CHAPTER XLII
CONSTANTINE.
[LIT. 37%
stone beautifully adorned on the surface.
Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive the multitudes who entered the church.
CHAPTER XLI.
Of the Erection of Churches in Bethlehem, and on the Mount of Olives.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
In the same country he discovered other places, venerable as being the localities of two sacred caves: and these also he adorned with lavish magnificence.
In the one case, he rendered due honor to that which had been the scene of the first manifestation of our Saviour's divine presence, when he submitted to be born in mortal flesh ; while in the case of the second cavern he hallowed the remembrance of his ascension to heaven from the mountain top.
And while he thus nobly testified his reverence for these places, he at the same time eternized the memory of his mother,' who had been the instrument of conferring so valuable a benefit on mankind.
Description of the Hemisphere, the Twelve Columns, and their Bowls.
Opposire these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere,' which rose to the very summit of the church.
This was encircled by twelve columns (according to the number of the apostles of our Saviour), having their capitals embellished with silver bowls of great size, which the emperor himself presented as a splendid offering to his God.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Description of the Inner Court, the Arcades,
CHAPTER XLII.
and Porches.
That the Empress Helena,'
Constantine's Mother, having visited this Locality for Devotional Purposes, built these Churches.
In the next place he enclosed the atrium, which occupied the space leading to the entrances in front of the church.
This comprehended, first the court, then the porticos on each side, and lastly the gates of the court.
After these, in the midst of the open market-place,' the general entrance-gates, which were of exquisite workmanship, afforded to passers-by on the For she, having resolved to discharge the duties of pious devotion to the God, the King of kings, and feeling it incumbent on her to render thanksgivings with prayers on behalf both of her own son, now so mighty an emperor, and of his sons, her own grandchildren, the divinely favored Czesars, though now advanced in years, yet gifted with no common degree of wisdom, had hastened with youthful alacrity to survey this venerable land; and at the same time to visit the eastern provinces, cities, and people, with a truly imperial solicitude.
As soon, then, as she had rendered due reverence to the ground which the Saviour's feet had trodden, according to the prophetic word which says ® " Let us worship at the place whereon his feet have stood," she immediately bequeathed the fruit of her piety to future generations. outside a view of the interior which could not fail to inspire astonishment.
CHAPTER XL.
Of the Number of his Offerings.
Tuis temple, then, the emperor erected as a conspicuous monument of the Saviour's resurrection, and embellished it throughout on an imperial scale of magnificence.
He further enriched it with numberless offerings of inexpressible beauty and various materials, — gold, silver, and precious stones, the skillful and elaborate arrangement of which, in regard to their magnitude, number, and variety, we have not leisure at present to describe particularly.!
CHAPTER XLIII.
A Farther Notice of the Churches at Bethlehem. roof, which was loftier than any of the rest.— Bag.]
Translated by Molz. "'Quadrangular supports."
'In Architecture a cudic mass of building, to serve for bearings." — Liddell and Scott.
For without delay she dedicated two churches to the God whom she adored, one at the grotto which had been the scene of the Saviour's birth ; the other on the mount of his ascension.
For 1 [Apparently, the altar, which was of a hemispherical, or rather hemicylindrical form. — Bag.] *Also a much-discussed question.
Compare Heinichen, vol. 3, p. 521-522.
1 [In front of the larger churches there was generally a street, or open space, where a market was held on the festival of the Marae to whom the church was dedicated.
Regard was also had, in this arrangement, to architectural effect, the object being that nothing should interfere with the view of the front of the church.
Vzde Valesius 2% loc. — Bag.] 1 Compare Prolegomena, p. 411.
1 Compare Wordsworth, Helena, in Smith and Wace, Dzc#. 2
(1880), 881 sq, That she was made empress is shown also by the es, ae coins in einer
2 [Ps. cxxxi. 7.
Septuagint.
— Bag. ngl. Vers. cxxxii.
'© We will worship at his footstool.'" if 1 Some idea of various features of this building may be gathered from the cuts and descriptions of other basilicas in Fergusson, H7story of Architecture, 1 (1874), 400 sq.; Liibke, Geschichte der
Architektur, « (Lpg. 1875), 229 sq.; Langl.'s series of Bilder zur Geschichte, &c.
III. 46.]
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
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the gifts she bestowed on the naked and unprotected poor.
