Chapter Lviii
CONSTANTINE.
[I. 56. pe et ee who had commenced the persecution.
He,' however, of whom we are now speaking, who had been a witness of these things, and known them by his own actual experience, all at once banished the remembrance of them from his mind, and reflected neither on the punishment of the first, nor the divine judgment which had been executed on the second persecutor.?
The latter had indeed endeavored to outstrip his predecessor in the career of crime, and prided himself on the invention of new tortures for us.
Fire nor sword, nor piercing with nails, nor yet wild beasts or the depths of the sea sufficed him.
In addition to all these, he discovered a new mode of punishment, and issued an edict directing that their eyesight should be destroyed.
So that numbers, not of men only, but of women and children, after being deprived of the sight of their eyes, and the use of the joints of their feet, by mutilation or cauterization, were consigned in this condition to the painful labor of the mines.
Hence it was that this tyrant also was overtaken not long after by the righteous judgment of God, at a time when, confiding in the aid of the demons whom he worshiped as gods, and relying on the countless multitudes of his troops, he had ventured to engage in battle.
For, feeling himself on that occasion destitute of all hope in God, he threw from him the imperial dress which so ill became him, hid himself with unmanly timidity in the crowd around him, and sought safety in flight.* whom he regarded as his worst adversaries, bearing special enmity to those men whom the great and pious emperor treated as his friends.
Accordingly he spent on us the utmost of his fury, and, being transported beyond the bounds of reason, he paused not to reflect on the example of those who had persecuted the Christians before him, nor of those whom he himself had been raised up to punish and destroy for their impious deeds: nor did he heed the facts of which he had been himself a witness, though he had seen with his own eyes the chief originator of these our calamities (whoever he was), smitten by the stroke of the Divine scourge.
CHAPTER LVII.
That Maximian; brought Low by a Fistulous Ulcer with Worms, tssued an Edict in Favor of the Christians.
For whereas this man had commenced thé attack on the churches, and had been the first to pollute his soul with the blood of just and godly men, a judgment from God overtook him, which at first affected his body, but eventually extended itself to his soul.
For suddenly an abscess appeared in the secret parts of his person, followed by a deeply seated fistulous ulcer ; and these diseases fastened with incurable virulence on the intestines, which swarmed with a vast multitude of worms, and emitted a pestilential odor.
Besides, his entire person had become loaded, through gluttonous excess, with He afterwards lurked about the fields and villages in the habit of a slave, hoping he should thus be effectually concealed.
He had not, however, eluded the mighty and all-searching eye of God: for even while he was expecting to pass the residue of his days in security, he fell prostrate, smitten by God's fiery dart, and his whole body consumed by the stroke of Divine vengeance ; so that all trace of the original lineaments of his person was lost, and nothing remained to him but dry bones and a skeleton-like appearance. an enormous quantity of fat, and this, being now in a putrescent state, is said to have presented to all who approached him an intolerable and dreadful spectacle.
Having, therefore, to struggle against such sufferings, at length, though jate, he came to a realization of his past crimes against the Church; and, confessing his sins before God, he put a stop to the persecution of the Christians, and hastened to issue imperial edicts and rescripts for the rebuilding of their churches, at the same time enjoining them to perform their customary worship, and to offer
CHAPTER LIX. up prayers on his behalf.'
That Maximin, blinded by Disease, tssued an Ldict in Favor of the Christians.
CHAPTER LVIII.
AnD still the stroke of God continued heavy upon him, so that his eyes protruded and fell from their sockets, leaving him quite blind: and thus he suffered, by a most righteous retribution, the very same punishment which he had been
That Maximin, who had persecuted the Christtans, was compelled to fly, and conceal himself in the Disguise of a Slave.
SucH was the punishment which he underwent 1 [Galerius Maximian.
The description of his illness and death in the next chapter is repeated from the author's Ecclesiastical
1 Licinius. i 2 focdtong ruler of the Eastern provinces of the empire. — History, Bk. 8, c. 16. — Bag.] Compare translation of McGiffert, p338. and note; also Lactantius, De M7. P. c. 33. ag.
