Rubbish and
with Idols by the Ungodly.

   For it had been in time past the endeavor of impious men (or rather let
me say of the whole race of evil spirits through their means), to consign
to the darkness of oblivion that divine monument of immortality to which
the radiant angel had descended from heaven, and rolled away the stone for
those who still had stony hearts, and who supposed that the living One
still lay among the dead; and had declared glad tidings to the women also,
and removed their stony-hearted unbelief by the conviction that he whom
they sought was alive. This sacred cave, then, certain impious and godless
persons had thought to remove entirely from the eyes of men, supposing in
their folly that thus they should be able effectually to obscure the truth.
Accordingly they brought a quantity of earth from a distance with much
labor, and covered the entire spot; then, having raised this to a moderate
height, they paved it with stone, concealing the holy cave beneath this
massive mound. Then, as though their purpose had been effectually
accomplished, they prepare on this foundation a truly dreadful sepulchre of
souls, by building a gloomy shrine of lifeless idols to the impure spirit
whom they call Venus, and offering detestable oblations therein on profane
and accursed altars. For they supposed that their object could not
otherwise be fully attained, than by thus burying the sacred cave beneath
these foul pollutions. Unhappy men! they were unable to comprehend how
impossible it was that their attempt should remain unknown to him who had
been crowned with victory over death, any more than the blazing sun, when
he rises above the earth, and holds his wonted course through the midst of
heaven, is unseen by the whole race of mankind. Indeed, his saving power,
shining with still greater brightness, and illumining, not the bodies, but
the souls of men, was already filling the world with the effulgence of its
own light. Nevertheless, these devices of impious and wicked men against
the truth had prevailed for a long time, nor had any one of the governors,
or military commanders, or even of the emperors themselves ever yet
appeared, with ability to abolish these daring impieties, save only that
one who enjoyed the favor of the King of kings. And now, acting as he did
under the guidance of the divine Spirit, he could not consent to see the
sacred spot of which we have spoken, thus buried, through the devices of
the adversaries, under every kind of impurity, and abandoned to
forgetfulness and neglect; nor would he yield to the malice of those who
had contracted this guilt, but calling on the divine aid, gave orders that
the place should be thoroughly purified, thinking that the parts which had
been most polluted by the enemy ought to receive special tokens, through
his means, of the greatness of the divine favor. As soon, then, as his
commands were issued, these engines of deceit were cast down from their
proud eminence to the very ground, and the dwelling-places of error, with
the statues and the evil spirits which they represented, were overthrown
and utterly destroyed.

CHAPTER XXVII: How Constantine commanded the Materials of the Idol Temple,
and the Soil itself, to be removed at a Distance.

   Nor did the emperor's zeal stop here; but he gave further orders that
the materials of what was thus destroyed, both stone and timber, should be
removed and thrown as far from the spot as possible; and this command also
was speedily executed. The emperor, however, was not satisfied with having
proceeded thus far: once more, fired with holy ardor, he directed that the
ground itself should be dug up to a considerable depth, and the soil which
had been polluted by the foul impurities of demon worship transported to a
far distant place.

CHAPTER XXVIII: Discovery of the Most Holy Sepulchre. (1)

   This also was accomplished without delay. But as soon as the original
surface of the ground, beneath the covering of earth, appeared,
immediately, and contrary to all expectation, the venerable and hollowed
monument of our Saviour's resurrection was discovered. Then indeed did this
most holy cave present a faithful similitude of his return to life, in
that, after lying buried in darkness, it again emerged to light, and
afforded to all who came to witness the sight, a clear and visible proof of
the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene, a testimony to the
resurrection of the Saviour clearer than any voice could give.

CHAPTER XXIX: How he wrote concerning the Erection of a Church, both to the
Governors of the Provinces, and to the Bishop Macarius.

   IMMEDIATELY after the transactions I have recorded, the emperor sent
forth injunctions which breathed a truly pious spirit, at the same time
granting ample supplies of money, and commanding that a house of prayer
worthy of the worship of God should be erected near the Saviour's tomb on a
scale of rich and royal greatness. This object he had indeed for some time
kept in view, and had foreseen, as if by the aid of a superior
intelligence, that which should afterwards come to pass. He laid his
commands, therefore, on the governors of the Eastern provinces, that by an
abundant and unsparing expenditure they should secure the completion of the
work on a scale of noble and ample magnificence. He also despatched the
following letter to the bishop who at that time presided over the church at
Jerusalem, in which he clearly asserted the saving doctrine of the faith,
writing in these terms.

CHAPTER XXX: Constantine's Letter to Macarius respecting the Building of
the Church of our Saviour.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTIUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Macarius.

   "Such is our Saviour's grace, that no power of language seems adequate
to describe the wondrous circumstance to which I am about to refer. For,
that the monument of his most holy Passion, so long ago buried beneath the
ground, should have remained unknown for so long a series of years, until
its reappearance to his servants now set free through the removal of him
(1) who was the common enemy of all, is a fact which truly surpasses all
admiration. For if all who are accounted wise throughout the world were to
unite in their endeavors to say somewhat worthy of this event, they would
be unable to attain their object in the smallest degree. Indeed, the nature
of this miracle as far transcends the capacity of human reason as heavenly
things are superior to human affairs. For this cause it is ever my first,
and indeed my only object, that, as the authority of the truth is evincing
itself daily by fresh wonders, so our souls may all become more zealous,
with all sobriety and earnest unanimity, for the honor of the Divine law. I
desire, therefore, especially, that you should be persuaded of that which I
suppose is evident to all beside, namely, that I have no greater care than
how I may best adorn with a splendid structure that sacred spot, which,
under Divine direction, I have disencumbered as it were of the heavy weight
of foul idol worship; a spot which has been accounted holy from the
beginning in God's judgment, but which now appears holier still, since it
has brought to light a clear assurance of our Saviour's passion.

CHAPTER XXXI: That the Building should surpass all the Churches in the
World in the Beauty of its Walls, its Columns, and Marbles.

   "IT will be well, therefore, for your sagacity to make such
arrangements and provision of all things needful for the work, that not
only the church itself as a whole may surpass all others whatsoever in
beauty, but that the details of the building may be of such a kind that the
fairest structures in any city of the empire may be excelled by this. And
with respect to the erection and decoration of the walls, this is to inform
you that our friend Dracilianus, the deputy of the Praetorian Praefects,
and the governor of the province, have received a charge from us. For our
pious directions to them are to the effect that artificers and laborers,
and whatever they shall understand from your sagacity to be needful for the
advancement of the work, shall forthwith be furnished by their care. And as
to the columns and marbles, whatever you shall judge, after actual
inspection of the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be
diligent to send information to us in writing, in order that whatever
quantity or sort of materials we shall esteem from your letter to be
needful, may be procured from every quarter, as required, for it is fitting
that the most marvelous place in the world should be worthily decorated.

CHAPTER XXXII: That he instructed the Governors concerning the Beautifying
of the Roof; also concerning Workmen, and Materials.

   "WITH respect to the ceiling (1) of the church, I wish to know from you
whether in your judgment it should be panel-ceiled, (2) or finished with
any other kind of workmanship. If the panel ceiling be adopted, it may also
be ornamented with gold. For the rest, your Holiness will give information
as early as possible to the before- mentioned magistrates how many laborers
and artificers, and what expenditure of money is required. You will also be
careful to send us a report without delay, not only respecting the marbles
and columns, but the paneled ceiling also, should this appear to you to be
the most beautiful form. God preserve you, beloved brother!"

CHAPTER XXXIII: How the Church of our Saviour, the New Jerusalem prophesied
of in Scripture, was built.

   This was the emperor's letter; and his directions were at once carried
into effect. Accordingly, on the very spot which witnessed the Saviour's
sufferings, a new Jerusalem was constructed, over against the one so
celebrated of old, which, since the foul stain of guilt brought on it by
the murder of the Lord, had experienced the last extremity of desolation,
the effect of Divine judgment on its impious people. It was opposite this
city that the emperor now began to rear a monument to the Saviour's victory
over death, with rich and lavish magnificence. And it may be that this was
that second and new Jerusalem spoken of in the predictions of the prophets,
(1) concerning which such abundant testimony is given in the divinely
inspired records.

   First of all, then, he adorned the sacred cave itself, as the chief
part of the whole work, and the hallowed monument at which the angel
radiant with light had once declared to all that regeneration which was
first manifested in the Saviour's person.

CHAPTER XXXIV: Description of the Structure of the Holy Sepulchre.

   This monument, therefore, first of all, as the chief part of the whole,
the emperor's zealous magnificence beautified with rare columns, anti
profusely enriched with the most splendid decorations of every kind.

CHAPTER XXXV: Description of the Atrium and Porticos.

   The next object of his attention was a space of ground of great extent,
and open to the pure air of heaven. This he adorned with a pavement of
finely polished stone, and enclosed it on three sides with porticos of
great length.

CHAPTER XXXVI: Description of the Walls, Roof, Decoration, and Gilding of
the Body of the Church.

   For at the side opposite to the cave, which was the eastern side, the
church itself was erected; a noble work rising to a vast height, and of
great extent both in length and breadth. The interior of this structure was
floored with marble slabs of various colors; while the external surface of
the walls, which shone with polished stones exactly fitted together,
exhibited a degree of splendor in no respect inferior to that of marble.
With regard to the roof, it was covered on the outside with lead, as a
protection against the rains of winter. But the inner part of the roof,
which was finished with sculptured panel work, extended in a series of
connected compartments, like a vast sea, over the whole church; (1) and,
being overlaid throughout with the purest gold, caused the entire building
to glitter as it were with rays of light.

CHAPTER XXXVII: Description of the Double Porticos on Either Side, and of
the Three Eastern Gates.

   BESIDES this were two porticos on each side, with upper and lower
ranges of pillars, (1) corresponding in length with the church itself; and
these also had their roofs ornamented with gold. Of these porticos, those
which were exterior to the church were supported by columns of great size,
while those within these rested on piles (2) of stone beautifully adorned
on the surface. Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive
the multitudes who entered the church.

CHAPTER XXXVIII: Description of the Hemisphere, the Twelve Columns, and
their Bowls.

   OPPOSITE these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere,
(1) which rose to the very summit of the church. This was encircled by
twelve columns (according to the number of the apostles of our Saviour),
having their capitals embellished with silver bowls of great size, which
the emperor himself presented as a splendid offering to his God.

CHAPTER XXXIX: Description of the Inner Court, the Arcades and Porches.

   In the next place he enclosed the atrium which occupied the space
leading to the entrances in front of the church. This comprehended, first
the court, then the porticos on each side, and lastly the gates of the
court. After these, in the midst of the open market-place, (1) the general
entrance-gates, which were of exquisite workmanship, afforded to passers-by
on the outside a view of the interior which could not fail to inspire
astonishment.

CHAPTER XL: Of the Number of his Offerings.

   This temple, then, the emperor erected as a conspicuous monument of the
Saviour's resurrection, and embellished it throughout on an imperial scale
of magnificence. He further enriched it with numberless offerings of
inexpressible beauty and various materials,--gold, silver, and precious
stones, the skillful and elaborate arrangement of which, in regard to their
magnitude, number, and variety, we have not leisure at present to describe
particularly. (1)

CHAPTER XLI: Of the Erection of Churches in Bethlehem, and an the Mount of
Olives.

   In the same country he discovered other places, venerable as being the
localities of two sacred caves: and these also he adorned with lavish
magnificence. In the one case, he rendered due honor to that which had been
the scene of the first manifestation of our Saviour's divine presence, when
he submitted to be born in mortal flesh; while in the case of the second
cavern he hallowed the remembrance of his ascension to heaven from the
mountain top. And while he thus nobly testified his reverence for these
places, he at the same time eternized the memory of his mother, (1) who had
been the instrument of conferring so valuable a benefit on mankind.

CHAPTER XLII: That the Empress Helena, (1) Constantine's Mother, having
visited this Locality for Devotional Purposes, built these Churches.

   For she, having resolved to discharge the duties of pious devotion to
the God, the King of kings, and feeling it incumbent on her to render
thanksgivings with prayers on behalf both of her own son, now so mighty an
emperor, and of his sons, her own grandchildren, the divinely favored
Caesars, though now advanced in years, yet gifted with no common degree of
wisdom, had hastened with youthful alacrity to survey this venerable land;
and at the same time to visit the eastern provinces, cities, and people,
with a truly imperial solicitude. As soon, then, as she had rendered due
reverence to the ground which the Saviour's feet had trodden, according to
the prophetic word which says (2) "Let us worship at the place whereon his
feet have stood," she immediately bequeathed the fruit of her piety to
future generations.

CHAPTER XLIII: A Farther Notice of the Churches at Bethlehem.

   FOR without delay she dedicated two churches to the God whom she
adored, one at the grotto which had been the scene of the Saviour's birth;
the other on the mount of his ascension. For he who was "God with us" had
submitted to be born even in a cave (1) of the earth, and the place of his
nativity was called Bethlehem by the Hebrews. Accordingly the pious empress
honored with rare memorials the scene of her travail who bore this heavenly
child, and beautified the sacred cave with all possible splendor. The
emperor himself soon after testified his reverence for the spot by princely
offerings, and added to his mother's magnificence by costly presents of
silver and gold, and embroidered hangings. And farther, the mother of the
emperor raised a stately structure on the Mount of Olives also, in memory
of his ascent to heaven who is the Saviour of mankind, erecting a sacred
church and temple on the very summit of the mount. And indeed authentic
history informs us that in this very cave the Saviour imparted his secret
revelations to his disciples. (2) And here also the emperor testified his
reverence for the King of kings, by diverse and costly offerings. Thus did
Helena Augusta, the pious mother of a pious emperor, erect over the two
mystic caverns these two noble and beautiful monuments of devotion, worthy
of everlasting remembrance, to the honor of God her Saviour, and as proofs
of her holy zeal, receiving from her son the aid of his imperial power. Nor
was it long ere this aged woman reaped the due reward of her labors. After
passing the whole period of her life, even to declining age, in the
greatest prosperity, and exhibiting both in word and deed abundant fruits
of obedience to the divine precepts, and having enjoyed in consequence an
easy and tranquil existence, with unimpaired powers of body and mind, at
length she obtained from God an end befitting her pious course, and a
recompense of her good deeds even in this present life.

