accompanied by growing administrative sophistication, which
saw the emergence of bishops as the key leadership figures within
Christian communities. This process was important also for
the definition of orthodoxy and its defence against the challenges
of theological speculations that came to be regarded as heresy
(chapter 5). Similarly, the third century saw the emergence of
some of early Christianity’s greatest intellects, notably Origen.
Such growth brought Christianity greater attention from outsiders,
sometimes manifested by hostility and persecution, at others by
curiosity, perhaps even respect.
These developments might seem to conform to the old
teleological view of Christian history, suggesting that full recog-
nition and acceptance under Constantine was inevitable, albeit
after a final test of Christian resolve in Diocletian’s great perse-
cution. This view of trauma eclipsed by triumph is too simplistic.
Although the political fortunes of Christianity were indeed trans-
formed by Constantine’s conversion, the first Christian emperor
turned out to be a peculiar champion for the church. Although
ecclesiastical writers could regard him as the advocate of ortho-
doxy at the council of Nicaea in 325, his later rejection of the
Nicene creed and its defenders made him a controversial figure.
Moreover, while some Christians might have interpreted Constan-
tine’s adoption of Christianity as inaugurating an era of peace
for the church (as indeed it is sometimes presented in modern
accounts), for others the persecutions continued. Among the
Christian communities of north Africa, for example, a schism
arose over the conduct of Christians during the great persecution.
One group, the Donatists – so-called because they followed the
views of Donatus, a cleric elected by hardliners as bishop of
Carthage in 311 – held that any Christians who had surrendered
sacred scriptures to the persecutors should not be easily read-
mitted to the body of the church. Constantine, however, sided
with the Donatists’ more moderate opponents, the self-proclaimed
‘catholics’. He tried to achieve unity in the African church
through inquiry, debate, and persuasion at councils of bishops and
through the efforts of imperial officials. When these tactics failed,
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