Prelude to the Great Persecution

The victory of Christianity in the last years of Constantine's was graphically described by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Life of Constantine . Clearly in Phoenicia, where he had excellent sources of reign information, the heart had gone out of the old religion. Every class in the community was prepared to accept Christianity and even to deride the deities that once they had held in awe. The victory there and ultimately over nearly the whole empire was so decisive that one is inclined to forget the tremendous struggle for the hearts and allegiances of the provincials that preceded it. Though in retrospect one might agree with von Harnack's view that even without Constantine's conversion Christianity would have triumphed, this was not how it appeared to most contemporaries. Down to the time of his victory over Licinius (September 324), Constantine seems to have aimed only at securing for Christianity the legal equality with the traditional cults, as envisaged by the Edict of Milan. The Council of Nicaea, however, summoned by the emperor in 325, proved to be decisive both for the establishment of orthodoxy and the victory of Christianity itself. Thenceforth, the history of the empire would also be the history of the Church

Ancient history · Christianity · Early Christianity · Emperor · Empire · Orthodoxy · Persecution · Political science · Reign · Roman Empire · Theology · Victory · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies

• Eusebius and Empire

  Open Access•James Corke-Webster, James Corke‐Webster•Eusebius and Empire•2019

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• Myth and History in Eusebius's De vita Constantini

  Open Access•Michael J Hollerich•Harvard Theological Review•1989

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• Overview

  Open Access•Frank R Trombley, Frank Trombley•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Rome

  Open Access•Markus Vinzent•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Self-definition vis-à-vis the Graeco-Roman world

  Open Access•A J Droge•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Towards a Christian paideia

  Open Access•Frances M Young•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Asia Minor and Achaea

  Open Access•Christine Trevett•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Persecutions

  Open Access•W H C Frend•Origins to Constantine•2006

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• Lactantius, Porphyry, and the Debate over Religious Toleration

  Open Access•Elizabeth DePalma Digeser•The Journal of Roman Studies•1998

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• The Rhetoric of Religious Conflict in Arnobius’ Adversvs Nationes

  Open Access•Konstantine Panegyres•The Classical Quarterly•2019

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• Constantine and Eusebius

  Timothy D Barnes•Constantine and Eusebius•2006

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• The prosopography of the later Roman Empire

  A H M Jones, J Morris et al.•The prosopography of the later…•1971

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• The acts of the Christian martyrs

  Herbert Musurillo•The acts of the Christian martyrs•1972

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• The Christians as the Romans Saw Them

  Robert Louis Wilken•The Christians as the Romans Saw…•1984

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• Paganism in the Roman Empire

  Ramsay Macmullen•Paganism in the Roman Empire•1983

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• Pachomius

  Philip Rousseau•Pachomius•1985

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• The Donatist Church

  W H C Frend•The Donatist Church•1985

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• The Public Works of Africa in the Reign of Diocletian

  C E Van Sickle•Classical Philology•1930

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• The Publication of the Prices Edict

  Open Access•M H Crawford, Joyce Reynolds•The Journal of Roman Studies•1975

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• Zur Religiosität der Christenverfolger im Römischen Reich

  C W Mendell, Joseph Vogt•The Classical World•1962

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