True enough they would not worship him as a god but by accepting their beliefs it gave him another type of power. It was basically like the saying you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Constantine stopped the killing of Christians started by previous leadership, which made the Christian community grateful. This also put them in Constantine’s corner. So from then on, they mostly agreed with anything he wanted to do. He built on the organization of the empire government by mimicking the chain of power in the Christian leadership. He also assigned some of the positions of leadership in the empire to bishops and priests of the Christian Religion because they already understood how to lead and how important a chain of command is to a thriving culture. By doing this would also increase his political control. He exempted the Bishops and many of the churches from imperial taxation. He also pushed the Christian community to come up with one centralized idea of what a Christian is and rules they should live…
However, like most Christians, an understanding of his own Christianity would have most likely increased. It is clear that he supported Christianity because he believed the experience he had was divine and the victory his troops had won would not have been possible without the help of God. It does appear to be clear that Constantine’s conversion was convenient for his own aspirations; he did support a unity and “harmony” of the church and state and he pursued and implemented policies to end Christian persecutions and provide an inclusiveness and flexibility for Christians and extended poser to the authority of the church and his subjects.12 It may be prudent to hold judgment regarding the validity or authenticity of Constantine’s Christianity when one understands Constantine’s motives or actions. One such action which leads one to judgment is the fact that Constantine delayed his own baptism until near his death in 337 and that Constantine had his wife, Fausta, and his son Crispus murdered for political reasons. However, in Constantine’s mind, such actions may not have been contradictory but a necessity of the responsibly he may have felt for the religious welfare of his subjects and the state along with personal weakness from being simply human, despite his conversion. Individuals within scripture were at times no different. King David and Moses come to…
Han China and Rome did not have the same beliefs, Rome believed in Christianity while Han China believed in Confucianism. (DIF) Han Chinas belief brought the empire to unity under Han Wudi’s Ruling for 54 years. As opposed to Rome where their belief tore the empire apart. When Christianity triumphed the Edict of Milan was proclaimed under the ruling of Theodosius the Great. (EV) As the Romans tried to send out the message of Jesus the Romans had been persecuting the religion. Constantine ends the persecution in 313 ad, as he became the first Christian Emperor. This followed the Jewish Diaspora, the dispersal of Jews from their homeland because the temples were being destroyed. Christianity brought the Roman Empire to an end by dividing it into two, the Jewish and the Christians. These empires had very distinct types of ruling in the aspect of Religion which led them to either success or failure just by a believe.…
What do the accounts of two Roman emperors reveal about the strategies leaders use to improve their institutions? In the first century BCE, Rome was struggling to govern effectively, take care of its citizens, and deal with bordering nations. Augustus came to power in 27 BCE and his reign oversaw the successful transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire (McKay 156). Just before his death in 14 CE, he wrote his autobiography, Res Gestae Divi Augusti, which details the impressive accomplishments of his long career. This text can be compared to an account of another Roman Emperor, Constantine, who served roughly 300 years later, from 306 to 312 CE. Roman historian Eusebius wrote a detailed biography of Constantine, called The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, and this essay will focus on his description of a significant event in Constantine’s life, his conversion to Christianity. Although Emperors Augustus and Constantine both strived for similar goals of uniting Rome and bringing it to the forefront of the world, these two accounts, Res Gestae Divi Augusti and the Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, show that each ruler’s…
The development of christianity under the empire undoubtedly changed the relation between the political and spiritual spheres in following centuries. In fact, this transpires in how often emperors and empresses played dominant roles in the Eastern church after Constantine I's reign. In many instances, the Christian religion turned out to be a valuable political tool, and overall it was a major factor in spreading Byzantine cultural influence. The respective reigns of Emperors Constantine I, Theodosius I, Justinian/Theodora, Heraclius, Leo III, Irene, Basil I and Basil II illustrate this idea.…
Some historians have considered St. Constantine’s “conversion” a purely political maneuver. For example, it was Constantine who set aside the first day of the week, Sunday, as a sacred day of worship. He wanted to make this day a day of rest and worship, because St. Constantine was once a "sun worshiper." Even after he claimed to be a Christian he still seemed to carry these "sun god" ideas with him. For instance, from 312-320 A.D. one side of his coins, Usurper Magnentius, had the letters of the name of Christ and the other side had the figure of the sun god, possibly indicating that he never understood the theology of Christianity. Whether he still honored the sun god or whether he just wanted to please those in his kingdom who worshiped…
