Constantine the Great: Rome by the Sword and the World by the Spirit.

[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] This study is about the multi-faceted character of Constantine. Constantine's actions show on the one hand a warrior - son of a Caesar who rose to become the leader of the Roman world - and on the other the emperor who claimed to follow and bow his knee to Christ. Historians throughout the centuries have presented two very familiar narratives regarding Constantine's motives. One narrative asserts that his remarkable change to favoring Christians was sincere. The other argues that he manipulatively used Christianity to bolster his political support to assume the purple of Rome. In the abundant material, both ancient and modern, on Constantine's controversial career, the division between those who claim he was a master manipulator and those who extol him as a Saint persists. To understand these contrasts completely it is necessary to put Constantine into context. He was the 4th Century upstart warrior who took the Roman Empire by force and yet revolutionized Europe and much of the world without fighting. It was Constantinian policies that impacted European history from 325 AD until arguably the 15th Century. His effort to merge the church and the state shaped debates that continue to the present day. With the introduction of a monotheistic religion that was sanctioned by his empire, Constantine put a major stamp on church history through the Reformation, into the New World, and with the continuation of the Roman Catholic church up until the present time. How did one person have such and impact? It will be seen from sources such as Lactantius, Eusebius, Athanasius, and Augustine that Constantine's greatest impact was reversing the eleven hundred years of religious history of the Roman Empire and embracing, supporting, and promoting Christianity. We see this in his actions and in what he communicated. Underlying this understanding of Constantine as a person is the pervasive historiographical divide on why he did what he did. There is little question as to what he accomplished but the vivid contrast lies in what historians say his motives were. The goal of this study is to show that while there is a historical divide in what has been said of Constantine ultimately, we cannot know with any degree of certainty what his motives were. The preponderance of evidence does tell us and shows that while Constantine embraced Christianity, he was a political machine and manipulated the system which means he was both a sinner and a saint, sincere and sinister. Yet the focus should really be on what he did. As a result of his efforts he brought a revolution to the Roman Empire without the sword and strategically impacted the middle East, Europe, the New World and our present day political situation.