He was defeated by Licinius, who had much inferior forces.
Compare Prolegomena, under Lz/z, and references.
* Compare edict in the Church History, 8. 17.
I. 59.]
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
now knew, by positive experience, that the God of the Christians was the only true God.
These were facts which Licinius had not merely received on the testimony of others, but of which he had himself had personal knowledge: and yet, as though his understanding had been obscured by some dark cloud of error, persisted in the same evil course. the first to devise for the martyrs of God.
At length, however, surviving even these sufferings, he too implored pardon of the God of the Christians, and confessed his impious fighting against God : he too recanted, as the former persecutor had done ; and by laws and ordinances explicitly acknowledged his error in worshiping those whom he had accounted gods, declaring that he
BOOK II.
These servile governors' then, feeling assured that such a course would be pleasing to the impious tyrant, subjected the most distinguished
Bishops to be put to Death at Amasia of| prelates of the churches to capital punishment.
Pontus.
CHAPTER I.
Secret Persecution by Licinius, who causes Some Accordingly, men who had been guilty of no crime were led away, without cause' punished like murderers: and some suffered a new kind of death, having their bodies cut piecemeal ; and, after this cruel punishment, more horrible than any named in tragedy, being cast, as a food to fishes, into the depths of the sea.
The result of these horrors was again, as before, the flight of pious men, and once more the fields and In this manner, he of whom we have spoken continued to rush headlong towards that destruction which awaits the enemies of God ; and once more, with a fatal emulation of their example whose ruin he had himself witnessed as the consequence of their impious conduct, he re-kindled the persecution of the Christians, like a long-extinguished fire, and fanned the unhallowed flame to a fiercer height than any who had gone before him. deserts received the worshipers of God.
The tyrant, having thus far succeeded in his object, he farther determined to raise a general persecution of the Christians:* and he would have accomplished his purpose, nor could anything have hindered him from carrying his resolution into effect, had not he who defends his own anticipated the coming evil, and by his special guidance conducted his servant Constantine to this part of the empire, causing him to shine forth as a brilliant light in the midst of the darkness and gloomy night.
At first, indeed, though breathing fury and threatenings against God, like some savage beast of prey, or some crooked and wriggling serpent, he dared not, from fear of Constantine, openly level his attacks against the churches of God subject to his dominion; but dissembled the virulence of his malice, and endeavored by secret and limited measures to compass the death of the bishops, the most eminent of whom he found means to remove, through charges laid against them by the governors of the several provinces.
And the manner in which they suffered had in it something strange, and hitherto unheard of.
At all events, the barbarities perpetrated at Amasia of Pontus surpassed every known excess of cruelty.
CHAPTER III.
How Constantine was stirred in Behalf of the Christians thus in Danger of Persecution.
HE, perceiving the evils of which he had heard to be no longer tolerable, took wise counsel, and tempering the natural clemency of his character with a certain measure of severity, hastened to succor those who were thus grievously oppressed.
For he judged that it would rightly be deemed a pious and holy task to secure, by the removal of an individual, the safety of the greater part of the human race.
He judged too, that if he listened to the dictates of clemency only, and bestowed his pity on one utterly unworthy of it, this would, on the one hand, confer no real benefit on a man whom nothing would induce to abandon his evil practices, and whose fury against his subjects would only be likely to inCHAPTER
II.
Demolition of Churches, and Butchery of the Bishops.
For in that city some of the churches, for the second time since the commencement of the persecutions, were leveled with the ground, and others were closed by the governors of the several districts, in order to prevent any who frequented them from assembling together, or rendering due worship to God.
For he by whose orders these outrages were committed was too conscious of his own crimes to expect that these services were performed with any view to his benefit, and was convinced that all we did, and all our endeavors to obtain the favor of God, were on Constantine's behalf.
1 Literally, '' the flatterers and time-servers about him."
2 Or "openly."
— 3 pane reading in the text is rovrwv, but should be mavtwv, of all Christians, as it is in Hist. Eccles. Bk. 10, c. 8, from which this passage is almost verbally taken.
— Bag.]