The decline of China and Rome both shared similar economic strife in that they were both subject to barbarian and nomadic invasions, therefore having to spend large amounts of money on frontier defense; however, they differed in that the Han Empire collapsed in part due to the high taxes imposed on the peasant class resulting in a large peasant rebellion, such as the Yellow Turbans, while in Rome tax collections was in danger of abandonment as residents of the empire were few in number and in financial difficulty. In addition, the two empires were similar socially because of large epidemics, diseases, and plagues that caused a population decrease. Also, both experienced a cultural decay in intellectual creativity and innovations. Differences appear in that China shared common culture, such as the Chinese script, while Rome was more fragmented causing a less severe fall in China than Rome. Politically, the falls of both…
They made bishops/clergy separate from normal members of the church and creating structure. Rome responded to this with more systematic persecution, but this approach doesn’t work. Christianity became too strong to defeat with force. Christianity had a lot to offer, such as the promise of salvation for people in all different roles of society- rich, poor, aristocrats, slaves, men and women. They had an emphasis on equality. The religion was also familiar. It was another religion offering immortality thanks to the sacrifice of a savior-god, but it offered more. Jesus was relatable because he was also human. Christianity fulfilled the need to belong and created communities. People could express love by helping one another, the poor, sick, widows and orphans. It offered women new roles and friendship with other women. Some women fostered the religion in their homes and preached to townspeople. Some even died for their faith. Constantine was the 1st Christian emperor. In 313 he used the Edict of Milan to officially declare the tolerance of Christianity. Theodosius “the great” made it the official religion of…
The Rosary is a devotional that derives from the early monastic practice of reciting the 150 psalms daily. When this devotional was adopted by the uneducated lay people of the time simple, easily remembered prayers---such as the Our Father---were substituted for the psalms, the repetition of the words intended to produce a quietude of mind that permitted the faithful to meditate upon the mysteries of the Gospel, focusing on the events of Christ’s life alongside the one who knew Him best: His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.…
One of the main differences between the two empires was their religions. Christianity, in Rome, was greatly opposed by religious institutions of the native Judaea and had to go against the official cults of Rome and also the “mystery” religions including Isis, Mithra, and Osiris. After the acceptance of Constantine, the Roman empire became mainly Christian. Constantine discontinued the persecution of Christians and supported the church. Christianity eventually influenced a lot of beliefs and decisions of the future rulers of Rome and appealed to lower class people…
“From this account and from his work a remarkably vivid picture can be formed of a dignified, majestic figure, striving to make the transition from warlord to ruler of a great Christian empire, and having remarkable success” (Roberts). Soon after his death, Charlemagne’s empire collapsed. However, he left in place a structure that allowed Christianity to flourish in Europe. Charlemagne’s empire cemented Christianity as the dominant religion in Europe because of his efforts in forming a strong alliance between the church and government, his success in teaching through the scriptures, and his military success in conquering and converting pagan territories. Charlemagne’s alliance between the church and state ingrained and spread Christianity by creating a lasting political structure which involved both counts and bishops. These alliances also legitimized the Pope’s position. Additionally, Charlemagne provided the church with land, which gave it power. Furthermore, Charlemagne combined education with learning Christianity by creating a center of learning where priests would read and teach the Holy Scriptures. These educated bishops and priests were appointed to key positions throughout the empire. During his rule, Charlemagne’s military campaigns helped spread Christianity by forcing people to obey the Christian Church and by eliminating any competition the church had at that time.…
At the time and throughout his life, Constantine was not a Christian convert until immediately prior to his death. But he had been known prior to the battle and subsequently, as one who did not favor persecution of the Christians. He was not the first to advocate this tolerance of Christians, as part of a political tactic. It is also difficult to understand why Constantine would pursue the political course of declaring Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. The path to political power in the Roman Empire since Caesar had been to court the support of the Roman soldiers first.…
The spread of the Christian religion weakened the Roman Empire. The rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire began when Emperor Constantine approved toleration to this new belief, which eventually became the official state…
Constantine ensured that the church had an effect on the empire. The great philanthropic work of the church, with which she attempted to alleviate grinding poverty, was made possible through the resources supplied by the state. After Constantine’s death in 337, the empire he built was divided amongst his three…
While rulers were able to speak of a division between secular and religious authority, the actions of these men did not always align with their words and emperors continued to impact the doctrine of the Church. Not only did this create tension between the emperor and the clergy, it also fundamentally altered the perception of the emperor. Unquestionably, the role of emperor had always been a powerful one, but during Late Antiquity, his authority within the Roman government was combined with the power of the Christian Church. For the average citizen of the empire, not only did this mean that their ruler had ultimate civic and religious power, it also meant that they lived under an emperor who had been given God’s blessing. Both of these facts would alter Roman identity.…