CHAPTER XLIV: Of Helena's Generosity and Beneficent Acts.

   For on the occasion of a circuit which she made of the eastern
provinces, in the splendor of imperial authority, she bestowed abundant
proofs of her liberality as well on the inhabitants of the several cities
collectively, as on individuals who approached her, at the same time that
she scattered largesses among the soldiery with a liberal hand. But
especially abundant were the gifts she bestowed on the naked and
unprotected poor. To some she gave money, to others an ample supply of
clothing: she liberated some from imprisonment, or from the bitter
servitude of the mines; others she delivered from unjust oppression, and
others again, she restored from exile.

CHAPTER XLV: Helena's Pious Conduct in the Churches.

   WHILE, however, her character derived luster from such deeds as I have
described, she was far from neglecting personal piety toward God. (1) She
might be seen continually frequenting his Church, while at the same time
she adorned the houses of prayer with splendid offerings, not overlooking
the churches of the smallest cities. In short, this admirable woman was to
be seen, in simple and modest attire, mingling with the crowd of
worshipers, and testifying her devotion to God by a uniform course of pious
conduct.

CHAPTER XLVI: How she made her Will, and died at the Age of Eighty Years.

   AND when at length at the close of a long life, she was called to
inherit a happier lot, having arrived at the eightieth year of her age, and
being very near the time of her departure, she prepared and executed her
last will in favor of her only son, the emperor and sole monarch of the
world, and her grandchildren, the Caesars his sons, to whom severally she
bequeathed whatever property she possessed in any part of the world. Having
thus made her will, this thrice blessed woman died in the presence of her
illustrious son, who was in attendance at her side, caring for her and held
her hands: so that, to those who rightly discerned the truth, the thrice
blessed one seemed not to die, but to experience a real change and
transition from an earthly to a heavenly existence, since her soul,
remoulded as it were into an incorruptible and angelic essence, (1) was
received up into her Saviour's presence. (2)

CHAPTER XLVII: How Constantine buried his Mother, and how he honored her
during her Life.

   HER body, too, was honored with special tokens of respect, being
escorted on its way to the imperial city by a vast train of guards, and
there deposited in a royal tomb. Such were the last days of our emperor's
mother, a person worthy of being had in perpetual remembrance, both for her
own practical piety, and because she had given birth to so extraordinary
and admirable an offspring. And well may his character be styled blessed,
for his filial piety as well as on other grounds. He rendered her through
his influence so devout a worshiper of God, (though she had not previously
been such,) that she seemed to have been instructed from the first by the
Saviour of mankind: and besides this, he had honored her so fully with
imperial dignities, that in every province, and in the very ranks of the
soldiery, she was spoken of under the titles of Augusta and empress, and
her likeness was impressed on golden coins. (1) He had even granted her
authority over the imperial treasures, to use and dispense them according
to her own will and discretion in every case for this enviable distinction
also she received at the hands of her son. Hence it is that among the
qualities which shed a luster on his memory, we may rightly include that
surpassing degree of filial affection whereby he rendered full obedience to
the Divine precepts which enjoin due honor from children to their parents.
In this manner, then, the emperor executed in Palestine the noble works I
have above described: and indeed in every province he raised new churches
on a far more imposing scale than those which had existed before his time.

CHAPTER XLVIII: How he built Churches in Honor of Martyrs, and abolished
Idolatry at Constantinople.

   And being fully resolved to distinguish the city which bore his name
with especial honor, he embellished it with numerous sacred edifices, both
memorials of martyrs on the largest scale, and other buildings of the most
splendid kind, not only within the city itself, but in its vicinity: and
thus at the same time he rendered honor to the memory of the martyrs, and
consecrated his city to the martyrs' God. Being filled, too, with Divine
wisdom, he determined to purge the city which was to be distinguished by
his own name from idolatry of every kind, that henceforth no statues might
be worshiped there in the temples of those falsely reputed to be gods, nor
any altars defiled by the pollution of blood: that there might be no
sacrifices consumed by fire, no demon festivals, nor any of the other
ceremonies usually observed by the superstitious.

CHAPTER XLIX: Representation of the Cross in the Palace, and of Daniel at
the Public Fountains.

   On the other hand one might see the fountains in the midst of the
market place graced with figures representing the good Shepherd, well known
to those who study the sacred oracles, and that of Daniel also with the
lions, forged in brass, and resplendent with plates of gold. Indeed, so
large a measure of Divine love possessed the emperor's soul, that in the
principal apartment of the imperial palace itself, on a vast tablet (1)
displayed in the center of its gold-covered paneled ceiling, he caused the
symbol of our Saviour's Passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of
precious stones richly inwrought with gold. This symbol he seemed to have
intended to be as it were the safeguard of the empire itself.

CHAPTER L: That he erected Churches in Nicomedia, and in Other Cities.

   HAVING thus embellished the city which bore his name, he next
distinguished the capital of Bithynia (1) by the erection of a stately and
magnificent church, being desirous of raising in this city also, in honor
of his Saviour and at his own charges, a memorial of his victory over his
own enemies and the adversaries of God. He also decorated the principal
cities of the other provinces with sacred edifices of great beauty; as, for
example, in the case of that metropolis of the East which derived its name
from Antiochus, in which, as the head of that portion of the empire, he
consecrated to the service of God a church of unparalleled size and beauty.
The entire building was encompassed by an enclosure of great extent, within
which the church itself rose to a vast elevation, being of an octagonal
form, and surrounded on all sides by many chambers, courts, and upper and
lower apartments; the whole richly adorned with a profusion of gold, brass,
and other materials of the most costly kind.

CHAPTER LI: That he ordered a Church to be built at Mambre.

   Such was the principal sacred edifices erected by the emperor's
command. But having heard that the self-same Saviour who erewhile had
appeared on earth (1) had in ages long since past afforded a manifestation
of his Divine presence to holy men of Palestine near the oak of Mambre, (2)
he ordered that a house of prayer should be built there also in honor of
the God who had thus appeared. Accordingly the imperial commission was
transmitted to the provincial governors by letters addressed to them
individually, enjoining a speedy completion of the appointed work. He sent
moreover to the writer of this history an eloquent admonition, a copy of
which I think it well to insert in the present work, in order to convey a
just idea of his pious diligence and zeal. To express, then, his
displeasure at the evil practices which he had heard were usual in the
place just referred to, he addressed me in the following terms.

CHAPTER LII: Constantine's Letter to Eusebius concerning Mambre.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Macarius, and the rest of
the bishops in Palestine. (2)

   "One benefit, and that of no ordinary importance, has been conferred on
us by my truly pious mother-in-law, (2) in that she has made known to us by
letter that abandoned folly of impious men which has hitherto escaped
detection by you: so that the criminal conduct thus overlooked may now
through our means obtain fitting correction and remedy, necessary though
tardy. For surely it is a grave impiety indeed, that holy places should be
defiled by the stain of unhallowed impurities. What then is this, dearest
brethren, which, though it has eluded your sagacity, she of whom I speak
was impelled by a pious sense of duty to disclose?

CHAPTER LIII: That the Saviour appeared in this Place to Abraham.

   "SHE assures me, then, that the place which takes its name from the oak
of Mambre, where we find that Abraham dwelt, is defiled by certain of the
slaves of superstition in every possible way. She declares that idols (1)
which should be utterly destroyed have been erected on the site of that
tree; that an altar is near the spot; and that impure sacrifices are
continually performed. Now since it is evident that these practices are
equally inconsistent with the character of our times, and unworthy the
sanctity of the place itself, I wish your Gravities (2) to be informed that
the illustrious Count Acacius, our friend, has received instructions by
letter from me, to the effect that every idol which shall be found in the
place above-mentioned shall immediately be consigned to the flames; that
the altar be utterly demolished; and that if any one, after this our
mandate, shall be guilty of impiety of any kind in this place, he shall be
visited with condign punishment. The place itself we have directed to be
adorned with an unpolluted structure, I mean a church; in order that it may
become a fitting place of assembly for holy men. Meantime, should any
breach of these our commands occur, it should be made known to our clemency
without the least delay by letters from you, that we may direct the person
detected to be dealt with, as a transgressor of the law, in the severest
manner. For you are not ignorant that the Supreme God first appeared to
Abraham, and conversed with him, in that place. There it was that the
observance of the Divine law first began; there first the Saviour himself,
with the two angels, vouchsafed to Abraham a manifestation of his presence;
there God first appeared to men; there he gave promise to Abraham
concerning his future seed, and straightway fulfilled that promise; there
he foretold that he should be the father of a multitude of nations. For
these reasons, it seems to me right that this place should not only be kept
pure through your diligence from all defilement, but restored also to its
pristine sanctity; that nothing hereafter may be done there except the
performance of fitting service to him who is the Almighty God, and our
Saviour, and Lord of all. And this service it is incumbent on you to care
for with due attention, if your Gravities be willing (and of this I feel
confident) to gratify my wishes, which are especially interested in the
worship of God. May he preserve you, beloved brethren!"

CHAPTER LIV: Destruction of Idol Temples and Images everywhere.

   ALL these things the emperor diligently performed to the praise of the
saving power of Christ, and thus made it his constant aim to glorify his
Saviour God. On the other hand he used every means to rebuke the
superstitious errors of the heathen. Hence the entrances of their temples
in the several cities were left exposed to the weather, being stripped of
their doors at his command; the tiling of others was removed, and their
roofs destroyed. From others again the venerable statues of brass, of which
the superstition of antiquity had boasted for a long series of years, were
exposed to view in all the public places of the imperial city: so that here
a Pythian, there a Sminthian Apollo, excited the contempt of the beholder:
while the Delphic tripods were deposited in the hippodrome and the Muses of
Helicon in the palace itself. In short, the city which bore his name was
everywhere filled with brazen statues of the most exquisite workmanship,
which had been dedicated in every province, and which the deluded victims
of superstition had long vainly honored as gods with numberless victims and
burnt sacrifices, though now at length they learnt to renounce their error,
when the emperor held up the very objects of their worship to be the
ridicule and sport of all beholders. With regard to those images which were
of gold, he dealt with them in a different manner. For as soon as he
understood that the ignorant multitudes were inspired with a vain and
childish dread of these bugbears of error, wrought in gold and silver, he
judged it right to remove these also, like stumbling-stones thrown in the
way of men walking in the dark, and henceforward to open a royal road,
plain and unobstructed to all. Having formed this resolution, he considered
no soldiers or military force of any sort needful for the suppression of
the evil: a few of his own friends sufficed for this service, and these he
sent by a simple expression of his will to visit each several province.
Accordingly, sustained by confidence in the emperor's pious intentions and
their own personal devotion to God, they passed through the midst of
numberless tribes and nations, abolishing this ancient error in every city
and country. They ordered the priests themselves, amidst general laughter
and scorn, to bring their gods from their dark recesses to the light of
day: they then stripped them of their ornaments, and exhibited to the gaze
of all the unsightly reality which had been hidden beneath a painted
exterior. Lastly, whatever part of the material appeared valuable they
scraped off and melted in the fire to prove its worth, after which they
secured and set apart whatever they judged needful for their purpose,
leaving to the superstitious worshipers that which was altogether useless,
as a memorial of their shame. Meanwhile our admirable prince was himself
engaged in a work similar to what we have described. For at the same time
that these costly images of the dead were stripped, as we have said, of
their precious materials, he also attacked those composed of brass; causing
those to be dragged from their places with ropes and as it were carried
away captive, whom the dotage of mythology had esteemed as gods.

CHAPTER LV: Overthrow of an Idol Temple, and Abolition of Licentious
Practices, at Aphaca in Phoenicia.

   THE emperor's next care was to kindle, as it were, a brilliant torch,
by the light of which he directed his imperial gaze around, to see if any
hidden vestiges of error might still exist. And as the keen-sighted eagle
in its heavenward flight is able to descry from its lofty height the most
distant objects on the earth, so did he, while residing in the imperial
palace of his own fair city, discover as from a watch-tower a hidden and
fatal snare of souls in the province of Phoenicia. This was a grove and
temple, not situated in the midst of any city, nor in any public place, as
for splendor of effect is generally the case, but apart from the beaten and
frequented road, at Aphaca, on part of the summit of Mount Lebanon, and
dedicated to the foul demon known by the name of Venus. It was a school of
wickedness for all the votaries of impurity, and such as destroyed their
bodies with effeminacy. Here men undeserving of the name forgot the dignity
of their sex, and propitiated the demon by their effeminate conduct; here
too unlawful commerce of women and adulterous intercourse, with other
horrible and infamous practices, were perpetrated in this temple as in a
place beyond the scope and restraint of law. Meantime these evils remained
unchecked by the presence of any observer, since no one of fair character
ventured to visit such scenes. These proceedings, however, could not escape
the vigilance of our august emperor, who, having himself inspected them
with characteristic forethought, and judging that such a temple was unfit
for the light of heaven, gave orders that the building with its offerings
should be utterly destroyed. Accordingly, in obedience to the imperial
command, these engines of an impure superstition were immediately
abolished, and the hand of military force was made instrumental in purging
the place. And now those who had heretofore lived without restraint learned
self-control through the emperor's threat of punishment, as likewise those
superstitious Gentiles wise in their own conceit, who now obtained
experimental proof of their own folly.