T1395.
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
crease ;1 while, on the other hand, those who suffered from his oppression would thus be forever deprived of all hope of deliverance.
CHAPTER V.
What Licinius, while sacrificing in a Grove, said Influenced by these reflections, the emperor resolved without farther delay to extend a protecting hand to those who had fallen into such an extremity of distress.
He accordingly made the usual warlike preparations, and assembled his whole forces, both of horse and foot.
But before them all was carried the standard which I have before described, as the symbol of his full confidence in God. concerning Idols, and concerning Christ.
Anp when he was now ready to engage, he desired the most approved of his body-guard? and his most valued friends to meet him in one of the places which they consider sacred.
It was a well-watered and shady grove, and in it were several marble statues of those whom he accounted to be gods.
After lighting tapers and performing the usual sacrifices in honor of these, he is said to have delivered the following speech :
CHAPTER IV.
" Friends and fellow-soldiers!
These are our country's gods, and these we honor with a worship derived from our remotest ancestors.
But he who leads the army now opposed to us has proved false to the religion of his forefathers, and adopted atheistic sentiments, honoring in his infatuation some strange and unheard-of Deity, with whose despicable standard he now disgraces his army, and confiding in whose aid he has taken up arms, and is now advancing, not so much against ws as against those very gods whom he has forsaken.
However, the present occasion shall prove which of us is mistaken in his judgment, and shall decide between our gods and those whom our adversaries profess to honor.
For either it will declare the victory to be ours, and so most justly evince that our gods are the true saviours and helpers ; or else, if this God of Constantine's, who comes we know not whence, shall prove superior to our deities (who are many, and in point of numbers, at least, have the advantage), let no one henceforth doubt which god he ought to worship, but attach himself at once to the superior power, and ascribe to him the honors of the victory. Suppose, then, this strange
God, whom we now regard with ridicule, should really prove victorious; then indeed we must acknowledge and give him honor, and so bid a long farewell to those for whom we light our tapers in vain.
But if our own gods triumph (as they undoubtedly will), then, as soon as we have secured the present victory, let us prosecute the war without delay against these despisers of the gods."
That Constantine prepared himself for the War by Prayer: Licinius by the Practice of Divtnation.
He took with him also the priests of God, feeling well assured that now, if ever, he stood in need of the efficacy of prayer, and thinking it right that they should constantly be near and about his person, as most trusty guardians of the soul.
Now, as soon as the tyrant understood that Constantine's victories over his enemies were secured to him by no other means than the cooperation of God, and that the persons above alluded to were continually with him and about his person ; and besides this, that the symbol of the salutary passion preceded both the emperor himself and his whole army ; he regarded these precautions with ridicule (as might be expected), at the same time mocking and reviling the emperor with blasphemous words.
On the other hand, he gathered round himself Egyptian diviners and soothsayers, with sorcerers and enchanters, and the priests and prophets of those whom he imagined to be gods.
He then, after offering the sacrifices which he thought the occasion demanded, enquired how far he might reckon on a successful termination of the war.
They replied with one voice, that he would unquestionably be victorious over his enemies, and triumphant in the war: and the oracles everywhere held out to him the same prospect in copious and elegant verses.
The soothsayers certified him of favorable omens from the flight Such were the words he addressed to those then present, as reported not long after to the writer of this history by some who heard them spoken.?
And as soon as he had concluded his speech, he gave orders to his forces to commence the attack. of birds; the priests' declared the same to be indicated by the motion of the entrails of their victims.
Elevated, therefore, by these fallacious assurances, he boldly advanced at the head of his army, and prepared for battle.
1 Literally, '' shield-bearers," but here relates to a chosen body of guards, as in the Macedonian army.
Compare Liddell and Scott, Lex. s.v. vragmiotys.
1 This seems to intend some exoneration of Constantine, explaining why he was what the heathen called "faithless" towards Licinius. y 1 Soothsayers and priests.
These were technically '"' augurs" and "'haruspices." Compare for their functions the articles
Augur, Divinatio, and Haruspices, in Smith, Dict, Gr. and Rom. Ant.
