Lecture 14: Constantine and the Established Church
o With respect to Jews, the policy of earlier emperors had been
to allow freedom of association among them but to forbid
proselytism, or the conversion of Gentiles. Constantine
maintained this position, but he forbade conversions to Judaism
even more stringently.• As head of state, Constantine’s greatest innovation was the
significant patronage he showed to the Christian religion.
o The privileges of the old state religion began to be transferred:
In 313, Christian clergy were granted exemption from military
service and other public obligations.o In 321, Sunday was made a public holiday, and Christian
images increasingly appeared on coins, military shields, and
banners. Constantine also paid for the copying and production
of 50 manuscripts of the Bible.o Pagan temples (such as the Pantheon in Rome) were made into
Christian churches, and new basilicas (such as the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem) were constructed at imperial
command and expense.o For members of the state apparatus, it became advantageous
to make a public commitment to Christianity as a factor in
career advancement.• Constantine referred to himself humbly as the “servant of God,”
but he exhibited oversight of the church in the manner of the pagan
emperors, terming himself “bishop of external affairs.” His was
a difficult balancing act; as Pontifex Maximus, such emperors as
Augustus had exercised direct control over every aspect of Roman
religion, but Constantine did not have nearly that same control with
respect to Christianity.Conversion in the Empire
• The imperial favor of Constantine did not mean that the empire
became immediately or totally Christian. Many places and many