Hi again, and welcome to Serbian Week's second post! After speaking about Nikola Tesla last Tuesday, I spent some time thinking on who could be the second character to speak about during this week, and then I remembered that the city I am staying in during the week, Niš, is famous, among other things, for being the place of birth of Justin I (uncle and antecessor of famous Byzantine Emperor Justinian I), and the better known Constantine the Great.
Born on February 27th 272, from Flavius Valerius Constantius and his consort Helena in the city of Naissos, Flavius Valerius Constantinus lived for most of his early life in the east of the Roman Empire, joining the army and fighting to defend the Empire from its external enemies, until conspiracies on the part of Galerius (who had replaced Diocletian as Emperor in the eastern half of the Empire) forced him to run away to the west, where his father Constantius was Emperor. During a campaign beyond Hadrian's Wall in Britain, Constantius fell ill and died, and Constantine was proclaimed Emperor by his troops; Galerius did not accept this, as Constantius' legal successor was Septimius Severus, and he suggested for Constantine to become the Caesar, the successor of the Emperor, and Constantine accepted in order to avoid a civil war. Constantine followed his father's tolerant politics towards Christians, distinguising himself from Diocletian and Galerius, who had been brutally persecuting the followers of Christ. Maxentius0 and Maximian's rebellions increased his popularity, which became important when Galerius died, and a civil war started.
It is during this civil war when, according to the legend, Constantine had a dream in which he was suggested to mark his soldiers with the Christian cross or the symbol ☧ (combination of the Greek letters Chi and Rho, the first two letters of the word Christos) next to the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces" (With this sign, you shall win). The Battle of the Milvian Bridge that took place some time after that dream was a great victory for Constantine, who, with an army half of that of Maxentius, defeated the latter, becoming Emperor of the western half of the Empire. The later Battle of Adrianopolis against Licinius (who had become Emperor of the eastern half of the Empire), seen by the soldiers and the propaganda of the time as a fight between Licinius' paganism and Constantine's christianism ended in another victory for the latter.
Wishing to wash away all roughness between the two halves of the empire, Constantine decided to establish a new capital in the East, but one that could act as a bridge between West and East. In the end, after some time studying several possibilities, he chose the place where the ancient city of Byzantion (Βυζάντιον in Greek) stood, building there the city that would soon be called Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη or Konstantinoúpoli), which would become the new capital of the Roman Empire. From there, Constantine worked tirelessly to push the Empire's borders outwards (conquering new lands in the Caucasus and in the lower Danube), as well as starting deep administrative and economic reforms. Constantine died on May 22nd 337, shortly after being baptized by Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in that same city (nowadays known as Ízmit, in Turkey), following the tradition of being baptized as late as possible in order to wash away as many sins as possible.
There is no doubt that Constantine played an important role in modern Western civilization, since, without his support, the Christian Church would not have become the great spiritual power it became after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Constantine was also attributed the donation of the lands that gave birth to the Papal States, which would last until 1870, but said donation was but a falsification created to give legitimacy to the Pope's temporal power. His construction of the city of Constantinople was also a large influence in later generations, as the Byzantine would manage to conserve several philosophical documents that would be later used in other situations. What would have happened to the world if Constantine's life had changed?
If, for whatever reason, Constantine had not become Emperor, Christianity would have not acquired as much influence as in real life, at least not until a lot of time later. As it is said in "The Da Vinci Code" (even if it is not very good, at least it is not all bad), Constantine knew to bet on the winning horse, and thanks to him Rome became the religious center of Christianity. Other potential candidates to the role might not have been that ready to raise the Christians to such high positions, even if tolerance had been part of the religious policies practiced by Rome. This difference would have prevented the Christian Church from gaining such great temporal influence (if not spiritual), and might have avoided many of the problems that would take place later in time (such as the Schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, the Reform, or perhaps certain priests' support for many dictatorships around the world).
Between his religious reforms were the declaration of Arianism (the belief that the Son of God was not eternal, but that he was created by God, and, as such, he was a different entity) as an heretic doctrine, the exile of the Donatists (supporters of a bishop named Donatus, as opposed to another they stated was not a valid candidate) and the establishment of the Nicene Creed as a dogmatic declaration of the Christian religion. Without Constantine, something likely to happen would be the establishment of Arianism as an important doctrine for a good part of Christianity, which would have made many things very different to what they were for us. The victory of Donatism is unlikely to take place, and, since the Nicene Creed was a partial consequence of the fights between orthodox Christianity and Arianism, this might not have existed at all.
It is also possible that, even if he had become Emperor, he might not have accepted his mother Helena's influence over him. Constantine barely knew his father in his early life, and had he been more time with his father instead of his mather, he might have preferred to be more supportive of Paganism (perhaps a Sol Invictus worshipper) than a Christian, and would have not been as supportive of Christianity, even if he still practiced tolerance towards them. Had it happened this way, Mithra might have replaced Jesus as the main religion followed in the world, or instead it might have caused a war between Mithraism and Christianism, breaking the Roman Empire down from within, much sooner than when the northern barbarians did.
What if his army had been defeated in the Milvian Bridge, in spite of his troops' religious fervor as they had the cross engraved in their shields? Christianism's popularity would have fallen, probably. There would have been yet many followers, but maybe not as influential within society, as they would say "How would an all-powerful god that doesn't even protect those who fight for him exist?". The previous Christianism vs Paganism/Mithraism could have taken place as well.
The existence (or not) of Constantinople is another factor of great importance. Had Constantine picked another place for the Eastern capital, then there would have been many differences in the development of civilization in the region. Depending on where the capital was, the Eastern Roman Empire might have taken longer to fall, although, had it been in the Asiatic side, it might have lasted even less time. Without the strategical position kept by the Empire in the Bosphorus, the capital would have not suffered the brutal attack of the Fourth Crusade, which marked the end of the Byzantine Empire's splendor. Of course, with a different Eastern Roman Empire, the Crusades may not have happened at all.
And how can we forget the importance the city of Constantinople had for the Orthodox Church after the Schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches? Without the important religious neuralgic center that was the city, the Orthodox Church's strength would have been diminished, as it would have been led by a city that would be further from the center of power than others, perhaps Alexandria.
What else can be said about the effects any change in Constantine's life would have had in history? Much like with any other person of great importance, a small change would have made what came after it vary enormously.
Well, that's all for today. I hope you have liked this Serbian Week's two posts, and soon I will be back with more things to speak about. Enjoy!
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