CHAPTER LVI: Destruction of the Temple of Aesculapius at Aegae.(1)

   FOR since a wide-spread error of these pretenders to wisdom concerned
the demon worshiped in Cilicia, whom thousands regarded with reverence as
the possessor of saving and healing power, who sometimes appeared to those
who passed the night in his temple, sometimes restored the diseased to
health, though on the contrary he was a destroyer of souls, who drew his
easily deluded worshipers from the true Saviour to involve them in impious
error, the emperor, consistently with his practice, and desire to advance
the worship of him who is at once a jealous God and the true Saviour, gave
directions that this temple also should be razed to the ground. In prompt
obedience to this command, a band of soldiers laid this building, the
admiration of noble philosophers, prostrate in the dust, together with its
unseen inmate, neither demon nor god, but rather a deceiver of souls, who
had seduced mankind for so long a time through various ages. And thus he
who had promised to others deliverance from misfortune and distress, could
find no means for his own security, any more than when, as is told in myth,
he was scorched by the lightning's stroke. (2) Our emperor's pious deeds,
however, had in them nothing fabulous or feigned; but by virtue of the
manifested power of his Saviour, this temple as well as others was so
utterly overthrown, that not a vestige of the former follies was left
behind.

CHAPTER LVII: How the Gentiles abandoned Idol Worship, and turned to the
Knowledge of God.

   HENCE it was that, of those who had been the slaves of superstition,
when they saw with their own eyes the exposure of their delusion, and
beheld the actual ruin of the temples and images in every place, some
applied themselves to the saving doctrine of Christ; while others, though
they declined to take this step, yet reprobated the folly which they had
received from their fathers, and laughed to scorn what they had so long
been accustomed to regard as gods. Indeed, what other feelings could
possess their minds, when they witnessed the thorough uncleanness concealed
beneath the fair exterior of the objects of their worship? Beneath this
were found either the bones of dead men or dry skulls, fraudulently adorned
by the arts of magicians, (1) or filthy rags full of abominable impurity,
or a bundle of hay or stubble. On seeing all these things heaped together
within their lifeless images, they denounced their fathers' extreme folly
and their own, especially when neither in the secret recesses of the
temples nor in the statues themselves could any inmate be found; neither
demon, nor utterer of oracles, neither god nor prophet, as they had
heretofore supposed: nay, not even a dim and shadowy phantom could be seen.
Accordingly, every gloomy cavern, every hidden recess, afforded easy access
to the emperor's emissaries: the inaccessible and secret chambers, the
innermost shrines of the temples, were trampled by the soldiers' feet; and
thus the mental blindness which had prevailed for so many ages over the
gentile world became clearly apparent to the eyes of all.

CHAPTER LVIII: How he destroyed the Temple of Venus at Heliopolis, and
built the First Church in that City.

   SUCH actions as I have described may well be reckoned among the
emperor's noblest achievements, as also the wise arrangements which he made
respecting each particular province. We may instance the Phoenician city
Heliopolis, in which those who dignify licentious pleasure with a
distinguishing title of honor, had permitted their wives and daughters to
commit shameless fornication. But now a new statute, breathing the very
spirit of modesty, proceeded from the emperor, which peremptorily forbade
the continuance of former practices. And besides this he sent them also
written exhortations, as though he had been especially ordained by God for
this end, that he might instruct all men in the principles of chastity.
Hence, he disdained not to communicate by letter even with these persons,
urging them to seek diligently the knowledge of God. At the same time he
followed up his words by corresponding deeds, and erected even in this city
a church of great size and magnificence: so that an event unheard of before
in any age, now for the first time came to pass, namely, that a city which
had hitherto been wholly given up to superstition now obtained the
privilege of a church of God, with presbyters and deacons, and its people
were placed under the presiding care of a bishop consecrated to the service
of the supreme God. And further, the emperor, being anxious that here also
as many as possible might be won to the truth, bestowed abundant provision
for the necessities of the poor, desiring even thus to invite them to seek
the doctrines of salvation, as though he were almost adopting the words of
him who said, "Whether in pretense, or in truth, let Christ be preached."
(1)

CHAPTER LIX: Of the Disturbance at Antioch by Eustathius.

   IN the midst, however, of the general happiness occasioned by these
events, and while the Church of God was every where and every way
flourishing throughout the empire, once more that spirit of envy, who ever
watches for the ruin of the good, prepared himself to combat the greatness
of our prosperity, in the expectation, perhaps, that the emperor himself,
provoked by our tumults and disorders, might eventually become estranged
from us. Accordingly, he kindled a furious controversy at Antioch, and
thereby involved the church in that place in a series of tragic calamities,
which had well-nigh occasioned the total overthrow of the city. The members
of the Church were divided into two opposite parties; while the people,
including even the magistrates and soldiery, were roused to such a pitch,
that the contest would have been decided by the sword, had not the watchful
providence of God, as well as dread of the emperor's displeasure,
controlled the fury of the multitude. On this occasion, too, the emperor,
acting the part of a preserver and physician of souls, applied with much
forbearance the remedy of persuasion to those who needed it. He gently
pleaded, as it were by an embassy, with his people, sending among them one
of the best approved and most faithful of those who were honored with the
dignity of Count; (1) at the same time that he exhorted them to a peaceable
spirit by repeated letters, and instructed them in the practice of true
godliness, Having prevailed by these remonstrances, he excused their
conduct in his subsequent letters, alleging that he had himself heard the
merits of the case from him on whose account the disturbance had arisen.
(2) And these letters of his, which are replete with learning and
instruction of no ordinary kind, I should have inserted in this present
work, were it not that they might affix a mark of dishonor to the character
of the persons accused. I will therefore omit these, being unwilling to
revive the memory of past grievances, and will only annex those to my
present narrative which he wrote to testify his satisfaction at the re-
establishment of peace and concord among the rest. In these letters, he
cautioned them against any desire to claim the ruler of another district,
(3) through whose intervention peace had been restored, as their own, and
exhorted them, consistently with the usage of the Church, to choose him as
their bishop, whom the common Saviour of all should point out as suited for
the office. His letter, then, is addressed to the people and to the
bishops, severally, in the following terms.

CHAPTER LX: Constantine's Letter to the Antiochians, directing them not to
withdraw Eusebius from Coesarea, but to seek some one else.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to the people of Antioch.

   "How pleasing to the wise and intelligent portion of mankind is the
concord which exists among you! And I myself, brethren, am disposed to love
you with an enduring affection, inspired both by religion, and by your own
manner of life and zeal on my behalf. It is by the exercise of right
understanding and sound discretion, that we are enabled really to enjoy our
blessings. And what can become you so well as i this discretion? No wonder,
then, if I affirm that your maintenance of the truth has tended rather to
promote your security than to draw on you the hatred of others. Indeed,
amongst brethren, whom the selfsame disposition to walk in the ways of
truth and righteousness promises, through the favor of God, to register
among his pure and holy family, what can be more honorable than gladly to
acquiesce in the prosperity of all men? Especially since the precepts of
the divine law prescribe a better direction to your proposed intention, and
we ourselves desire that your judgment should be confirmed by proper
sanction. (1) It may be that you are surprised, and at a loss to understand
the meaning of this introduction to my present address. The cause of it I
will not hesitate to explain without reserve. I confess, then, that on
reading your records I perceived, by the highly eulogistic testimony which
they bear to Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, whom I have myself long well
known and esteemed for his learning and moderation, that you are strongly
attached to him, and desire to appropriate him as your own. What thoughts,
then, do you suppose that I entertain on this subject, desirous as I am to
seek for and act on the strict principles of right? What anxiety do you
imagine this desire of yours has caused me? O holy faith, who givest us in
our Saviour's words and precepts a model, as it were, of what our life
should be, how hardly wouldst thou thyself resist the sins of men, were it
not that thou refusest to subserve the purposes of gain! In my own
judgment, he whose first object is the maintenance of peace, seems to be
superior to Victory herself; and where a right and honorable course lies
open to one's choice, surely no one would hesitate to adopt it. I ask then,
brethren, why do we so decide as to inflict an injury on others by our
choice? Why do we covet those objects which will destroy the credit of our
own reputation? I myself highly esteem the individual whom ye judge worthy
of your respect and affection: notwithstanding, it cannot be right that
those principles should be entirely disregarded which should be
authoritative and binding on all alike, so that each should not be content
with his own circumstances, and all enjoy their proper privileges: nor can
it be right, in considering the claims of rival candidates, to suppose but
that not one only, but many, may appear worthy of comparison with this
person. For as long as no violence or harshness are suffered to disturb the
dignities of the church, they continue to be on an equal footing, and
worthy of the same consideration everywhere. Nor is it reasonable that an
inquiry into the qualifications of this one should be made to the detriment
of others; since the judgment of all churches, whether reckoned of greater
or less importance in themselves, is equally capable of receiving and
maintaining the divine ordinances, so that one is in no way inferior to
another, if we will but boldly declare the truth, in regard to that
standard of practice which is common to all. If this be so, we must say
that you will be chargeable, not with retaining this prelate, but with
wrongfully removing him; your conduct will be characterized rather by
violence than justice; and whatever may be generally thought by others, I
dare clearly and boldly affirm that this measure will furnish ground of
accusation against you, and will provoke factious disturbances of the most
mischievous kind: for even timid flocks can show the use and power of their
teeth, when the watchful care of their shepherd declines, and they find
themselves bereft of his accustomed guidance. If this then be really so, if
I am not deceived in my judgment, let this, brethren, be your first
consideration, for many and important considerations will immediately
present themselves, whether, should you persist in your intention, that
mutual kindly feeling and affection which should subsist among you will
suffer no diminution? In the next place, remember that he, who came among
you for the purpose of offering disinterested counsel, (2) now enjoys the
reward which is due to him in the judgment of heaven; for he has received
no ordinary recompense in the high testimony you have borne to his
equitable conduct. Lastly, in accordance with your usual sound judgment, do
ye exhibit a becoming diligence in selecting the person of whom you stand
in need, carefully avoiding all factious and tumultuous clamor; for such
clamor is always wrong, and from the collision of discordant elements both
sparks and flame will arise. I protest, as I desire to please God and you,
and to enjoy a happiness commensurate with your kind wishes, that I love
you, and the quiet haven of your gentleness, now that you have cast from
you that which defiled, (3) and received in its place at once sound
morality and concord, firmly planting in the vessel the sacred standard,
and guided, as one may say, by a helm of iron in your course onward to the
light of heaven. Receive then on board that merchandise which is
incorruptible, since, as it were, all bilge water has been drained from the
vessel; and be careful henceforth so to secure the enjoyment of all your
present blessing, that you may not seem at any future time either to have
determined any measure on the impulse of inconsiderate or ill-directed
zeal, or in the first instance rashly to have entered on an inexpedient
course. May God preserve you, beloved brethren!"

CHAPTER LXI: The Emperor's Letter to Eusebius praising him for refusing the
Bishopric of Antioch.

The Emperor's Letter to me on my refusing the Bishopric of Antioch.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Eusebius.

   "I have most carefully perused your letter, and perceive that you have
strictly conformed to the rule enjoined by the discipline of the Church.
Now to abide by that which appears at the same time pleasing to God, and
accordant with apostolical tradition, is a proof of true piety. You have
reason to deem yourself happy on this behalf, that you are counted worthy,
in the judgment, I may say, of all the world, to have the oversight of any
church. For the desire which all feel to claim you for their own,
undoubtedly enhances your enviable fortune in this respect.
Notwithstanding, your Prudence whose resolve it is to observe the
ordinances of God and the apostolic canon of the Church, (1) has done
excellently well in declining the bishopric of the church at Antioch, and
desiring to continue in that church of which you first received the
oversight by the will of God. I have written on this subject to the people
of Antioch, and also to your colleagues in the ministry who had themselves
consulted me in regard to this question; on reading which letters, your
Holiness will easily discern, that, inasmuch as justice itself opposed
their claims, I have written to them under divine direction. It will be
necessary that your Prudence should be present at their conference, in
order that this decision may be ratified in the church at Antioch. God
preserve you, beloved brother!"

CHAPTER LXII: Constantine's Letter to the Council, depreciating the Removal
of Eusebius from Coesarea.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Theodotus, Theodorus,
Narcissus, Aetius, Alpheus, and the rest of the bishops who are at Antioch.

   "I have perused the letters written by your Prudences, and highly
approve of the wise resolution of your colleague in the ministry, Eusebius.
Having, moreover, been informed of the circumstances of the case, partly by
your letters, partly by those of our illustrious counts, (1) Acacius and
Strategius, after sufficient investigation I have written to the people of
Antioch, suggesting the course which will be at once pleasing to God and
advantageous for the Church. A copy of this I have ordered to be subjoined
to this present letter, in order that ye yourselves may know what I thought
fit, as an advocate of the cause of justice, to write to that people: since
I find in your letter this proposal, that, in consonance with the choice of
the people, sanctioned by your own desire, Eusebius the holy bishop of
Caesarea should preside over and take the charge of the church at Antioch.
Now the letters of Eusebius himself on this subject appeared to be strictly
accordant with the order prescribed by the Church. Nevertheless it is
expedient that your Prudences should be made acquainted with my opinion
also. For I am informed that Euphronius the presbyter, who is a citizen of
Caesarea in Cappadocia, and George of Arethusa, likewise a presbyter, and
appointed to that office by Alexander at Alexandria, (2) are men of tried
faith. It was right, therefore, to intimate to your Prudences, that in
proposing these men and any others whom you may deem worthy the episcopal
dignity, you should decide this question in a manner conformable to the
tradition of the apostles. For in that case, your Prudences will be able,
according to the rule of the Church and apostolic tradition, to direct this
election in the manner which true ecclesiastical discipline shall
prescribe. God preserve you, beloved brethren!"