2 The whole passage seems altogether too appropriate to receive ready credence; but it is worth noting here how Eusebius '' quotes his authors," and seems to give the thing for what it is worth, keeping perhaps the same modicum of reservation for the hearers' rela-
CONSTANTINE.
[II. 6. the standard, which they carried each in turn on their shoulders.
These circumstances were related to the writer of this narrative by the emperor himself in his leisure moments, long after the occurrence of the events: and he added another incident well worthy of being recorded.
CHAPTER VI.
An Apparition seen in the Cites subject to Lict- ' mtus, as of Constantine's Troops passing through them.
WHILE these things were taking place a supernatural appearance is said to have been observed in the cities subject to the tyrant's tule.
Different detachments of Constantine's army seemed to present themselves to the view, marching at noonday through these cities, as though they had obtained the victory.
In reality, not a single soldier was anywhere present at the time, and yet this appearance was seen through the agency of a divine and superior power, and foreshadowed what was shortly coming to pass.
For as soon as the armies were ready to engage, he who had broken through the ties of friendly alliance' was the first to commence the battle; on which Constantine, calling on the name of "God the Supreme Saviour," and giving this as the watchword to his soldiers, overcame him in this first conflict: and not long after in a second battle he gained a still more important and decisive victory, the salutary trophy preceding the ranks of his army.
CHAPTER IX.
That One of the Cross-bearers, who fied from his Post, was slain: while Another, who faithfully stood his Ground, was preserved.
For he said that once, during the very heat of an engagement, a sudden tumult and panic attacked his army, which threw the soldier who then bore the standard into an agony of fear, so that he handed it over to another, in order to secure his own escape from the battle.
As soon, however, as his comrade had received it, and he had withdrawn, and resigned all charge of the standard, he was struck in the belly by a dart, which took his life.
Thus he paid the penalty of his cowardice and unfaithfulness, and lay dead on the spot: but the other, who had taken his place as the bearer of the salutary standard, found it to be the safeguard of his life..
For though he was assailed by a continual shower of darts, the bearer remained unhurt, the staff of the standard receiving every weapon.
It was indeed a truly marvelous circumstance, that the enemies' darts all fell within and remained in the slender circumference of this spear, and thus saved the standard-bearer from death ; so that none of those engaged in this service ever received a wound.
CHAPTER VII.
That Victory everywhere followed the Presence of the Standard of the Cross in Battle.
INDEED, wherever this appeared, the enemy soon fled before his victorious troops.
And the emperor perceiving this, whenever he saw any part of his forces hard pressed, gave orders that the salutary trophy should be moved in that direction, like some triumphant charm? against disasters : at which the combatants were divinely inspired, as it were, with fresh strength and courage, and immediate victory was the result.
This story is none of mine, but for this, too, I am indebted to the emperor's own authority, who related it in my hearing along with other matters.
And now, having thus through the power of God secured these first victories, he put his forces in motion and continued his onward march.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER X.
That Fifty Men were selected to carry the Cross.
Various Battles, and Constantine's Victories.
ACCORDINGLY, he selected those of his bodyguard who were most distinguished for personal strength, valor, and piety, and intrusted them with the sole care and defense of the standard.
There were thus no less than fifty men whose only duty was to surround and vigilantly defend
THE van, however, of the enemy, unable to resist the emperor's first assault, threw down their arms, and prostrated themselves at his feet.
All these he spared, rejoicing to save human life.
But there were others who still continued in arms, and engaged in battle.
These the emperor endeavored to conciliate by friendly mane Baines ew Dt. ewisd, Bee rg tive imagination and memory, when relating after the events, that ¢ modern reader does.
1 [Licinius was suspected of having secretly countenanced Bassianus (who had married Constantine's sister Anastasia, and received the rank of Czsar) in a treasonable conspiracy.
Vide Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. 14.— Bag.) Compare Prolegomena, under ee.
1 [Maauy, '" again," alluding to the former miracle, the vision of the cross, which Eusebius does not venture to attest himself, but relates on the word and oath of Constantine,
Vide Bk. I, cc. 28 and 30. — Bag.] 1 Or "remedy"; i.e. that which keeps off harm.
