The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation

Lecture 13: Imperial Politics and Religion

o Symbolically, Constantinople was a New Rome that was also

a Christian Rome from the beginning: Materials from pagan

temples were used in its construction, and pagan idols were

melted to provide gold for ornamentation.

•    In the future, Constantinople would become a genuine rival to the

old Rome, thriving especially when the old capital was weak and

challenging the old Rome for primacy in every respect.

o If the first Rome was important because it was the seat of

empire, then the new Rome must be at least equally important

for the same reason.

o But if the old Rome based its religious importance on being

the city of Peter and Paul, then Constantinople should

be secondary.

o The seeds of considerable later religious distress were sown by

Constantine’s political decision.

Fox, Pagans and Christians.

Pelikan, The Excellent Empire.

1. Discuss the ancient premise, which obtained until the historical
   “yesterday,” that unity of religious observance is the basis for political
   unity and stability.


2. Imagine two things: (1) what Christianity might have become had
   Constantine not sponsored it and (2) what the empire would have
   become had Christianity remain encysted within it.

Suggested Reading

Questions to Consider