CHAPTER LXIII: How he displayed his Zeal for the Extirpation of Heresies.

   Such were the exhortations to do all things to the honor of the divine
religion which the emperor addressed to the rulers of the churches. Having
by these means banished dissension, and reduced the Church of God to a
state of uniform harmony, he next proceeded to a different duty, feeling it
incumbent on him to extirpate another sort of impious persons, as
pernicious enemies of the human race. These were pests of society, who
ruined whole cities under the specious garb of religious decorum; men whom
our Saviour's warning voice somewhere terms false prophets and ravenous
wolves: "Beware of false prophets, which will come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know
them." (1) Accordingly, by an order transmitted to the governors of the
several provinces, he effectually banished all such offenders. In addition
to this ordinance he addressed to them personally a severely awakening
admonition, exhorting them to an earnest repentance, that they might still
find a haven of safety in the true Church of God. Hear, then, in what
manner he addressed them in this letter.

CHAPTER LXIV: Constantine's Edict against the Heretics.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to the heretics.

   "Understand now, by this present statute, ye Novatians, Valentinians,
Marcionites, Paulians, ye who are called Cataphrygians, (1) and all ye who
devise and support heresies by means of your private assemblies, with what
a tissue of falsehood and vanity, with what destructive and venomous
errors, your doctrines are inseparably interwoven; so that through you the
healthy soul is stricken with disease, and the living becomes the prey of
everlasting death. Ye haters and enemies of truth and life, in league with
destruction! All your counsels are opposed to the truth, but familiar with
deeds of baseness; full of absurdities and fictions: and by these ye frame
falsehoods, oppress the innocent, and withhold the light from them that
believe. Ever trespassing under the mask of godliness, ye fill all things
with defilement: ye pierce the pure and guileless conscience with deadly
wounds, while ye withdraw, one may almost say, the very light of day from
the eyes of men. But why should I particularize, when to speak of your
criminality as it deserves demands more time and leisure than I can give?
For so long and unmeasured is the catalogue of your offenses, so hateful
and altogether atrocious are they, that a single day would not suffice to
recount them all. And, indeed, it is well to turn one's ears and eyes from
such a subject, lest by a description of each particular evil, the pure
sincerity and freshness of one's own faith be impaired. Why then do I still
bear with such abounding evil; especially since this protracted clemency is
the cause that some who were sound are become tainted with this pestilent
disease? Why not at once strike, as it were, at the root of so great a
mischief by a public manifestation of displeasure?

CHAPTER LXV: The Heretics are deprived of their Meeting Places.

   "FORASMUCH, then, as it is no longer possible to bear with your
pernicious errors, we give warning by this present statute that none of you
henceforth presume to assemble yourselves together. (1) We have directed,
accordingly, that you be deprived of all the houses in which you are
accustomed to hold your assemblies: and our care in this respect extends so
far as to forbid the holding of your superstitious and senseless meetings,
not in public merely, but in any private house or place whatsoever. Let
those of you, therefore, who are desirous of embracing the true and pure
religion, take the far better course of entering the catholic Church, and
uniting with it in holy fellowship, whereby you will be enabled to arrive
at the knowledge of the truth. In any case, the delusions of your perverted
understandings must entirely cease to mingle with and mar the felicity of
our present times: I mean the impious and wretched double-mindedness of
heretics and schismatics. For it is an object worthy of that prosperity
which we enjoy through the favor of God, to endeavor to bring back those
who in time past were living in the hope of future blessing, from all
irregularity and error to the right path, from darkness to light, from
vanity to truth, from death to salvation. And in order that this remedy may
be applied with effectual power, we have commanded, as before said, that
you be positively deprived of every gathering point for your superstitious
meetings, I mean all the houses of prayer, if such be worthy of the name,
which belong to heretics, and that these be made over without delay to the
catholic Church; that any other places be confiscated to the public
service, and no facility whatever be left for any future gathering; in
order that from this day forward none of your unlawful assemblies may
presume to appear in any public or private place. Let this edict be made
public."

CHAPTER LXVI: How on the Discovery of Prohibited Books among the Heretics,
Many of them return to the Catholic Church.

   THUS were the lurking-places of the heretics broken up by the emperor's
command, and the savage beasts they harbored (I mean the chief authors of
their impious doctrines) driven to flight. Of those whom they had deceived,
some, intimidated by the emperor's threats, disguising their real
sentiments, crept secretly into the Church. For since the law directed that
search should be made for their books, those of them who practiced evil and
forbidden arts were detected, and, these were ready to secure their own
safety by dissimulation of every kind. (1) Others, however, there were, who
voluntarily and with real sincerity embraced a better hope. Meantime the
prelates of the several churches. continued to make strict inquiry, utterly
rejecting those who attempted an entrance under the specious disguise of
false pretenses, while those who came with sincerity of purpose were proved
for a time, and after sufficient trial numbered with the congregation. Such
was the treatment of those who stood charged with rank heresy: those,
however, who maintained no impious doctrine, but had been separated from
the one body through the influence of schismatic advisers, were received
without difficulty or delay. Accordingly, numbers thus revisited, as it
were, their own country after an absence in a foreign land, and
acknowledged the Church as a mother from whom they had wandered long, and
to whom they now returned with joy and gladness. Thus the members of the
entire body became united, and compacted in one harmonious whole; and the
one catholic Church, at unity with itself, shone with full luster, while no
heretical or schismatic body anywhere continued to exist. (2) And the
credit of having achieved this mighty work our Heaven-protected emperor
alone, of all who had gone before him, was able to attribute to himself.


BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I: How he honored Many by Presents and Promotions.

   WHILE thus variously engaged in promoting Saviour's doctrine, the
emperor was far from neglecting secular affairs; but in this respect also
he was unwearied in bestowing benefits of every kind and in quick
succession on the people of every province. On the one hand he manifested a
paternal anxiety for the general welfare of his subjects; on the other he
would distinguish individuals of his own acquaintance with various marks of
honor; conferring his benefits in every instance in a truly noble spirit.
No one could request a favor from the emperor, and fail of obtaining what
he sought: no one expected a boon from him, and found that expectation
vain. (1) Some received presents in money, others in land; some obtained
the Praetorian praefecture, others senatorial, others again consular rank:
many were appointed provincial governors: others were made counts of the
first, second, or third order: in numberless instances the title of Most
Illustrious and many other distinctions were conferred; for the emperor
devised new dignities, that he might invest a larger number with the tokens
of his favor.

CHAPTER II: Remission of a Fourth Part of the Taxes.

   THE extent to which he studied the general happiness and prosperity may
be understood from a single instance most beneficial and universal in its
application, and still gratefully remembered. He remitted a fourth part of
the yearly tribute paid for land, and bestowed it on the owners of the
soil; so that if we compute this yearly reduction, we shall find that the
cultivators enjoyed their produce free of tribute every fourth year. (1)
This privilege being established by law, and secured for the time to come,
has given occasion for the emperor's beneficence to be held, not merely by
the then present generation, but by their children and descendants, in
perpetual remembrance.

CHAPTER III: Equalization of the More Oppressive Taxes.

   AND whereas some persons found fault with the surveys of land which had
been made under former emperors, and complained that their property was
unduly burdened; acting in this case also on the principles of justice, he
sent commissioners to equalize the tribute, and to secure immunity to those
who had made this. appeal.

CHAPTER IV: His Liberality, from his private Resources, to the Losers in
Suits of a Pecuniary Nature.

   IN cases of judicial arbitration, in order that the loser by his
decision might not quit his presence less contented than the victorious
litigant, he himself bestowed, and from his own private means in some cases
lands, in other money, on the defeated party. In this manner he took care
that the loser, as having appeared in his in his presence, should be as
well satisfied as the gainer of the cause; for he considered that non one
ought in any case to retire dejected and sorrowful from an interview with
such a price. (1) Thus it happened that both parties returned from the
scene of trial with glad and cheerful countenances, while the emperor's
noble-minded liberality excited universal admiration.

CHAPTER V: Conquest of the Scythians defeated through the Sign of Our
Saviour.

   AND why should I relate even briefly and incidentally, how he subjected
barbarous nations to the Roman power; how he was the first who subjugated
the Scythian(1) and Sarmatian tribes, which had never learned submission,
and compelled them, how unwilling soever, to own the sovereignty of Rome?
For the emperors who preceded him had actually rendered tribute to the
Scythians: and Romans, by an annual payment, had confessed themselves
servants to barbarians; an indignity which our emperor could no longer
bear, nor think it consistent with his victorious career to continue the
payment his predecessors had made. Accordingly, with full confidence in his
Saviour's aid he raised his conquering standard against these enemies also,
and soon reduced them all to obedience; coercing by military force those
who fiercely resisted his authority, while, on the other hand, he
conciliated the rest by wisely conducted embassies, and reclaimed them to a
state of order and civilization from their lawless and savage life. Thus
the Scythians at length learned to acknowledge subjection to the power of
Rome.

CHAPTER VI: Conquest of the Sarmatians, consequent on the Rebellion of
their Slaves.

   WITH respect to the Sarmatians, God himself brought them beneath the
rule of Constantine, and subdued a nation swelling with barbaric pride in
the following manner. Being attacked by the Scythians, they had entrusted
their slaves with arms, in order to repel the enemy. These slaves first
overcame the invaders and then, turning their weapons against their
masters, drove them all from their native land. The expelled Sarmatians
found that their only hope of safety was in Constantine's protection: and
he, whose familiar habit it was to save men's lives, received them all
within the confines of the Roman empire. (1) Those who were capable of
serving he incorporated with his own troops: to the rest he allotted lands
to cultivate for their own support so that they themselves acknowledged
that their past misfortune had produced a happy result in that they now
enjoyed Roman liberty in place of savage barbarism. In this manner God
added to his dominions many and various barbaric tribes.

CHAPTER VII: Ambassadors from Different Barbarous Nations receive Presents
from the Emperor.

   INDEED, ambassadors were continually arriving from all nations,
bringing for his acceptance their most precious gifts. So that I myself
have sometimes stood near the entrance of the imperial palace, and observed
a noticeable array of barbarians in attendance, differing from each other
in costume and decorations, and equally unlike in the fashion of their hair
and beard. Their aspect truculent and terrible, their bodily stature
prodigious: some of a red complexion, others white as snow, others again of
an intermediate color. For in the number of those I have referred to might
be seen specimens of the Blemmyan tribes, of the Indians, and the
Ethiopians, (1)" that widely- divided race, remotest of mankind." All these
in due succession, like some painted pageant, presented to the emperor
those gifts which their own nation held in most esteem; some offering
crowns of goldments embroidered with gold and flowers: some appeared with
horses, others with shields and long spears, with arrows and bows thereby
offering their services and alliance for the emperors acceptance. These
presents he separately received and carefully laid aside, acknowledging
them in so munificent a manner as at once to enrich those who bore them. He
also honored the noblest among them with Roman offices of dignity; so that
many of them thenceforward preferred to continue their residence among us,
and felt no desire to revisit their native land.

CHAPTER VIII: That he wrote also to the King of Persia (1) who had sent him
an Embassy, on Behalf of the Christians in his Realm.

   THE king of the Persians also having testified a desire to form an
alliance with Constantine, by sending an embassy and presents as assurances
of peace and friendship, the emperor, in negotiating this treaty, far
surpassed the monarch who had first done him honor, in the magnificence
with which he acknowledged his gifts. Having heard, too, that there were
many churches of God in Persia, and that large numbers there were gathered
into the fold of Christ, full of joy at this intelligence, he resolved to
extend his anxiety for the general welfare to that country also, as one
whose aim it was to care for all alike in every nation.

CHAPTER IX: Letter of Constantine Augustus to Sapor, King of the Persians,
containing a truly Pious Confession of God and Christ.

   Copy of his Letter to the King of Persia.

   "By keeping the Divine faith, I am made a partaker of the light of
truth: guided by the light of truth, I advance in the knowledge of the
Divine faith. Hence it is that, as my actions themselves evince, I profess
the most holy religion; and this worship I declare to be that which teaches
me deeper acquaintance with the most holy God; aided by whose Divine power,
beginning from the very borders of the ocean, I have aroused each nation of
the world in succession to a well-grounded hope of security; so that those
which, groaning in servitude to the most cruel tyrants and yielding to the
pressure of their daily sufferings, had well nigh been utterly destroyed,
have been restored through my agency to a far happier state. This God I
confess that I hold in unceasing honor and remembrance; this God I delight
to contemplate with pure and guileless thoughts in the height of his glory.

CHAPTER X: The Writer denounces Idols, and glorifies God.

   "THIS God I invoke with bended knees, and recoil with horror from the
blood of sacrifices from their foul and detestable odors, and from every
earth-born magic fire: (1) for the profane and impious superstitions which
are defiled by these rites have cast down and consigned to perdition many,
nay, whole nations of the Gentile world. For he who is Lord of all cannot
endure that those blessings which, in his own loving- kindness and
consideration of the wants of men he has revealed for the rise of all,
should be perverted to serve the lusts of any. His only demand from man is
purity of mind and an undefiled spirit; and by this standard he weighs the
actions of virtue and godliness. For his pleasure is in works of moderation
and gentleness: he loves the meek, and hates the turbulent spirit:
delighting in faith, he chastises unbelief: by him all presumptuous power
is broken down, and he avenges the insolence of the proud. While the
arrogant and haughty are utterly overthrown, he requires the humble and
forgiving with deserved rewards: even so does he highly honor and
strengthen with his special help a kingdom justly governed, and maintains a
prudent king in the tranquillity of peace.

