liberalitas(distribution of money to the Roman public). The seven silver altars together
with the numerous vessels of the Lateran Basilica are likely to be connected to such
an endowment by the emperor (Piétri 1997: 866). While the Roman public suffered
from famine under Maxentius (Panegyrici latini12 [9].4.4, 16.1; Chronica minora
1.148; Eus. HE8.14.6), the church now arranged public meals at the places of
victory in honor of the imperial founder, who thus participated in the victory of the
martyrs who were being venerated. The myth of the martyrs’ victory elevated that
of Constantine to divine heights. By honoring the martyrs in its new basilicas, the
victorious church honored the tyrant’s vanquisher.
Liturgy and Munificence
Those martyrs whose tombs were located in the vicinity of the new basilicas were
venerated there on their anniversaries. This allowed a connection to be made to those
more modest celebrations which used to take place in the cemeteries before 312.
Both the time (the martyrs’ dies natalis) and place (their coemeterium) were fixed
for the celebrations. For this reason a stational liturgy for the martyrs developed almost
of its own accord, in that all Christians of Rome came to their graves on their anniver-
saries, even if not in the form of a procession. This liturgy of the martyrs, which had
its origin in the Roman notion of victory, is captured in the depositio martyrum,
which may be seen in some respect as the earliest papal stational calendar.
The development of such a calendar of saints (Sanctorale) and its importance
to the Roman service has to be seen as an innovation. In any case the services inside
the city which were led by the presbyters on Sundays did not serve to commem-
orate the martyrs. The development of a martyrs’ calendar which spanned the year
was at least indirectly a consequence of Constantine’s ecclesiastic program. It surely
was one of the most successful tools to secure not only Constantine’s imperial dynasty
but also the Romanization of the Christians of Rome. Significantly, the depositio
martyrumand the depositio episcoporumhave been inserted into the manuscript
collection of the calendar of 354. The Christians are the only religious group with
their own lists of celebrations, an indication that many celebrations listed in the Roman
calendar framework (Fasti) with their corresponding spectaculawould soon become
obsolete.
Constantine’s partisan attitude toward Christianity as expressed in the church build-
ings could not be mistaken. It appears to have caused a wave of Christianization in
Rome, as proven by the rapid growth and extension of the catacombs (Fiocchi Nicolai
2000, 2001). Parts of the prosperous upper class also turned to the new faith, as is
illustrated by the increasing number of sarcophagi with Christian imagery (Dresken-
Weiland 2004). Presumably a significant number of these sarcophagi were placed in
the new martyrs’ churches, which served as privileged places of burial. These noble
families had villas close to the green belt of Rome and in the Campagna, and such
an arrangement met their need to present themselves in a suitable way. Sarcophagi
which celebrate the passion of Christ, as well as of Peter and Paul in the sign of
Constantine’s tropaion or labarum (imperial banner), belong to the time of
418 Stefan Heid