The Life of the Emperor Constantine – History Essay
Constantine became the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity. As Constantine embraced Christianity he brought the Roman Empire with him; transforming the polytheistic, pagan empire, into a Christian one.
According to Constantine’s biographer, Eusebius, states that his transformation took place when he supposedly received a vision of Christ prior to the battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine easily won the battle and attributed his victory to the help he got from the Christian god. Constantine played a very active role in establishing the Christian church in the Roman Empire and gave the Christians the right to worship without being persecuted.
Not only was Constantine responsible for stopping the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and vital in establishing the church in the empire, he also was a mediator in a great deal of theological disagreements amongst Christians. The most noted one act of mediation was the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., in which Constantine called a council of bishops from all across the empire to establish a doctrine that all Christians could agree on and could be backed by the state.
Constantine’s reforms set a precedent for the Roman Empire and for Christians. “The active participation of Christian emperors in church affairs became a common feature in later Byzantine history.” This is a truly amazing accomplishment considering that the emperor in power before Constantine, Diocletian spearheaded all Christian persecution in throughout the empire. His political ability was second to none, it is truly amazing that Constantine was able to take an entire empire that had been predominantly pagan for several centuries and turn it into a Christian empire.