CHAPTER XI: Against the Tyrants and Persecutors; and on the Captivity of
Valerian.

   "I CANNOT, then, my brother believe that I err in acknowledging this
one God, the author and parent of all things: whom many of my predecessors
in power, led astray by the madness of error, have ventured to deny, but
who were all visited with a retribution so terrible and so destructive,
that all succeeding generations have held up their calamities as the most
effectual warning to any who desire to follow in their stops. Of the number
of these I believe him (1) to have been, whom the lightning-stroke of
Divine vengeance drove forth from hence, and banished to your dominions and
whose disgrace contributed to the fame of your celebrated triumph.

CHAPTER XII: He declares that, having witnessed the Fall of the
Persecutors, he now rejoices at the Peace enjoyed by the Christians.

   "AND it is surely a happy circumstance that the punishment of such
persons as I have described should have been publicly manifested in our own
times. For I myself have witnessed the end of those who lately harassed the
worshipers of God by their impious edict. And for this abundant
thanksgivings are due to God that through his excellent Providence all men
who observe his holy laws are gladdened by the renewed enjoyment of peace.
Hence I am fully persuaded that everything is in the best and safest
posture, since God is vouchsafing, through the influence of their pure and
faithful religious service, and their unity of judgment respecting his
Divine character, to gather all men to himself.

CHAPTER XIII: He bespeaks his Affectionate Interest for he Christians in
his Country.

   "IMAGINE, then, with what joy I heard tidings so accordant with my
desire, that the fairest districts of Persia are filled with those men on
whose behalf alone I am at present speaking, I mean the Christians. I pray,
therefore, that both you and they may enjoy abundant prosperity, and that
your blessings and theirs may be in equal measure; (1) for thus you will
experience the mercy and favor of that God who is the Lord and Father of
all. And now, because your power is great, I commend these persons to your
protection; because your piety is eminent, I commit them to your care.
Cherish them with your wonted humanity and kindness; for by this proof of
faith you will secure an immeasurable benefit both to yourself and us."

CHAPTER XIV: How the Zealous Prayers of Constantine procured Peace to the
Christians.

   THUS, the nations of the world being everywhere guided in their course
as it were by the skill of a single pilot, and acquiescing in the
administration of him who governed as the servant of God, the peace of the
Roman empire continued undisturbed, and all classes of his subjects enjoyed
a life of tranquillity and repose. At the same time the emperor, who was
convinced that the prayers of godly men contributed powerfully to the
maintenance of the public welfare, felt himself constrained zealously to
seek such prayers and not only himself implored the help and favor of God,
but charged the prelates of the churches to offer supplications on his
behalf.

CHAPTER XV: He causes himself to be represented on his Coins, and in his
Portraits, in the Attitude of Prayer.

   How deeply his soul was impressed by the power of divine faith may be
understood from the circumstance that he directed his likeness to be
stamped on the golden coin of the empire with the eyes uplifted as in the
posture of prayer to God: and this money became current throughout the
Roman world. His portrait also at full length was placed over the entrance
gates of the palaces in some cities, the eyes upraised to heaven, and the
hands outspread as if in prayer.

CHAPTER XVI: He forbids by Law the Plating his Likeness in Idol Temples.

   IN this manner he represented himself, even through the medium of
painting, as habitually engaged in prayer to God. At the same time he
forbade, by an express enactment, the setting up of any resemblance of
himself in any idol temple, that not even the mere lineaments of his person
might receive contamination from the error of forbidden superstition.

CHAPTER XVII: Of his Prayers in the Palace, and his Reading the Holy
Scriptures.

   STILL nobler proofs of his piety might be discerned by those who marked
how he modeled as it were his very palace into a church of God, and himself
afforded a pattern of zeal to those assembled therein: how he took the
sacred scriptures into his hands, and devoted himself to the study of those
divinely inspired oracles; after which he would offer up regular prayers
with all the members of his imperial court.

CHAPTER XVIII: He enjoins the General Observance of the Lord's Day, and the
Day of Preparation.

   HE ordained, too, that one day should be regarded as a special occasion
for prayer: I mean that which is truly the first and chief of all, the day
of our Lord and Saviour. The entire care of his household was entrusted to
deacons and other ministers consecrated to the service of God, and
distinguished by gravity of life and every other virtue: while his trusty
body guard, strong in affection and fidelity to his person, found in their
emperor an instructor in the practice of piety, and like him held the
Lord's salutary day in honor and performed on that day the devotions which
he loved. The same observance was recommended by this blessed prince to all
classes of his subjects: his earnest desire being gradually to lead all
mankind to the worship of God. Accordingly he enjoined on all the subjects
of the Roman empire to observe the Lord's day, as a day of rest, and also
to honor the day which precedes the Sabbath; in memory, I suppose, of what
the Saviour of mankind is recorded to have achieved on that day. (1) And
since his desire was to teach his whole army zealously to honor the
Saviour's day (which derives its name from light, and from the sun), (2) he
freely granted to those among them who were partakers of the divine faith,
leisure for attendance on the services of the Church of God, in order that
they might be able, without impediment, to perform their religious worship.

CHAPTER XIX: That he directed even his Pagan Soldiers to pray on the Lord's
Day.

   WITH regard to those who were as yet ignorant of divine truth, he
provided by a second statute that they should appear on each Lord's day on
an open plain near the city, and there, at a given signal, offer to God
with one accord a prayer which they had previously learnt. He admonished
them that their confidence should not rest in their spears, or armor, or
bodily strength, but that they should acknowledge the supreme God as the
giver of every good, and of victory itself; to whom they were bound to
offer their prayers with due regularity, uplifting on whom they should call
as the Author of victory, their Preserver, Guardian, and Helper. The
emperor himself prescribed the prayer to be used by all his troops,
commanding them, to pronounce the following words in the Latin tongue:

CHAPTER XX: The Form of Prayer given by Constantine to his Soldiers.

   "WE acknowledge thee the only God: we own thee, as our King and implore
thy succor. By thy favor have we 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." by his troops, and such the prayer they were instructed to
offer up to God.

CHAPTER XXI: He orders the Sign of the Saviour's Cross to be engraven on
his Soldiers' Shields.

   AND not only so, but he also caused the sign of the salutary trophy to
be impressed on the very shields of his soldiers; and commanded that his
embattled forces should be preceded in their march, not by golden images,
as heretofore, (1) but only by the standard of the cross.

CHAPTER XXII: Of his Zeal in Prayer, and the Honor he paid to the Feast of
Easter.

   THE emperor himself, as a sharer in the holy mysteries of our religion,
would seclude himself daily at a stated hour in the innermost chambers of
his palace; and there in solitary converse with his God, would kneel in
humble supplication, and entreat the blessings of which he stood in need.
But especially at the salutary feast of Easter, his religious diligence was
redoubled; he fulfilled as it were the duties of a hierophant with every
energy of his mind and body, and outvied all others in the zealous
celebration of this feast. He changed, too, the holy night vigil into a
brightness like that of day, by causing waxen tapers of great length to be
lighted throughout the city: besides which, torches everywhere diffused
their light, so as to impart to this mystic vigil a brilliant splendor
beyond that of day. (1) As soon as day itself returned, in imitation of our
Saviour's gracious acts, he opened a liberal hand to his subjects of every
nation, province, and people, and lavished abundant bounties on all.

CHAPTER XXIII: How he forbade Idolatrous Worship, but honored Martyrs and
the Church Festivals.

   SUCH were his sacred ministrations in the service of his God. At the
same time, his subjects, both civil and military, throughout the empire,
found a barrier everywhere opposed against idol worship, and every kind of
sacrifice forbidden. (1) A statute was also passed, enjoining the due
observance of the Lord's day, and transmitted to the governors of every
province, who undertook, at the emperors command, to respect the days
commemorative of martyrs, and duly to emperors entire satisfaction.

CHAPTER XXIV: That he described himself to be a Bishop, in Charge of
Affairs External to the Church.

   HENCE it was not without reason that once, on the occasion of his
entertaining a company of bishops, he let fall the expression, "that he
himself too was a bishop," addressing them in my heating in the following
words: "You are bishops whose jurisdiction is within the Church: I also am
a bishop, ordained by God to overlook whatever is external to the Church."
(1) And copal care, and exhorted them as far as in him lay to follow a
godly life.

CHAPTER XXV: Prohibition of Sacrifices, of Mystic Rites, Combats of
Gladiators, also the Licentious Worship of the Nile.

   CONSISTENTLY with this zeal he issued successive laws and ordinances,
forbidding any to offer sacrifice to idols, to consult diviners, to erect
images, or to pollute the cities with the sanguinary combats of gladiators.
(1) And inasmuch as the Egyptians, especially those of Alexandria, had been
accustomed to honor their river through a priesthood composed of effeminate
men, a further law was passed commanding the extermination of the whole
class as vicious, that no one might thenceforward be found tainted with the
like impurity. And whereas the superstitious inhabitants apprehended that
the river would in consequence withhold its customary flood, God himself
showed his approval of the emperor's law by ordering all things in a manner
quite contrary to their expectation. For those who had defiled the cities
by their vicious conduct were indeed seen no more; but the river, as if the
country through rose higher than ever before, overflowed the country with
its fertilizing streams: thus effectually admonishing the deluded people to
turn from impure men, and ascribe their prosperity to him alone who is the
Giver of all good.

CHAPTER XXVI: Amendment of the Law in Force respecting Childless Persons,
and of the Law of Wills.

   So numerous, indeed, were the benefits of this kind conferred by the
emperor on every province, as to afford ample materials to any who might
desire to record them. Among these may be instanced those laws which he
entirely remodelled, and established on a more equitable basis: the nature
of which reform may be briefly and easily explained. The childless were
punished under the old law with the forfeiture of their hereditary property
a merciless stature, which dealt with them as positive criminals. The
emperor annulled this, and decreed that those so circumstanced should
inherit. He regulated the question on the principles of equity and justice,
arguing willful transgressors should be chastised with the penalties their
crimes deserve. But nature herself denies children to many, who long,
perhaps, for a numerous offspring, but are disappointed of their hope by
bodily infirmity. Others continue childless, not from any dislike of
posterity, but because their ardent love of philosophy (1) renders them
averse to the conjugal union. Women, too, consecrated to the service of
God, have maintained a pure and spotless virginity, and have devoted
themselves, soul and body to a life of entire chastity and holiness. What
then? Should this conduct be deemed worthy of punishment, or rather of
admiration and praise; since to desire this state is in itself honorable,
and to maintain it surpasses the power of unassisted nature? Surely those
whose bodily infirmity destroys their hope of offspring are worthy of pity,
not of punishment: and he who devotes himself to a higher object calls not
for chastisement, but especial admiration. On such regard to the wills of
dying persons, the old laws had ordained that they should be expressed,
even at the latest breath, as it were, in certain definite words, and had
prescribed the exact form and terms to be employed. This practice had
occasioned many fraudulent attempts to hinder the intentions of the
deceased from being carried into full effect. As soon as our emperor was
aware of these abuses, he reformed this law likewise, declaring that a
dying man ought to be permitted to indicate his last wishes in as few words
as possible, and in whatever terms he pleased; and to set forth his will in
any written form; or even by word of mouth, provided it were done in the
presence of proper witnesses, who might be competent faithfully to
discharge their trust.

CHAPTER XXVII: Among Other Enactments, he decrees that no Christian shall
slave to a Jew, and affirms the Validity of the Decisions of Councils.

   HE also passed a law to the effect that no Christian should remain in
servitude to a Jewish master, on the ground that it could not be right that
those whom the Saviour had ransomed should be subjected to the yoke of
slavery by a people who had slain the prophets and the Lord himself. If any
were found hereafter in these circumstances, the slave was to be set at
liberty, and the master punished by a fine.

   He likewise added the sanction of his authority to the decisions of
bishops passed at their synods, and forbade the provincial governors to
annul any of their decrees: for he rated the priests of God at a higher
value than any judge whatever. These and a thousand similar provisions did
he enact for the benefit of his subjects; but there is not time now to give
a special description of them, such as might convey an accurate idea of his
imperial wisdom in these respects: nor need I now relate at length, how, as
a devoted servant of the Supreme God, he employed himself from morning
until night in seeking objects for his beneficence, and how equally and
universally kind he was to all.

CHAPTER XXVIII: His Gifts to the Churches, and Bounties to Virgins and to
the Poor.

   His liberality, however, was most especially exercised on behalf of the
churches of God. In some cases he granted lands, in others he issued
supplies of food for the support of the poor, of orphan children, and
widows; besides which, he evinced much care and forethought in fully
providing the naked and destitute with clothing. He distinguished, however,
with most special honor those who had devoted their lives to the practice
of Divine philosophy. Hence his respect, little short of veneration, for
God's most holy and ever virgin choir: for he felt assured that the God to
whom such persons devoted themselves was himself an inmate of their souls.

