bishop of Poitiers died, the people demanded the former-soldier-turned-monk become their bishop. Beloved by his people, the reluctant bishop spread the Gospel throughout the countryside and also became one of the most beloved saints in the history of the Church. The shrine of his relics at Tours was one of the most visited during the Middle Ages. Saint Martin is a shining example of the amazing saints who illuminate this era in Church history, which produced two conversions that shaped the history of Western civilization.
Victory at the Bridge
Diocletian’s dream of an Empire free from political turmoil and civil war was dead. His abdication in 305 pushed the Empire into another period of instability, as men, empowered by their legions, fought for political supremacy. Constantius, the western Augustus, was garrisoned with his soldiers in Britain and fell ill. He desired to see his son, Constantine, once more before he died, but the young man was in Nicomedia in the east and under close watch by Galerius, who was paranoid that the son of Constantius would usurp him. When news reached Constantine that his father was ill, he made plans to leave the imperial palace. When the time was right, Constantine fled Nicomedia and began the long and arduous journey to Britain. He reached the garrison in time to see his father before his death, but was surprised that when Constantius died, contrary to the established policy of the tetrarchy, the British legions named him Augustus. When news of Constantine’s proclamation as emperor reached Rome, another son of an emperor was angry. Maxientius, the son-in-law of Galerius and the son of the former emperor Maximian (who had abdicated in the same year as Diocletian), believed he should rule the Western Empire. Maxientius conspired with the Praetorian Guard and was proclaimed Emperor. The Western Empire now contained two men, with large numbers of troops, claiming to be emperor. The explosive situation needed swift resolution.
Constantine held a council of war in Britain, where he asked the advice of his generals. Should they march on Rome and engage Maxientius’s forces in combat to determine who would rule the Western Empire, or should they bide their time and gather additional forces? The generals advised the more cautious military strategy, but, recognizing that fortune favors the brave, Constantine decided to leave Britain, march through Gaul into Italy, and attack Rome — a risky campaign, but one that, if victorious, would give Constantine the imperial purple.
Constantine’s army left their garrison in Roman Britain and sailed across the channel to Gaul. On their march through Gaul, they witnessed a miracle that changed the future of the Empire forever. Constantine and his soldiers saw a cross mysteriously appear in the sky with puzzling phrase in hoc signo vinces, “In this sign, you will conquer.”2 Constantine was not a Christian, though he was aware of the group and, no doubt, had Christians in his army. Constantine’s father had not vigorously enforced Diocletian’s persecution edits in the west, so Constantine was, at the least, not ill disposed to the Church. It is believed that Constantine had a strong devotion to only one pagan god, Sol, making him already semi-monotheistic in his religious views. He came to believe the sign was indication of the Christian God’s favor in the coming battle with Maxientius, and in order to show his belief, he ordered his soldiers to paint the symbol of the Chi-Rho — the monogram formed from the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ — on their shields.
This Christian symbol became extremely popular after Constantine’s usage. Reproductions of it are found everywhere in the Roman world from the fourth century onward (indeed, it is still used in Catholic churches today and on liturgical vestments). The adoption of a Christian symbol by a Roman army marked a dramatic turning point in the history of the Church. The Roman army had been the instrument of state persecution of the Church, and less than a decade previously, had killed thousands of Christians. Now, troops from this same organization marched to battle with the sign of Christ on their shields. The victor of the coming fight could lay sole claim to the western throne.
The Battle of Milvian Bridge
It was October 28, 312, six years to the day of his accession to imperial power, and Maxentius felt lucky. News of Constantine’s forces approaching the city had reached him. He believed victory was certain because the pagan priests had told him the enemy of the Romans would die this day. Naturally, Maxentius believed this prophecy referred to the upstart Constantine and his legions from Britain. (He should have realized he was not popular among the people of Rome, and perhaps the prophecy was applicable to him.) Confident of victory, Maxentius defied sound military tactics. Instead of remaining within the fortified city walls and enduring a siege, he marched his army out of the city in order to engage Constantine in open combat. Because the stone bridge in that area, known as the Milvian Bridge (from whence the battle received its name), had been partially destroyed to prevent its use by the invading army, Maxentius’s forces crossed the Tiber on a wooden pontoon bridge. Constantine and his soldiers were also confident of victory, despite being outnumbered, because of their miraculous vision. Maxentius arrayed his forces too close to the river, which hampered their battlefield maneuvers. As it became apparent that the combat favored Constantine’s army, Maxentius ordered a retreat. But the wooden pontoon bridge collapsed under the assembled weight of the heavy cavalry and infantry, and Maxentius was thrown into the Tiber, where he drowned. His body was later recovered, decapitated, and taken into the city by Constantine as a sign of his victory. The Roman populace hailed Constantine as a deliverer and recognized him as the sole ruler of the Western Empire. In a move that signaled the dawn of a new era, Constantine did not go to the Capitol to offer the traditional sacrifice to the pagan gods in thanksgiving for his victory.
Constantine and the Church
Constantine attributed his victory over Maxentius to the intercession of the Christian God and, as a result, he favored the Church. Miraculously, the Faith went from a persecuted sect, hounded by the Roman emperors, to the favored organization of a Roman emperor! Constantine even embraced the Faith, receiving instruction under the spiritual guidance of bishop Hosius of Cordova (c. 257–358). Constantine became a catechumen, but he did not receive baptism until on his deathbed in 337.3 Although he was truly grateful for his victory over Maxentius, Constantine’s ambition had not been sated by becoming the western emperor, and he viewed the Church as an institution he could use to bring unity and reform to the Empire. Constantine’s vision of the Church and his involvement in her internal affairs became known as caesaro-papism — a situation where the emperor reigned supreme in both the temporal and spiritual realms. Caesaro-papism became the norm in the eastern half of the Empire, but not in the western half, and as such the development of the Church differed in the two parts of the Empire.
Constantine legislated Christian morality: crucifixion as a form of punishment was outlawed, gladiatorial games were suspended, temple prostitution was ended, and chastity laws were enacted. He also outlawed the ancient pagan pater familias custom. In this practice, the father of the household (which included immediate family members as well as all servants) was able to reject any child born in his household by refusing to hold the infant after birth. The rejected infant was then exposed outside the city walls and left to die. Although Constantine favored the Church, paganism continued to exist, and Constantine served in the traditional imperial role as Pontifex Maximus, or “bridge-builder,” between the various cults. However, his focus was on the Church. His favoritism extended to granting the Lateran palace, property of his wife, Fausta, to the bishop of Rome and building a church on that location for the pope, which became (and still is) the pope’s cathedral diocesan church, known as Saint John Lateran. The emperor made Sunday a legal holiday on which government offices and businesses were closed. Additionally, the Church was exempt from taxation and received funding from the state. Constantine also reshaped the imperial bureaucracy by appointing Christians to positions of importance as counsels and prefects.4 Constantine pursued these policies, seeing himself as “God’s special servant and attendant and friend and representative.”5 Although Constantine favored the Church and took instruction in the Christian faith after his victory at Milvian Bridge, there was a dark side to the man that was intent on personal ambition, power, and control. Constantine was a “coldly intelligent organizer, a man