To some she gave money, to others an ample supply of clothing: she liberated some from imprisonment, or from the bitter servitude of the mines; others she delivered from unjust oppressicn, and others again, she restored from exile.
: he who was " God with us" had submitted to be born even in a cave! of the earth, and the place of his nativity was called Bethlehem by the Hebrews.
Accordingly the pious empress honored with rare memorials the scene of her travail who bore this heavenly child, and beautified the sacred cave with all possible splendor.
The emperor himself soon after testified his reverence for the spot by princely offerings, and added to his mother's magnificence by costly presents of silver and gold, and embroidered hangings.
And farther, the mother of the emperor raised a stately structure on the Mount of Olives also, in memory of his ascent to heaven who is the Saviour of mankind, erecting a sacred church and temple on the very surnmit of the mount.
And indeed authentic history informs us that in this very cave the Saviour imparted his secret revelations to his disciples.
And here also the emperor testified his reverence for the King of kings, by diverse and costly offerCHAPTER
XLV.
Helena's Pious Conduct in the Churches.
Wuite, however, her character derived luster from such deeds as I have described, she was far from neglecting personal piety toward God."
She might be seen continually frequenting his Church, while at the same time she adorned the houses of prayer with splendid offerings, not overlooking the churches of the smallest cities.
In short, this admirable woman was to be seen, in simple and modest attire, mingling with the crowd of worshipers, and testifying her devotion to God by a uniform course of pious conduct. ings.
Thus did Helena Augusta, the pious mother of a pious emperor, erect over the two mystic caverns these two noble and beautiful monuments of devotion, worthy of everlasting remembrance, to the honor of God her Saviour, and as proofs of her holy zeal, receiving from her son the aid of his imperial power.
Nor was it long ere this aged woman reaped the due reward of her labors.
After passing the whole period of her life, even to declining age, in the greatest prosperity, and exhibiting both in word and deed abundant fruits of obedience to the
CHAPTER XLVI.
How she made her Will, and died at the Age of Eighty Years.
AnD when at length at the close of a long life, she was called to inherit a happier lot, having arrived at the eightieth year of her age, and being very near the time of her departure, she prepared and executed her last will in favor of her only son, the emperor and sole monarch of the world, and her grandchildren, the Czsars his sons, to whom severally she bequeathed whatever property she possessed in any part of the world.
Having thus made her will, this thrice blessed woman died in the presence of her illustrious son, who was in attendance at her side, caring for her and held her hands: so that, to those who rightly discerned the truth, the thrice blessed one seemed not to die, but to experience a real change and transition from an earthly to a heavenly existence, since her soul, remoulded as it were into an incorruptible and angelic essence,! was received up into her Saviour's presence." divine precepts, and having enjoyed in consequence an easy and tranquil existence, with unimpaired powers of body and mind, at length she obtained from God an end befitting her pious course, and a recompense of her good deeds even in this present life.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Of Helena's Generosity and Beneficent Acts.
For on the occasion of a circuit which she made of the eastern provinces, in the splendor of imperial authority, she bestowed abundant proofs of her liberality as well on the inhabitants of the several cities collectively, as on individuals who approached her, at the same time that she scattered largesses among the soldiery with a liberal hand.
But especially abundant were LT 1s alll nace atest diletl: ebs eel ipe A 1 According to some apocryphal accounts Constantine owed his conversion to his mother (compare the apocryphal letters mentioned under Writings, in the Prolegomena), but Eusebius, below (ch.
47), seems to reverse the fact.
: é i [These words seem to savor of Origen's doctrine, to which Eusebius was much addicted.
Origen believed that, in the resurrection, bodies would be changed into souls, and souls into angels, according to the testimony of Jerome.
See Valesius z% loc.— Bag. | 2 The date of Helena's death is usually placed in 327 or 328.
Compare Wordsworth, l.c.
Since she was eighty years old at the time of her death she must have been about twenty-five when Constantine was born.
1 [ Literally, beneath the earth.
It seems to have been characteristic of the age of Eusebius to invest the more prominent circumstances connected with the Lord's life on earth with a degree of romance and mystery equally inconsistent with Scripture and with probability.
It is obvious that Scripture furnishes no authority for the caves either of the nativity or ascension.