CHAPTER XXIX: Of Constantine's Discourses and Declamations. (1)

   FOR himself, he sometimes passed sleepless nights in furnishing his
mind with Divine knowledge: and much of his time was spent in composing
discourses, many of which he delivered in public; for he conceived it to be
incumbent on him to govern his subjects by appealing to their reason, and
to secure in all respects a rational obedience to his authority. Hence he
would sometimes himself evoke an assembly, on which occasions vast
multitudes attended, in the hope of hearing an emperor sustain the part of
a philosopher. And if in the course of his speech any occasion offered of
touching on sacred topics, he immediately stood erect, and with a grave
aspect and subdued tone of voice seemed reverently to be initiating his
auditors in the mysteries of the Divine doctrine: and when they greeted him
with shouts of acclamation, he would direct them by his gestures to raise
their eyes to heaven, and reserve their admiration for the Supreme King
alone, and honor him with adoration and praise. He usually divided the
subjects of his address, first thoroughly exposing the error of polytheism,
and proving the superstition of the Gentiles to be mere fraud, and a cloak
for impiety. He then would assert the sole sovereignty of God: passing
thence to his Providence, both general and particular. Proceeding next to
the dispensation of salvation, he would demonstrate its necessity, and
adaptation to the nature of the case; entering next in order on the
doctrine of the Divine judgment. (2) And here especially he appealed most
powerfully to the consciences of his hearers, while he denounced the
rapacious and violent, and those who were slaves to an inordinate thirst of
gain. Nay, he caused some of his own acquaintance who were present to feel
the severe lash of his words, and to stand with downcast eyes in the
consciousness of guilt, while he testified against them in the clearest and
most impressive terms that they would have an account to render of their
deeds to God. He reminded them that God himself had given him the empire of
the world, portions of which he himself, acting on the same Divine
principle, had intrusted to their government; but that all would in due
time be alike summoned to give account of their actions to the Supreme
Sovereign of all. Such was his constant testimony; such his admonition and
instruction. And he himself both felt and uttered these sentiments in the
genuine confidence of faith: but-his hearers were little disposed to learn,
and deaf to sound advice; receiving his words indeed with loud applause,
but induced by insatiable cupidity practically to disregard them.

CHAPTER XXX: That he marked out before a Covetous Man the Measure of a
Grave, and so put him to Shame.

   ON one occasion he thus personally addressed one of his courtiers: "How
far, my friend, are we to carry our inordinate desires?" Then drawing the
dimensions of a human figure with a lance which he happened to have in his
hand, he continued: "Though thou couldst obtain the whole wealth of this
world, yea, the whole world itself, thou wilt carry with thee at last no
more than this little spot which I have marked out, if indeed even that be
thine." (1) Such were the words and actions of this blessed prince; and
though at the time he failed to reclaim any from their evil ways, yet
notwithstanding the course of events afforded evident proof that his
admonitions were more like Divine prophecies than mere words.

CHAPTER XXXI: That he was derided because of his Excessive Clemency. (1)

   MEANTIME, since there was no fear of capital punishment to deter from
the commission of crime, for the emperor himself was uniformly inclined to
clemency, and none of the provincial governors visited offenses with their
proper penalties, this state of things drew with it no small degree of
blame on the general administration of the empire; whether justly or not,
let every one form his own judgment: for myself, I only ask permission to
record the fact.

CHAPTER XXXII: Of Constantine's Oration which he wrote to the Assembly of
the Saints. (1)

   THE emperor was in the habit of composing his orations in the Latin
tongue, from which they were translated into Greek by interpreters
appointed for this special service. One of the discourses thus translated I
intend to annex, by way of specimen, to this present work, that one, I
mean, which he inscribed "To the assembly of the saints," and dedicated to
the Church of God, that no one may have ground for deeming my testimony on
this head mere empty praise.

CHAPTER XXXIII: How he listened standing to Eusebius' Declamation in Honor
of our Saviour's Sepulchre.

   ONE act, however, I must by no means omit to record, which this
admirable prince performed in my own presence. On one occasion, emboldened
by the confident assurance I entertained of his piety, I had begged
permission to pronounce a discourse on the subject of our Saviour's
sepulchre in his hearing. With this request he most readily complied, and
in the midst of a large number of auditors, in the interior of the palace
itself, he stood and listened with the rest. I entreated him, but in vain,
to seat himself on the imperial throne which stood near: he continued with
fixed attention to weigh the topics of my discourse, and gave his own
testimony to the truth of the theological doctrines it contained. After
some time had passed, the oration being of considerable length, I was
myself desirous of concluding; but this he would not permit, and exhorted
me to proceed to the very end. On my again entreating him to sit, he in his
turn was displeased and said that it was not right to listen in a careless
manner to the discussion of doctrines relating to God; and again, that this
posture was good and profitable to himself, since it was reverent to stand
while listening to sacred truths. Having, therefore, concluded my
discourse, I returned home, and resumed my usual occupations.

CHAPTER XXXIV: That he wrote to Eusebius respecting Easter, and respecting
Copies of the Holy Scriptures.

   EVER careful for the welfare of the churches of God, the emperor
addressed me personally in a letter on the means of providing copies of the
inspired oracles, and also on the subject of the most holy feast of Easter.
For I had myself dedicated to him an exposition of the mystical import of
that feast; and the manner in which he honored me with a reply may be
understood by any one who reads the following letter.

CHAPTER XXXV: Constantine's Letter to Eusebius, in praise of his Discourse
concerning Easter.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Eusebius.

   "It is indeed an arduous task, and beyond the power of language itself,
worthily to treat of the mysteries of Christ, and to explain in a fitting
manner the controversy respecting the feast of Easter, its origin as well
as its precious and toilsome accomplishment. (1) For it is not in the power
even of those who are able to apprehend them, adequately to describe the
things of God. I am, notwithstanding, filled with admiration of your
learning and zeal, and have not only myself read your work with pleasure,
but have given directions, according to your own desire, that it be
communicated to many sincere followers of our holy religion. Seeing, then,
with what pleasure we receive favors of this kind from your Sagacity, be
pleased to gladden us more frequently with those compositions, to the
practice of which, indeed, you confess yourself to have been trained from
an early period, so that I am urging a willing man, as they say, in
exhorting you to your customary pursuits. And certainly the high and
confident judgment we entertain is a proof that the person who has
translated your writings into the Latin tongue is in no respect incompetent
to the task, impossible though it be that such version should fully equal
the excellence of the works themselves. God preserve you, beloved brother."
Such was his letter on this subject: and that which related to the
providing of copies of the Scriptures for reading in the churches was to
the following purport.

CHAPTER XXXVI: Constantine' s Letter to Eusebius on the Preparation of
Copies of the Holy Scriptures.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Eusebius.

   "It happens, through the favoring providence of God our Saviour, that
great numbers have united themselves to the most holy church in the city
which is called by my name. It seems, therefore, highly requisite, since
that city is rapidly advancing in prosperity in all other respects, that
the number of churches should also he increased. Do you, therefore, receive
with all readiness my determination on this behalf. I have thought it
expedient to instruct your Prudence to order fifty copies of the sacred
Scriptures, the provision and use of which you know to be most needful for
the instruction of the Church, to be written on prepared parchment in a
legible manner, and in a convenient, portable form, by professional
transcribers thoroughly practiced in their art. (1) The catholicus (2) of
the diocese has also received instructions by letter from our Clemency to
be careful to furnish all things necessary for the preparation of such
copies; and it will be for you to take special care that they be completed
with as little delay as possible. (3) You have authority also, in virtue of
this letter, to use two of the public carriages for their conveyance, by
which arrangement the copies when fairly written will most easily be
forwarded for my personal inspection; and one of the deacons of your church
may be intrusted with this service, who, on his arrival here, shall
experience my liberality. God preserve you, beloved brother!"

CHAPTER XXXVII: How the Copies were provided.

   SUCH were the emperor's commands, which were followed by the immediate
execution of the work itself, which we sent him in magnificent and
elaborately bound volumes of a threefold and fourfold form. (1) This fact
is attested by another letter, which the emperor wrote in acknowledgment,
in which, having heard that the city Constantia in our country, the
inhabitants of which had been more than commonly devoted to superstition,
had been impelled by a sense of religion to abandon their past idolatry, he
testified his joy, and approval of their conduct.

CHAPTER XXXVIII: How the Market-town of Gaza was made a City far its
Profession of Christianity, and received the Name of Constantia.

   FOR in fact the place now called Constantia, in the province of
Palestine, having embraced the saving religion, was distinguished both by
the favor of God, and by special honor from the emperor, being now for the
first time raised to the rank of a city, and receiving the more honored
name of his pious sister in exchange for its former appellation.

CHAPTER XXXIX: That a Place in Phoenicia also was made a City, and in Other
Cities Idolatry was abolished, and Churches built.

   A SIMILAR change was effected in several other cities; for instance, in
that town of Phoenicia which received its name from that of the emperor,
and the inhabitants of which committed their innumerable idols to the
flames, and adopted in their stead the principles of the saving faith.
Numbers, too, in the other provinces, both in the cities and the country,
became willing inquirers after the saving knowledge of God; destroyed as
worthless things the images of every kind which they had heretofore held
most sacred; voluntarily demolished the lofty temples and shrines which
contained them; and, renouncing their former sentiments, or rather errors,
commenced and completed entirely new churches. But since it is not so much
my province to give a circumstantial detail of the actions of this pious
prince, as it is theirs who have been privileged to enjoy his society at
all times, I shall content myself with briefly recording such facts as have
come to my own personal knowledge, before I proceed to notice the last days
of his life.

CHAPTER XL: That having conferred the Dignity of Caesars on his Three Sans
at the Three Decennial Periods of his Reign, he dedicated the Church at
Jerusalem.

   By this time the thirtieth year of his reign was completed. In the
course of this period, his three sons had been admitted at different times
as his colleagues in the empire. The first, Constantinus, who bore his
father's name, obtained this distinction about the tenth year of his reign.
Constantius, the second son, so called from his grandfather, was proclaimed
Caesar about the twentieth, while Constans, the third, whose name expresses
the firmness and stability of his character, was advanced to the same
dignity at the thirtieth anniversary of his father's reign. (1) Having thus
reared a threefold offspring, a Trinity, (2) as it were, of pious sons, and
having received them severally at each decennial period to a participation
in his imperial authority, he judged the festival of his Tricennalia to be
a fit occasion for thanksgiving to the Sovereign Lord of all, at the same
time believing that the dedication of the church which his zealous
magnificence had erected at Jerusalem might advantageously be performed.

CHAPTER XLI: That in the meantime he ordered a Council to be convened at
Tyre, because of Controversies raised in Egypt.

   MEANWHILE that spirit of envy which is the enemy of all good, like a
dark cloud intercepting the sun's brightest rays, endeavored to mar the joy
of this festivity, by again raising contentions to disturb the tranquillity
of the Egyptian churches. Our divinely favored emperor, however, once more
convened a synod composed of many bishops, and set them as it were in armed
array, like the host of God, against this malignant spirit, having
commanded their presence from the whole of Egypt and Libya, from Asia, and
from Europe, in order, first, to decide the questions in dispute, and
afterwards to perform the dedication of the sacred edifice above mentioned.
He enjoined them, by the way, to adjust their differences at the capital
city of Phoenicia, reminding them that they had no right, while harboring
feelings of mutual animosity, to engage in the service of God, since his
law expressly forbids those who are at variance to offer their gift until
they have first become reconciled and mutually disposed to peace. Such were
the salutary precepts which the emperor continually kept vividly before his
own mind, and in accordance with which he admonished them to undertake
their present duties in a spirit of perfect unanimity and concord, in a
letter to the following purport.

CHAPTER XLII: Constantine's Letter to the Council at Tyre.

   "VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to the holy Council at Tyre.

   "Surely it would best consist with and best become the prosperity of
these our times, that the Catholic Church should be undivided, and the
servants of Christ be at this present moment clear from all reproach.
Since, however, there are those who, carried away by a baleful and furious
spirit of contention (for I will not charge them with intentionally leading
a life unworthy of their profession), are endeavoring to create that
general confusion which, in my judgment, is the most pernicious of all
evils; I exhort you, forward as you already are, to meet together and form
a synod without delay: to defend those who need protection; to administer
remedies to your brethren who are in peril; to recall the divided members
to unity of judgment; to rectify errors while opportunity is yet allowed:
that thus you may restore to so many provinces that due measure of concord
which, strange and sad anomaly! the arrogance of a few individuals has
destroyed. And I believed that all are alike persuaded that this course is
at the same time pleasing to Almighty God (as well as the highest object of
my own desires), and will bring no small honor to yourselves, should you be
successful in restoring peace. Delay not, then, but hasten with redoubled
zeal to terminate the present dissensions in a manner becoming the
occasion, by assembling together in that spirit of true sincerity and faith
which the Saviour whom we serve especially demands from us, I may almost
say with an audible voice, on all occasions. No proof of pious zeal on my
part shall be wanting. Already have I done all to which my attention was
directed by your letters. I have sent to those bishops whose presence you
desired, that they may share your counsels. I have despatched Dionysius, a
man of consular rank, who will both remind those prelates of their duty who
are bound to attend the Council with you, and will himself be there to
superintend the proceedings, but especially to maintain good order.
Meantime should any one, though I deem it most improbable, venture on this
occasion to violate my command, and refuse his attendance, a messenger
shall be despatched forthwith to banish that person in virtue of an
imperial edict, and to teach him that it does not become him to resist an
emperor's decrees when issued in defense of truth. For the rest, it will be
for your Holinesses, unbiased either by enmity or favor, but consistently
with ecclesiastical and apostolic order, to devise a fitting remedy whether
it be for positive offenses or for unpremeditated errors; in order that you
may at once free the Church from all reproach, relieve my anxiety, and, by
restoring the blessings of peace to those who are now divided, procure the
highest honor for yourselves. God preserve you, beloved brethren!" (1)

CHAPTER XLIII: Bishops from all the Provinces attended the Dedication of
the Church at Jerusalem.

