suffering, Christianity seemed to give the best answers and to set the most impres-
sive examples in the eyes of many contemporaries.
Constantine felt he was supported by the power which gave the Christians their
strength, and made use of it for his political aims. Although the Christianization of
the Roman empire cannot be put down to a single person, Constantine’s decision
made the process of Christianization completely irreversible. Thus, Christianity had
been victorious against persecutors in the end. However, the official recognition of
Christianity conjured up another enemy of this religion, which had previously only
lurked in the background: dogmatic disputes and internal quarrels, which were to
weigh heavily on Christians for centuries, in particular when they were linked to
political conflicts.FURTHER READINGA brilliant historical overview is given by Potter (2004). For the religious developments see
Lane Fox (1988); on the concept of paganism, Leppin (2004); on the cult of the Sun, Berrens
(2004). Strobel (1993) doubts whether the third century was actually perceived as an epoch
of crisis by contemporaries. Witschel (1999) draws attention to the regional differences within
the Roman empire. See also the contributions in Swain and Edwards (2004) (on the problem
of monotheism especially Edwards 2004) and Alföldy (1989a). For a history of Christianity,
see Chadwick (2001) and Piétri (2004). On Manicheism, see S. Lieu (1994). On Philip the
Arab, see Körner (2002) and Rives (1999); for an alternative interpretation, Selinger (2004);
for the following periods de Blois (1976), Alaric Watson (1999: esp. 183f.), Corcoran (1996),
Kolb (2004), Bleckmann (2003), and Drake (2000). On the persecution of Christians, see
Schwarte (1994). Local studies like Bratoˇz (2004) give a clearer picture of the real extent of
the Diocletianic persecution. For Donatism, see Maier (1987).108 Hartmut Leppin