See ch. 41, supra.— Bag.| Compare discussion by Andrews, Cave of the Nativity in his Life of our Lord (N. Y-), 77-83- , E f 2 [Alluding, peeanly; to the discourse in Matt. xxiv., delivered by our Lord to the disciples on the Mount of Olives.
— Bag.]
CONSTANTINE.
(IIT. 47,
the city which was to be distinguished by his own name from idolatry of every kind, that henceforth no statues might be worshiped there in the temples of those falsely reputed to be gods, nor any altars defiled by the pollution of blood: that there might be no sacrifices consumed by fire, no demon festivals, nor any of the other ceremonies usually observed by the superstitious.
CHAPTER XLVII.
How Constantine buried his Mother, and how he honored her during her Life.
HER body, too, was honored with special tokens of respect, being escorted on its way to the imperial city by a vast train of guards, and there deposited in a royal tomb.
Such were the last days of our emperor's mother, a person worthy of being had in perpetual remembrance, both for her own practical piety, and because she had given birth to so extraordinary and admirable an offspring.
And well may his character be styled blessed, for his filial piety as well as on other grounds.
He rendered her through his influence so devout a worshiper of God,
CHAPTER XLIX.
Representation of the Cross in the Palace, and of Daniel at the Public Fountains.
On the other hand one might see the fountains in the midst of the market place graced with figures representing the good Shepherd, well known to those who study the sacred oracles, and that of Daniel also with the lions, forged in brass, and resplendent with plates of gold.
Indeed, so large a measure of Divine love possessed the emperor's soul, that in the principal apartment of the imperial palace itself, on a vast tablet! displayed in the center of its gold-covered paneled ceiling, he caused the symbol of our Saviour's Passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of precious stones richly inwrought with gold.
This symbol he seemed to have intended to be as it were the safeguard of the empire itself.
(though she had not previously been such,) that she seemed to have been instructed from the first by the Saviour of mankind : and besides this, he had honored her so fully with imperial dignities, that in every province, and in the very ranks of the soldiery, she was spoken of under the titles of Augusta and empress, and her likeness was impressed on golden coins.'
He had even granted her authority over the imperial treasures, to use and dispense them according to her own will and discretion in every case: for this enviable distinction also she received at the hands of her son.
Hence it is that among the qualities which shed a luster on his memory, we may rightly include that surpassing degree of filial affection whereby he rendered full obedience to the Divine precepts which enjoin due honor from children to their parents.
In this manner, then, the emperor executed in Palestine the noble works I have above described: and indeed in every province he raised new churches on a far more imposing scale than those which had existed before his time.
CHAPTER L.
That he erected Churches in Nicomedia, and in Other Cities.
Havinc thus embellished the city which bore his name, he next distinguished the capital of Bithynia* by the erection of a stately and magnificent church, being desirous of raising in this city also, in honor of his Saviour and at his own charges, a memorial of his victory over his own enemies and the adversaries of God.
He also decorated the principal cities of the other provinces with sacred edifices of great beauty ; as, for example, in the case of that metropolis of the East which derived its name from Antiochus, in which, as the head of that portion of the empire, he consecrated to the service of God a church of unparalleled size and beauty.
The entire building was encompassed by an enclosure of great extent, within which the church itself rose to a vast elevation, being of an octagonal form, and surrounded on all sides by
CHAPTER XLVIII.
How he built Churches in Honor of Martyrs, and abolished Idolatry at Constantinople.
AND being fully resolved to distinguish the city which bore his name with especial honor, he embellished it with numerous sacred edifices, both memorials of martyrs on the largest scale, and other buildings of the most splendid kind, not only within the city itself, but in its vicinity : and thus at the same time he rendered honor to the memory of the martyrs, and consecrated his city to the martyrs' God.
Being filled, too, with Divine wisdom, he determined to purge 1 Perhaps the largest "' panel." outside the walls at Rome, central panel.
The restored church of St. Paul, as a paneled ceiling with a very large 1 Compare note above.
It is said (Wordsworth) that while silver and copper coins have been found with her name, none of gold have yet come to light.
1 [Nicomedia, where Constantine compelled him to surrender; church, — Bag.]
had besieged Licinius, and in memory of which event he built this
TY. 53.)
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
en re many chambers, courts, and upper and lower apartments; the whole richly adorned with a profusion of gold, brass, and other materials of the most costly kind. by you: so that the criminal conduct thus overlooked may now through our means obtain fitting correction and remedy, necessary though ardy.