   No sooner had these injunctions been carded into effect, than another
emissary arrived with despatches from the emperor, and an urgent admonition
to the Council to hasten their journey to Jerusalem without delay. (1)
Accordingly they all took their departure from the province of Phoenicia,
and proceeded to their destination, availing themselves of the public means
of transport. Thus Jerusalem became the gathering point for distinguished
prelates from every province, and the whole city was thronged by a vast
assemblage of the servants of God. The Macedonians had sent the bishop of
their metropolis; (2) the Pannonians and Moesians the fairest of God's
youthful flock among them. A holy prelate from Persia too was there, deeply
versed in the sacred oracles; while Bithynian and Thracian bishops graced
the Council with their presence; nor were the most illustrious from Cilicia
wanting, nor the chief of the Cappadocians, distinguished above all for
learning and eloquence. In short, the whole of Syria and Mesopotamia,
Phoenicia and Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, with the dwellers in the
Thebaid, all contributed to swell the mighty concourse of God's ministers,
followed as they were by vast numbers from every province. They were
attended by an imperial escort, (3) and officers of trust had also been
sent from the palace itself, with instructions to heighten the splendor of
the festival at the emperor's expense.

CHAPTER XLIV: Of their Reception by the Notary Marianus; the Distribution
of Money to the Poor; and Offerings to the Church.

   THE director and chief of these officers was a most useful servant of
the emperor, a man eminent for faith and piety, and thoroughly acquainted
with the Divine word, who had been honorably conspicuous by his profession
of godliness during the time of the tyrants' power, and therefore was
deservedly entrusted with the arrangement of the present proceedings.
Accordingly, in faithful obedience to the emperor's commands, he received
the assembly with courteous hospitality, and entertained them with feasts
and banquets on a scale of great splendor. He also distributed lavish
supplies of money and clothing among the naked and destitute, and the
multitudes of both sexes who suffered from want of food and the common
necessaries of life. Finally, he enriched and beautified the church itself
throughout with offerings of imperial magnificence, and thus fully
accomplished the service he had been commissioned to perform.

CHAPTER XLV: Various Discourses by the Assembled Bishops; also by Eusebius,
the Writer of this History.

   MEANTIME the festival derived additional luster both from the prayers
and discourses of the ministers of God, some of whom extolled the pious
emperor's willing devotion to the Saviour of mankind, and dilated on the
magnificence of the edifice which he had raised to his memory. Others
afforded, as it were, an intellectual feast to the ears of all present, by
public disquisitions on the sacred doctrines of our religion. Others
interpreted passages of holy Scripture, and unfolded their hidden meaning;
while such as were unequal to these efforts presented a bloodless sacrifice
and mystical service to God in the prayers which they offered for general
peace, for the Church of God, for the emperor himself as the instrumental
cause of so many blessings, and for his pious sons. I myself too, unworthy
as I was of such a privilege, pronounced various public orations in honor
of this solemnity, wherein I partly explained by a written description the
details of the imperial edifice, and partly endeavored to gather from the
prophetic visions apt illustrations of the symbols it displayed. (1) Thus
joyfully was the festival of dedication celebrated in the thirtieth year of
our emperor's reign.

CHAPTER XLVI: That Eusebius afterwards delivered his Description of the
Church of the Saviour, and a Tricennial Oration before Constantine himself.

   THE structure of the church of our Saviour, the form of his sacred
cave, the splendor of the work itself, and the numberless offerings in
gold, and silver, and precious stones, I have described to the best of my
ability, and dedicated to the emperor in a separate treatise, which on a
fitting opportunity I shall append to this present work. I shall add to it
also that oration on his Tricennalia which shortly afterwards, having
traveled to the city which bears his name, I delivered in the emperor's own
presence. (1) This was the second opportunity afforded me of glorifying the
Supreme God in the imperial palace itself: and on this occasion my pious
hearer evinced the greatest joy, as he afterwards testified, when he
entertained the bishops then present, and loaded them with distinctions of
every kind.

CHAPTER XLVII: That the Council at Nicaea was held in the Twentieth, the
Dedication of the Church at Jerusalem in the Thirtieth, Year of
Constantine's Reign.

   THIS second synod the emperor convened at Jerusalem, being the greatest
of which we have any knowledge, next to the first which he had summoned at
the famous Bithynian city. That indeed was a triumphal assembly, held in
the twentieth year of his reign, an occasion of thanksgiving for victory
over his enemies in the very city which bears the name of victory. (1) The
present meeting added luster to the thirtieth anniversary, during which the
emperor dedicated the church at the sepulchre of our Saviour, as a peace-
offering to God, the giver of all good.

CHAPTER XLVIII: That Constantine was displeased with one who praised him
excessively.

   AND now that all these ceremonies were completed, and the divine
qualities of the emperor's character continued to be the theme of universal
praise, one of God's ministers presumed so far as in his own presence to
pronounce him blessed, as having been counted worthy to hold absolute and
universal empire in this life, and as being destined to share the empire of
the Son of God in the world to come. These words, however, Constantine
heard with indignation, and forbade the speaker to hold such language,
exhorting him rather to pray earnestly on his behalf, that whether in this
life or in that which is to come, he might be found worthy to be a servant
of God. (1)

CHAPTER XLIX: Marriage of his Son Constantius Caesar.

   ON the completion of the thirtieth year of his reign he solemnized the
marriage of his second son, (1) having concluded that of his first-born
long before. This was an occasion of great joy and festivity, the emperor
himself attending on his son at the ceremony, and entertaining the guests
of both sexes, the men and women in distinct and separate companies, with
sumptuous hospitality. Rich presents likewise were liberally distributed
among the cities and people.

CHAPTER L: Embassy and Presents from the Indians.

   ABOUT this time ambassadors from the Indians, who inhabit the distant
regions of the East, arrived with presents consisting of many varieties of
brilliant precious stones, and animals differing in species from those
known to us. These offerings they presented to the emperor, thus allowing
that his sovereignty extended even to the Indian Ocean, and that the
princes of their country, who rendered homage to him both by paintings and
statues, acknowledged his imperial and paramount authority. Thus the
Eastern Indians now submitted to his sway, as the Britons of the Western
Ocean had done at the commencement of his reign.

CHAPTER LI: That Constantine divided the Empire between his Three Sons,
whom he had instructed in Politics and Religion.

   HAVING thus established his power in the opposite extremities of the
world, he divided the whole extent of his dominions, as though he were
allotting a patrimonial inheritance to the dearest objects of his regard,
among his three sons. To the eldest he assigned his grandfather's portion;
to the second, the empire of the East; to the third, the countries which
lie between these two divisions. (1) And being desirous of furnishing his
children with an inheritance truly valuable and salutary to their souls, he
had been careful to imbue them with true religious principles, being
himself their guide to the knowledge of sacred things, and also appointing
men of approved piety to be their instructors. At the same time he assigned
them the most accomplished teachers of secular learning, by some of whom
they were taught the arts of war, while they were trained by others in
political, and by others again in legal science. To each moreover was
granted a truly royal retinue, consisting of infantry, spearmen, and body
guards, with every other kind of military force; commanded respectively by
captains, tribunes, and generals (2) of whose warlike skill and devotion to
his sons the emperor had had previous experience.

CHAPTER LII: That after they had reached Man's Estate he was their Guide in
Piety.

   As long as the Caesars were of tender years, they were aided by
suitable advisers in the management of public affairs; but on their arrival
at the age of manhood their father's instructions alone sufficed. When
present he proposed to them his own example, and admonished them to follow
his pious course: in their absence he furnished them by letter with rules
of conduct suited to their imperial station, the first and greatest of
which was an exhortation to value the knowledge and worship of the
Sovereign Lord of all more than wealth, nay, more than empire itself. At
length he permitted them to direct the public administration of the empire
without control, making it his first request that they would care for the
interests of the Church of God, and boldly profess themselves disciples of
Christ. Thus trained, and excited to obedience not so much by precept as by
their own voluntary desire for virtue, his sons more than fulfilled the
admonitions of their father, devoting their earnest attention to the
service of God, and observing the ordinances of the Church even in the
palace itself, with all the members of their households. (1) For their
father's forethought had provided that all the attendants of his son's
should be Christians. And not only so, but the military officers of highest
rank, and those who had the control of public business, were professors of
the same faith: for the emperor placed confidence in the fidelity of men
devoted to the service of God, as in a strong and sure defense. When our
thrice blessed prince had completed these arrangements, and thus secured
order and tranquillity throughout the empire, God, the dispenser of all
blessings, judged it to be the fitting time to translate him to a better
inheritance, and summoned him to pay the debt of nature.

CHAPTER LIII: Having reigned about Thirty-two Years, and lived above Sixty,
he still had a Sound Body.

   HE completed the time of his reign in two and thirty years, wanting a
few months and days, (1) and his whole life extended to about twice that
period. At this age he still possessed a sound and vigorous body, free from
all blemish, and of more than youthful vivacity; a noble mien, and strength
equal to any exertion; so that he was able to join in martial exercises, to
fide, endure the fatigues of travel, engage in battle, and erect trophies
over his conquered enemies, besides gaining those bloodless victories by
which he was wont to triumph over those who opposed him. (2)

CHAPTER LIV: Of those who abused his Extreme Benevolence for Avarice and
Hypocrisy.

   IN like manner his mental (1) qualities reached the highest point of
human perfection. Indeed he was distinguished by every excellence of
character, but especially by benevolence; a virtue, however, which
subjected him to censure from many, in consequence of the baseness of
wicked men, who ascribed their own crimes to the emperor's forbearance. In
truth I can myself bear testimony to the grievous evils which prevailed
during these times; I mean the violence of rapacious and unprincipled men,
who preyed on all classes of society alike, and the scandalous hypocrisy of
those who crept into the Church, and assumed the name and character of
Christians. His own benevolence and goodness of heart, the genuineness of
his own faith, and his truthfulness of character, induced the emperor to
credit the profession of these reputed Christians, who craftily preserved
the semblance of sincere affection for his person. The confidence he
reposed in such men sometimes forced him into conduct unworthy of himself,
of which envy took advantage to cloud in this respect the luster of his
character. (2)

CHAPTER LV: Constantine employed himself in Composition of Various Kinds to
the Close of his Life.

   THESE offenders, however, were soon overtaken by divine chastisement.
To return to our emperor. He had so thoroughly trained his mind in the art
of reasoning that he continued to the last to compose discourses on various
subjects, to deliver frequent orations in public, and to instruct his
hearers in the sacred doctrines of religion. He was also habitually engaged
in legislating both on political and military questions; (1) in short, in
devising whatever might be conducive to the general welfare of the human
race. It is well worthy of remark, that, very shortly before his departure,
he pronounced a funeral oration before his usual auditory, in which he
spoke at length on the immortality of the soul, the state of those who had
persevered in a life of godliness, and the blessings which God has laid up
in store for them that love him. On the other hand he made it appear by
copious and conclusive arguments what the end of those will be who have
pursued a contrary career, describing in vivid language the final ruin of
the ungodly. His powerful testimony on these subjects seemed so far to
touch the consciences of those around him, that one of the self-imagined
philosophers, of whom he asked his opinion of what he had heard, bore
testimony to the truth of his words, and accorded a real, though reluctant,
tribute of praise to the arguments by which he had exposed the worship of a
plurality of gods. By converse such as this with his friends before his
death, the emperor seemed as it were to smooth and prepare the way for his
transition to a happier life.

CHAPTER LVI: How he took Bishops with him on an Expedition against the
Persians, and look with him a Tent in the Form of a Church.

   IT is also worthy of record that about the time of which I am at
present writing, the emperor, having heard of an insurrection of some
barbarians in the East, observed that the conquest of this enemy was still
in store for him, and resolved on an expedition against the Persians.
Accordingly he proceeded at once to put his forces in motion, at the same
time communicating his intended march to the bishops who happened to be at
his court, some of whom he judged it right to take with him as companions,
and as needful coadjutors in the service of God. They, on the other hand,
cheerfully declared their willingness to follow in his train, disclaiming
any desire to leave him, and engaging to battle with and for him by
supplication to God on his behalf. Full of joy at this answer to his
request, he unfolded to them his projected line of march; (1) after which
he caused a tent of great splendor, representing in shape the figure of a
church, to be prepared for his own use in the approaching war. In this he
intended to unite with the bishops in offering prayers to the God from whom
all victory proceeds.

CHAPTER LVII: How he received an Embassy from the Persians and kept the
Night Vigil with others at the Feast of Easter.

   IN the meanwhile the Persians, hearing of the emperor's warlike
preparations, and not a little terrified at the prospect of an engagement
with his forces, dispatched an embassy to pray for conditions of peace.
These overtures the emperor, himself a sincere lover of peace, at once
accepted, and readily entered on friendly relations with that people. At
this time, the great festival of Easter was at hand; on which occasion he
rendered the tribute of his prayers to God, and passed the night in
watching with the rest.

CHAPTER LVIII: Concerning the Building of a Church in Honor of the Apostles
at Constantinople.

   AFTER this he proceeded to erect a church in memory of the apostles, in
the city which bears his name. This building he carried to a vast height,
and brilliantly decorated by encasing it from the foundation to the roof
with marble slabs of various colors. He also formed the inner roof of
finely fretted work, and overlaid it throughout with gold. The external
covering, which protected the building from the rain, was of brass instead
of tiles; and this too was splendidly and profusely adorned with gold, and
reflected the sun's rays with a brilliancy which dazzled the distant
beholder. The dome was entirely encompassed by a finely carved tracery,
wrought in brass and gold.

CHAPTER LIX: Farther Description of the same Church.

   SUCH was the magnificence with which the emperor was pleased to
beautify this church. The building was surrounded by an open area of great
extent, the four sides of which were terminated by porticos which enclosed
the area and the church itself. Adjoining these porticos were ranges of
stately chambers, with baths and promenades, and besides many apartments
adapted to the use of those who had charge of the place.

