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 Constantine was the son of the western emperor Constantius. When his father died in 306, he was elected emperor of Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Maxentius, who ruled Italy and North Africa and wanted to rule the entire Empire, attacked Constantine with an army three times larger than his.
On the evening before the battle, Constantine saw a cross above the sun as it was setting in the west. In letters of light, the cross bore the words, “Hoc Signo Vinces,” translated, “By this sign conquer.” The next day he met his enemy at the Milvian Bridge. It was a furious battle, but in the end Constantine defeated the army of Maxentius.
After defeating Maxentius, Constantine determined to propitiate the Christian God who had given him victory. One year later he published from Milan an edict of religious toleration, granting full freedom to all existing forms of worship, with special reference to Christianity.
Constantine first adopted Christianity as a superstition, along with his pagan beliefs. When he was finally convinced that Christianity had vanquished Paganism, he was converted, although his conversion was always suspect. For example, he called and presided over the first Ecumenical Church Council at Nicea in 325, but in 326, had his son and wife executed on false charges.
Constantine erected magnificent Church buildings in prominent cities such as Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, and made large donations to the Church. But there was a price to pay. He ruled Christian bishops as his civil servants and demanded unconditional obedience to official pronouncements, even when they interfered with Church matters. Even more significant, however, was that the Christian name became a passport to political, military, and social promotion. As a result, thousands joined the Church, many of whom were more politically ambitious than religiously motivated. Many assumed roles in the Church without experiencing conversion; large segments of Church membership consisted of baptized pagans.
Because of the victory at the Milvian Bridge, the State was Christianized and the Church was secularized; the temporal gain of Christianity was cancelled by a great spiritual loss.
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