II. 14.]
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
BO: eee overtures, but when these were not accepted he ordered his army to commence the attack.
On this they immediately turned and betook themselves to flight; and some were overtaken and slain according to the laws of war, while others fell on each other in the confusion of their flight, and perished by the swords of their comrades. whom the sacred oracles testify, that he pitched the tabernacle without the camp.2
He was attended only by a few, whose faith and pious devotion he highly esteemed.
And this custom he continued to observe whenever he meditated an engagement with the enemy.
For he was deliberate in his measures, the better to insure safety, and desired in everything to be directed by divine counsel.
And making earnest supplications to God, he was always honored after a little with a manifestation of his presence.
And then, as if moved by a divine impulse, he would rush from the tabernacle, and suddenly give orders to his army to move at once without delay, and on the instant to draw their swords.
On this they would immediately commence the attack, fight vigorously, so as with incredible celerity to secure the victory, and raise trophies of victory over their enemies.
CHAPTER XI.
Light, and Magic Arts of Licinius.
In these circumstances their commander, finding himself bereft of the.aid of his followers,! having lost his lately numerous array, both of regular and allied forces, having proved, too, by experience, how vain his confidence had been in those whom he thought to be gods, ignominiously took to flight, by which indeed he effected his escape, and secured his personal safety, for the pious emperor had forbidden his soldiers to follow him too closely,? and thus allowed him an opportunity for escape.
And this he did in the hope that he might hereafter, on conviction of the desperate state of his affairs, be induced to abandon his insane and presumptuous ambition, and return to sounder reason.
So Constantine, in his excessive humanity, thought and was willing patiently to bear past injuries, and extend his forgiveness to one who so ill deserved it; but Licinius, far from renouncing his evil practices, still added crime to crime, and ventured on more daring atrocities than ever.
Nay, once more tampering with the detestable arts of magic, he again was presumptuous: so that it might well be said of him, as it was of the Egyptian tyrant of old, that God had hardened his heart.'
CHAPTER XIII.
fis Humane Treatment of Prisoners.
Tuus the emperor and his army had long been accustomed to act, whenever there was a prospect of an engagement; for his God was ever present. to his thoughts, and he desired to do everything according to his will, and conscientiously to avoid any wanton sacrifice of human life.
He was anxious thus for the preservation not only of his own subjects, but even of his enemies.
Accordingly he directed his victorious troops to spare the lives of their prisoners, admonishing them, as human beings, not to forget the claims of their common nature.
And whenever he saw the passions of his soldiery excited beyond control, he repressed their fury by a largess of money, rewarding every man who saved the life of an enemy with a certain weight of gold.
And the emperor's own sagacity led him to discover this inducement to spare human life, so that great numbers even of the barbarians weré thus saved, and owed their lives to the emperor's gold.
CHAPTER XII.
How Constantine, after praying in his Tabernacle, obtained the Victory.
Bur while Licinius, giving himself up to these impieties, rushed blindly towards the gulf of destruction, the emperor on the other hand, when he saw that he must meet his enemies in a second battle, devoted the intervening time to his Saviour.
He pitched the tabernacle of the cross ! outside and at a distance from his camp, and there passed his time in a pure and holy manner, offering up prayers to God ; following thus the example of his ancient prophet, of
CHAPTER XIV.
A Farther Mention of his Prayers in the Tabernacle.
Now these, and a thousand such acts as these, were familiarly and habitually done by the emperor.
And on the present occasion he retired, as his custom was before battle, to the privacy of his tabernacle, and there employed his time in prayer to God.
Meanwhile he strictly ab1 " Slaves," a word which has frequently been used by Eusebius in this literal sense.
2 This idiom here is nearly the English, '' followed on the heels" of any one.
3 Ex, ix. 12.
1 | This tabernacle, which Constantine always carried with him in his military expeditions, is described by Sozomen, Bk. 1, c. 8; see
English translation. — Bag.) 2 [Alluding to Ex. xxxiii. 7, &c. — Bag.]