Constantine had a vision of a cross before a pivotal battle where he saw "Conquer by this". He went on to defeat his rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. Constantine then had the Chi Rho symbol, the first two letters of Christ in Greek, put on his soldiers' shields. This symbol would later be used widely in Christian art. The 313 Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine and Licinius, granted religious freedom to Christians. Constantine's legalization and favor of Christianity had both positive and negative impacts that historians still debate.

1. Persecution &
Triumph:
Christianity in
the 4th Century
Y. A. Monsoun

2. Part II
Constantine

3. Constantine
Constantine was born
c. 272 to St. Helena
and Co-Emperor
Constantius.
Constantine served
the Roman state as a
soldier and was
considered a leading
candidate for
Emperor.

4. Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his Life of
Constantine Book 1 Chapter 28 wrote of Constantine’s
heavenly vision:
[Constantine] 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.

5. The rival Emperors Maxentius and Constantine
contended for the throne. Their struggle reached
its culmination at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in
312.

6. Eusebius describes Constantine’s dream and the chi rho standard
he unfurled at the Battle of Milvian Bridge:
Chapter 29
He said, more over, 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.

7. Chapter 30
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 31
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, 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…

8. Chi Rho on
sarcophagus
early 300s
Chi (Greek letter X)
and rho (Greek letter
P) are the first letters
of Christ.

9. Lanctantius in Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors
Died Chapter 44 wrote of the downfall of the tyrant
Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge:
[Maxentius] went to the field. The bridge in his rear was
broken down. At sight of that the battle grew hotter. The
hand of the Lord prevailed, and the forces of Maxentius
were routed. He fled towards the broken bridge; but the
multitude pressing on him, he was driven headlong into
the Tiber.

10. Lanctantius wrote of the 313 Edict of Milan in Chapter 48. The Edict
provided freedom of religion:
When we, Constantine and Licinius, emperors, had an interview at Milan,
and conferred together with respect to the good and security of the
commonweal, it seemed to us that, among those things that are profitable to
mankind in general, the reverence paid to the Divinity merited our first and
chief attention, and that it was proper that the Christians and all others
should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them
appeared best; so that that God, who is seated in heaven, might be benign
and propitious to us, and to every one under our government. And
therefore we judged it a salutary measure, and one highly consonant to right
reason, that no man should be denied leave of attaching himself to the rites
of the Christians, or to whatever other religion his mind directed him, that
thus the supreme Divinity, to whose worship we freely devote ourselves,
might continue to vouchsafe His favour and beneficence to us.

11. Constantine became sole emperor in 324.

12. Coin showing
Constantine and the
chi rho symbol from
315

13. Some theologians, like the late Mennonite John Yoder, see the
Constantinization of the Church as a break with the past and a
fall from grace. Others, like Peter Leithart, defend Constantine.
See: A review of Defending Constantine
Some questions we can ask: Was the early church pacifist? Did
Constantine improve the condition of children and slaves?