CHAPTER LX: He also erected his own Sepulchral Monument in this Church.

   ALL these edifices the emperor consecrated with the desire of
perpetuating the memory of the apostles of our Saviour. He had, however,
another object in erecting this building: an object at first unknown, but
which afterwards became evident to all. He had in fact made choice of this
spot in the prospect of his own death, anticipating with extraordinary
fervor of faith that his body would share their title with the apostles
themselves, and that he should thus even after death become the subject,
with them, of the devotions which should be performed to their honor in
this place. He accordingly caused twelve coffins to be set up in this
church, like sacred pillars in honor and memory of the apostolic number, in
the center of which his own was placed, having six of theirs on either side
of it. Thus, as I said, he had provided with prudent foresight an honorable
resting-place for his body after death, and, having long before secretly
formed this resolution, he now consecrated this church to the apostles,
believing that this tribute to their memory would be of no small advantage
to his own soul. Nor did God disappoint him of that which he so ardently
expected and desired. For after he had completed the first services of the
feast of Easter, and had passed this sacred day of our Lord in a manner
which made it an occasion of joy and gladness to himself and to all; the
God through whose aid he performed all these acts, and whose zealous
servant he continued to be even to the end of life, was pleased at a happy
time to translate him to a better life.

CHAPTER LXI: His Sickness at Helenopolis, and Prayers respecting his
Baptism.

   AT first he experienced some slight bodily indisposition, which was
soon followed by positive disease. In consequence of this he visited the
hot baths of his own city; and thence proceeded to that which bore the name
of his mother. Here he passed some time in the church of the martyrs, and
offered up supplications and prayers to God. Being at length convinced that
his life was drawing to a close, he felt the time was come at which he
should seek purification from sins of his past career, firmly believing
that whatever errors he had committed as a mortal man, his soul would be
purified from them through the efficacy of the mystical words and the
salutary waters of baptism. (1) Impressed with these thoughts, he poured
forth his supplications and confessions to God, kneeling on the pavement in
the church itself, in which he also now for the first time received the
imposition of hands with prayer. (2) After this he proceeded as far as the
suburbs of Nicomedia, and there, having summoned the bishops to meet him,
addressed them in the following words.

CHAPTER LXII: Constantine's Appeal to the Bishops, requesting them to
confer upon him the Rite of Baptism.

   "THE time is arrived which I have long hoped for, with an earnest
desire and prayer that I might obtain the salvation of God. The hour is
come in which I too may have the blessing of that seal which confers
immortality; the hour in which I may receive the seal of salvation. I had
thought to do this in the waters of the river Jordan, wherein our Saviour,
for our example, is recorded to have been baptized: but God, who knows what
is expedient for us, is pleased that I should receive this blessing here.
Be it so, then, without delay: (1) for should it be his will who is Lord of
life and death, that my existence here should be prolonged, and should I be
destined henceforth to associate with the people of God, and unite with
them in prayer as a member of his. Church, I will prescribe to myself from
this time such a course of life as befits his service." After he had thus
spoken, the prelates performed the sacred ceremonies in the usual manner,
and, having given him the necessary instructions, made him a partaker of
the mystic ordinance. Thus was Constantine the first of all sovereigns who
was regenerated and perfected in a church dedicated to the martyrs of
Christ; thus gifted with the Divine seal of baptism, he rejoiced in spirit,
was renewed, and filled with heavenly light: his soul was gladdened by
reason of the fervency of his faith, and astonished at the manifestation of
the power of God. At the conclusion of the ceremony he arrayed himself in
shining imperial vestments, brilliant as the light, (2) and reclined on a
couch of the purest white, refusing to clothe himself with the purple any
more.

CHAPTER LXIII: How after his Baptism he rendered Thanks God.

   HE then lifted his voice and poured forth a strain of thanksgiving to
God; after which he added these words. "Now I know that I am truly blessed:
now I feel assured that I am accounted worthy of immortality, and am made a
partaker of Divine light." He further expressed his compassion for the
unhappy condition of those who were strangers to such blessings as he
enjoyed: and when the tribunes and generals of his army appeared in his
presence with lamentations and tears at the prospect of their bereavement,
and with prayers that his days might yet be prolonged, he assured them in
reply that he was now in possession of true life; that none but himself
could know the value of the blessings he had received; so that he was
anxious rather to hasten than to defer his departure to God. He then
proceeded to complete the needful arrangement of his affairs, bequeathing
an annual donation to the Roman inhabitants of his imperial city;
apportioning the inheritance of the empire, like a patrimonial estate,
among his own children; in short, making every disposition according to his
own pleasure. (1)

CHAPTER LXIV: Constantinople's Death at Noon on the Feast of Pentecost.

   ALL these events occurred during a most important festival, I mean the
august and holy solemnity of Pentecost, which is distinguished by a period
of seven weeks, and sealed with that one day on which the holy Scriptures
attest, the ascension of our common Saviour into heaven, and the descent of
the Holy Spirit among men. In the course of this feast the emperor received
the privileges I have described; and on the last day of all, which one
might justly call the feast of feasts, he was removed about mid- day to the
presence of his God, leaving his mortal remains to his fellow mortals, and
carrying into fellowship with God that part of his being which was capable
of understanding and loving him. (1) Such was the close of Constantine's
mortal life. Let us now attend to the circumstances which followed this
event.

CHAPTER LXV: Lamentations of the Soldiery and their Officers.

   IMMEDIATELY the assembled spearmen and body-guard rent their garments,
and prostrated themselves on the ground, striking their heads, and uttering
lamentations and cries of sorrow, calling on their imperial lord and
master, or rather, like true children, on their father, while their
tribunes and centurions addressed him as their preserver, protector, and
benefactor. The rest of the soldiery also came in respectful order to mourn
as a flock the removal of their good shepherd. The people meanwhile ran
wildly throughout the city, some expressing the inward sorrow of their
hearts by loud cries, others appearing confounded with grief: each mourning
the event as a calamity which had befallen himself, and bewailing his death
as though they felt themselves bereft of a blessing common alike to all.

CHAPTER LXVI: Removal of the Body from Nicomedia to the Palace at
Constantinople.

   AFTER this the soldiers lifted the body from its couch, and laid it in
a golden coffin, which they enveloped in a covering of purple, and removed
to the city which was called by his own name. Here it was placed in an
elevated position in the principal chamber of the imperial palace, and
surrounded by candles burning in candlesticks of gold, presenting a
marvelous spectacle, and such as no one under the light of the sun had ever
seen on earth since the world itself began. For in the central apartment of
the imperial palace, the body of the emperor lay in its elevated resting-
place, arrayed in the symbols of sovereignty, the diadem and purple robe,
and encircled by a numerous retinue of attendants, who watched around it
incessantly night and day.

CHAPTER LXVII: He received the same Honors from the Counts and other
Officers as before his Death.

   THE military officers, too, of the highest rank, the counts, and the
whole order of magistrates, who had been accustomed to do obeisance to
their emperor before, continued to fulfill this duty without any change,
even after his death entering the chamber at the appointed times, and
saluting their coffined sovereign with bended knee, as though he were still
alive. After them the senators appeared, and all who had been distinguished
by any honorable office, and rendered the same homage. These were followed
by multitudes of every rank, who came with their wives and children to
witness the spectacle. These honors continued to be rendered for a
considerable time, the soldiers having resolved thus to guard the body
until his sons should arrive, and take on themselves the conduct of their
father's funeral. No mortal had ever, like this blessed prince, continued
to reign even after death, and to receive the same homage as during his
life: he only, of all who have ever lived, obtained this reward from God: a
suitable reward, since he alone of all sovereigns had in all his actions
honored the Supreme God and his Christ, and God himself accordingly was
pleased that even his mortal remains should still retain imperial authority
among men; thus indicating to all who were not utterly devoid of
understanding the immortal and endless empire which his soul was destined
to enjoy. This was the course of events here.

CHAPTER LXVIII: Resolution of the Army to confer thence-forward the Title
of Augustus on his Sons.

   MEANWHILE the tribunes selected from the troops under their command
those officers whose fidelity and zeal had long been known to the emperor,
and dispatched them to the Caesars with intelligence of the late event.
This service they accordingly performed. As soon, however, as the soldiery
throughout the provinces received the tidings of the emperor's decease,
they all, as if by a supernatural impulse, resolved with one consent, as
though their great emperor had been yet alive, to acknowledge none other
than his sons as sovereigns of the Roman world: and these they soon after
determined should no longer retain the name of Caesar, but should each be
honored with the title of Augustus, a name which indicates the highest
supremacy of imperial power. Such were the measures adopted by the army;
and these resolutions they communicated to each other by letter, so that
the unanimous desire of the legions became known at the same point of time
throughout the whole extent of the empire.

CHAPTER LXIX: Mourning for Constantine at Rome; and the Honor paid him
there through Paintings after his Death.

   ON the arrival of the news of the emperor's death in the imperial city,
the Roman senate and people felt the announcement as the heaviest and most
afflictive of all calamities, and gave themselves up to an excess of grief.
The baths and markets were closed, the public spectacles, and all other
recreations in which men of leisure are accustomed to indulge, were
interrupted. Those who had erewhile lived in luxurious ease, now walked the
streets in gloomy sadness, while all united in blessing the name of the
deceased, as the one who was dear to God, and truly worthy of the imperial
dignity. Nor was their sorrow expressed only in words: they proceeded also
to honor him, by the dedication of paintings to his memory, with the same
respect as before his death. The design of these pictures embodied a
representation of heaven itself, and depicted the emperor reposing in an
ethereal mansion above the celestial vault. They too declared his sons
alone to be emperors and Augusti, and begged with earnest entreaty that
they might be permitted to receive the body of their emperor, and perform
his obsequies in the imperial city.

CHAPTER LXX: His Burial by his San Constantius at Constantinople.

   THUS did they there testify their respect for the memory of him who had
been honored by God. The second of his sons, however, who had by this time
arrived, proceeded to celebrate his father's funeral in the city which
bears his name, himself heading the procession, which was preceded by
detachments of soldiers in military array, and followed by vast multitudes,
the body itself being surrounded by companies of spearmen and heavy armed
infantry. On the arrival of the procession at the church dedicated to the
apostles of our Saviour, the coffin was there entombed. Such honor did the
youthful emperor Constantius render to his deceased parent, both by his
presence, and by the due performance of this sacred ceremony.

CHAPTER LXXI: Sacred Service in the Church of the Apostles an the Occasion
of Constantine's Funeral.

   As soon as [Constantius] had withdrawn himself with the military train,
the ministers of God came forward, with the multitude and the whole
congregation of the faithful, and performed the rites of Divine worship
with prayer. At the same time the tribute of their praises was given to the
character of this blessed prince, whose body rested on a lofty and
conspicuous monument, and the whole multitude united with the priests of
God in offering prayers for his soul, not without tears, -- nay, rather
with much weeping; thus performing an office consonant with the desires of
the pious deceased. (1) In this respect also the favor of God was
manifested to his servant, in that he not only bequeathed the succession of
the empire to his own beloved sons, but that the earthly tabernacle of his
thrice blessed soul, according to his own earnest wish, was permitted to
share the monument of the apostles; was associated with the honor of their
name, and with that of the people of God; was honored by the performance of
the sacred ordinances and mystic service; and enjoyed a participation in
the prayers of the saints. Thus, too, he continued to possess imperial
power even after death, controlling, as though with renovated life, a
universal dominion, and retaining in his own name, as Victor, Maximus,
Augustus, the sovereignty of the Roman world. (2)

CHAPTER LXXII: Of the Phoenix.

   WE cannot compare him with that bird of Egypt, the only one, as they
say, of its kind, which dies, self-sacrificed, in the midst of aromatic
perfumes, and, rising from its own ashes with new life, soars aloft in the
same form which it had before. Rather did he resemble his Saviour, who, as
the sown corn which is multiplied from a single grain, had yielded abundant
increase through the blessing of God, and had overspread the whole world
with his fruit. Even so did our thrice blessed prince become multiplied, as
it were, through the succession of his sons. His statue was erected along
with theirs in every province; and the name of Constantine was owned and
honored even after the close of his mortal life.

CHAPTER LXXIII: How Constantine is represented on Coins in the Act of
ascending to Heaven.

   A COINAGE Was also struck which bore the following device. On one side
appeared the figure of our blessed prince, with the head closely veiled:
the reverse exhibited him sitting as a charioteer, drawn by four horses,
with a hand stretched downward from above to receive him up to heaven.

CHAPTER LXXIV: The God whom he had honored deservedly honored him in
Return.

   SUCH are the proofs by which the Supreme God has made it manifest to
us, in the person of Constantine, who alone of all sovereigns had openly
professed the Christian faith, how great a difference he perceives between
those whose privilege it is to worship him and his Christ, and those who
have chosen the contrary part, who provoked his enmity by daring to assail
his Church, and whose calamitous end, in every instance, afforded tokens of
his displeasure, as manifestly as the death of Constantine conveyed to all
men an evident assurance of his Divine love.

CHAPTER LXXV: He surpassed all Preceding Emperors in Devotion to God.

   STANDING, as he did, alone and pre-eminent among the Roman emperors as
a worshiper of God; alone as the bold proclaimer to all men of the doctrine
of Christ; having alone rendered honor, as none before him had ever done,
to his Church; having alone abolished utterly the error of polytheism, and
discountenanced idolatry in every form: so, alone among them both during
life and after death, was he accounted worthy of such honors as none can
say have been attained to by any other; so that no one, whether Greek or
Barbarian, nay, of the ancient Romans themselves, has ever been presented
to us as worthy of comparison with him. (1)


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF II/I, Schaff and Wace). The digital version is by The Electronic
Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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