Constantine the Great: The reorganization of the Empire and the triumph of the Church

Constantine the Great: The reorganization of the Empire and the triumph of the Church

In the following chapters, my object has been to tell the story of the Life and Times of Constantine the Great. Whether he deserves the epithet my readers will judge for themselves; certainly his place in the select list of the immortals is not among the highest. But whether he himself was great or not, under his auspices one of the most momentous changes in the history of the world was accomplished, and it is the first conversion of a Roman Emperor to Christianity, with all that such conversion entailed, which makes his period so important and so well worth studying. I have tried to write with impartialitya virtue which one admires the more after a close reading of original authorities who, practically without exception, were bitter and malevolent partisans. The truth, therefore, is not always easily recognised, nor has recognition been made the easier by the polemical writers of succeeding centuries who have dealt with that side of Constantines career which belongs more particularly to ecclesiastical history. In narrating the course of the Arian Controversy and the proceedings of the Council of Nica I have been content to record factsas I have seen themand vito explain the causes of quarrel rather than act as judge between the disputants. And though in this branch of my subject I have consulted all the original authorities who describe the growth of the controversy, I have not deemed it necessary to read, still less to add to, the endless strife of words to which the discussion of the theological and metaphysical issues involved has given rise. On this point I am greatly indebted to, and have made liberal use of, the admirable chapters in the late Canon Brights The Age of the Fathers. Other authorities, which have been most useful to me, are Boissiers La Fin du Paganisme, Allards La Perscution de Diocltien et le Triomphe de lEglise, Duruys Histoire Romaine, and Grosvenors Constantinople. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 68703
Author: Firth, John B. (John Benjamin)
Release Date: Aug 6, 2022
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's sons
Publication Date: 1904
Publisher Country: United States