For surely it is a grave impiety indeed, that holy places should be defiled by the stain of unhallowed impurities.
What then is this, dearest brethren, which, though it has eluded your sagacity, she of whom I speak was impelled by a pious sense of duty to disclose?
CHAPTER'
LI.
That he ordered a Church to be built at Mamore.
Sucu was the principal sacred edifices erected by the emperor's command.
But having heard that the self-same Saviour who erewhile had appeared on earth' had in ages long since past
CHAPTER LIII.
That the Saviour appeared in this Place to Abraham. afforded a manifestation of his Divine presence to holy men of Palestine near the oak of Mambre,' he ordered that a house of prayer should be built there also in honor of the God who had thus appeared.
Accordingly the imperial commission was transmitted to the provincial governors by letters addressed to them individually, enjoining a speedy completion of the appointed work.
"SHE assures me, then, that the place which takes its name from the oak of Mambre, where we find that Abraham dwelt, is defiled by certain of the slaves of superstition in every possible way.
She declares that idols* which should be utterly destroyed have been erected on the site of that tree ; that an altar is near the spot; and that impure sacrifices are continually performed.
Now since it is evident that these practices are equally inconsistent with the character of our times, and unworthy the sanctity of the place itself, I wish your Gravities ? to be informed that the illustrious Count Acacius, our friend, has received instructions by letter from me, to the effect that every idol which shall be found in the place above-mentioned shall immediately be consigned to the flames; that the altar be utterly demolished ; and that if any one, after this our mandate, shall be guilty of impiety of any kind in this place, he shall be visited with condign punishment.
The place itself we have directed to be adorned with an unpolluted structure, 1 mean a church; in order that it may become a fitting place of assembly for holy men.
Meantime, should any breach of these our commands occur, it should be made known to our clemency without the least delay by letters from you, that we may direct the person detected to be dealt with, as a transgressor of the law, in the severest manner.
For you are not ignorant that the Supreme God first appeared to Abraham, and conversed with him, in that place.
There it was that the observance of the Divine law first began; there first the Saviour himself, with the two angels, vouchsafed to Abraham a manifestation of his presence; there God first appeared to men; there he gave promise to Abraham concerning his future seed, and straightway fulfilled that promise ; there he foretold that he should be the father of a multitude of nations.
He sent moreover to the writer of this history an eloquent admonition, a copy of which I think it well to insert in the present work, in order to convey a just idea of his pious diligence and zeal.
To express, then, his displeasure at the evil practices which he had heard were usual in the place just referred to, he addressed me in the following terms.
CHAPTER LII.
Constantine's Letter to Eusebius concerning Mambre.
"Vicror ConsTaNTINUS, Maximus AUGUSTUS, to Macarius, and the rest of the bishops in Palestine.'
"One benefit, and that of no ordinary importance, has been conferred on us by my truly pious mother-in-law,' in that she has made known to us by letter that abandoned folly of impious men which has hitherto escaped detection ns 1 This doctrine, which appears again and again in Eusebius and in Constantine, has a curiously interesting bearing at present theological controversies in America, and En land for that matter.
It may be called the doctrine of the '' eterna Christ," as over against the doctrine of the " essential Christ," or that which seems to make his existence begin with his incarnation— the ' historical Christ."
He had historical existence from the beginning, both as the indwelling and as the objective, and one might venture to think that advocates of these two views could find a meeting-ground, or solution of difficulty at least, in this phrase which represents him who was in the beginning with God and is and ever shall be, who has made all things which have been made, and is in all parts of the universe and the world, among pers and Gentiles.
2 [The English version in this passage (Gen. xviii. 1), and others, has "plains," though the Septuagint and ancient interpreters generally render it, as here, by '' oak,'' some by "' terebinth"
(turpentine tree), the Vulgate by "convallis."
— Bag.) The Revised Version (1881-1885) has '' oaks."
1 [These objects of idolatrous worship were probably figures intended to represent the angels who had appeared to Abraham. —
Bag.| More probably they were some form of images obscenely worshiped.
1 The writer of this history says the letter was addressed to him, while it is really to Macarius.
On this ground the Eusebian authorship of the book has been challenged, but of course Eusebius is
'among "' the rest of the bishops."
2 Better " Reverences," and so throughout.
2 [Eutropia, mother of his empress Fausta. — Bag. |