Early Unitarians in Christianity 81Lucian believed that Jesus was not equal to God and that he
was subordinate to Him. It was for this that he incurred the enmity
of the Pauline Church, and after many tortures he was put to death
in 312 AD.
Arius (250-336 AD) and Donatus (died 355 AD)
The lives of Arius and Donatus are so intertwined both with each
other and with the life of-the Emperor Constantine that it is not
possible to understand one without knowing the others. The story
of how Constantine first became involved with the Christian
Church begins in Rome:
Constantine became jealous of his eldest son and heir, Crispus.
The young prince had become very popular because of ms good
looks, ms charming manner and ms bravery on the field of battle.
To make sureof msownpositionas Emperor,Constantinehadmm
murdered. The death of Crispus cast a gloom over the whole realm.
It was known that the step-mother of Crispus had wanted her own
son to succeed Constantine. She therefore had a motive for killing
Crispus. Constantine accordingly put the blame for ms crime on
her, and killed her by immersing her in a bath full of boiling water.
He hoped to mitigate one crime by the other. The result, however,
was just the opposite of what he had planned - the supporters of
the dead queen joined forces with the followers of ms dead son,
and both sought revenge. In desperation he tumed to the priests of
the Roman temple of Jupiter for help, but they told him there was
no sacrifice or prayer which could absolve him from the two mur
ders. It became so uncomfortable to be in Rome that Constantine
decided to go to Byzantium.
On his arrival there, Constantine modestly re-named the city
after himself, and called it Constantinople. Here he met with unex
pected salvation from the Pauline Church, whose leaders said that
if he did penance in their Church his sins would be forgiven. Con
stantine made full use of this facility. His hands were not only
stained with the blood from the two murders in Rome, but also
full of the problems associated with governing ms Empire. Having
salved ms conscience with ms confession, the life to come ceased
to worry him as much as it had, and he tumed ms attention to the
affairs of the Empire. Constantine recognised the possibilities of
using the Christian Church to his own ends provided that he could
win its loyalty, and 50 he gave the Church his full support.