03-02-2013, 07:30 PM
Quote:whilst "youth" may be overdoing it (...wish I had the oration to hand to see what word he used!) 30 is not that old on the Roman cursus
Yes, 'youth' was a bit of a relative term! I followed up Barnes' reference, and it's actually from C's letter to the eastern provinces, dated c.324 and repeated in Eusebius' Vita Constantini (translated into Greek; the original Latin is lost): "I call now on thee, most high God, to witness that, when young, I heard him who at that time was chief among the Roman emperors, unhappy, truly unhappy as he was, and laboring under mental delusion, make earnest enquiry of his attendants as to who these righteous ones on earth were, and that one of the Pagan priests then present replied that they were doubtless the Christians." (Vita, II.51)
This isn't quite the 'brazen lie' that Barnes suggests, although the context indicates that C was too young to have any influence at the time.
It's Eusebius himself who provides the gloss, likening C to Moses being brought up in the palace of Pharoah: "For the tyrants of our day have ventured to war against the Supreme God, and have sorely afflicted His Church. And in the midst of these, Constantine, who was shortly to become their destroyer, but at that time of tender age, and blooming with the down of early youth, dwelt, as that other servant of God had done, in the very home of the tyrants, but young as he was did not share the manner of life of the ungodly: for from that early period his noble nature, under the leading of the Divine Spirit, inclined him to piety and a life acceptable to God." (Vita, I.12)
'Tender age' and 'the down of early youth' do indeed suggest a child, not a high-ranking military officer with several campaigns under his belt!
Quote:Constantinus may have had many motives, both secular, political and religious (one god, one emperor...) and may have permitted several religious identities in these early days.
Probably, yes. Interestingly, the same letter mentioned above also contains the bit most quoted as evidence of C's tolerance for paganism: “My own desire is, for the common good of the world and the advantage of all mankind, that thy people should enjoy a life of peace and undisturbed concord. Let those, therefore, who still delight in error, be made welcome to the same degree of peace and tranquillity which they have who believe... With regard to those who will hold themselves aloof from us, let them have, if they please, their temples of lies: we have the glorious edifice of thy truth, which thou hast given us as our native home."
Discord within the Christian community seems to have grieved Constantine more than residual paganism: "For while the people of God, whose fellow-servant I am, are thus divided amongst themselves by an unreasonable and pernicious spirit of contention, how is it possible that I shall be able to maintain tranquillity of mind?" (Vita II.72)
Maintaining the united appearance of the victorious new faith was therefore more important at this stage than making active moves against the traditional religions.
Nathan Ross
