Book 1: The Life and Legacy of Constantine (Chapters 1-16)
Chapter 1: Introduction
All humanity has already joined in celebrating with joyous festivals the completion of this great emperor's second and third decades of rule. Already, at the first of these milestones, we ourselves received him as a triumphant conqueror in the assembly of God's ministers and greeted him with the praise he deserved. More recently, we wove what amounted to garlands of praise, with which we crowned his sacred head in his own palace on the thirtieth anniversary of his reign.
I want to express some thoughts I've been carrying with me, but I find myself confused and uncertain where to begin. I'm completely overwhelmed by the extraordinary sight in front of me. Wherever I look (whether east or west, across the entire world, or even toward heaven itself), I see the blessed emperor present everywhere. On earth I see his sons, like new mirrors reflecting his brilliance, spreading the radiance of their father's character in every direction. And I see him still alive and powerful, governing the affairs of humanity more thoroughly than ever before, multiplied through the succession of his children to imperial power. They had already shared the dignity of Caesars before this, but now, having received their father's full authority and honored by his achievements, they are proclaimed by the titles of Sovereign, Augustus, Worshipful, and Emperor because of their excellent piety.
Chapter 2: The Purpose of This History
I'm truly amazed when I think about how Constantine, who was so recently alive and present among us in his mortal body, still receives the same imperial residences, honors, and praises even after death, when natural thinking would reject such elaborate distinctions as inappropriate. But when I lift my thoughts even higher to the vault of heaven and contemplate his thrice-blessed soul in communion with God Himself, freed from every mortal and earthly covering and shining in a brilliant robe of light, and when I realize that his soul is no longer tied to the fleeting moments and concerns of mortal life but honored with an eternally blooming crown and an immortality of endless and blessed existence, I stand almost paralyzed and robbed of all ability to speak. So while I acknowledge my own inadequacy and impose silence on myself, I leave the task of speaking his praises worthily to one who is better able: to Him who alone has the power (being the immortal God, the Word) to confirm the truth of His own words.
Chapter 3: God Honors Pious Rulers and Destroys Tyrants
God has promised that those who glorify and honor Him will receive an abundant reward from His hands, while those who set themselves against Him as enemies and adversaries will bring about the ruin of their own souls. He has already established the truth of these declarations. He has shown that the lives of those tyrants who denied and opposed Him came to a terrible end, and at the same time He has made it clear that even the death of His servant, as well as his life, deserves admiration and praise, and rightly demands to be remembered not merely in perishable records, but in immortal ones.
Humanity has always tried to compensate for the fragile and fleeting nature of human life. People have believed they could secure eternal honor for their ancestors' memory by building monuments. Some have used the vivid colors and lines of painting. Others have carved statues from lifeless blocks of wood. Still others have engraved their inscriptions deep into tablets and monuments of wood and stone, hoping to preserve the virtues of those they honored in perpetual remembrance. Yet all these things are perishable and consumed by the passage of time. They are merely representations of the corruptible body, incapable of expressing the image of the immortal soul. Still, these seemed adequate to those who had no solid hope of happiness after this mortal life ends. But God (the God who preserves the universe) has stored up for those who love godliness far greater blessings than human thought has ever conceived. By giving the down payment and first fruits of future rewards even here and now, He assures immortal hopes to mortal eyes in a tangible way. The ancient oracles of the prophets, delivered to us in Scripture, declare this. The lives of godly men who shone in ancient times with every virtue attest to the same truth. And our own days prove it is true, for Constantine (who alone of all who ever wielded Roman power was the friend of God, the Sovereign of all) has appeared to all humanity as a brilliant example of a godly life.
Chapter 4: How God Honored Constantine
God Himself, whom Constantine worshiped, confirmed this truth through the clearest signs of His will. He was present to help Constantine at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of his reign, holding him up to humanity as a model of godliness. God distinguished him alone among all the rulers we've ever heard of (through the many blessings He gave him) as both a mighty light and the clearest, most powerful herald of genuine faith.
Chapter 5: His Thirty-Year Reign
Regarding how long he reigned, God honored him with three complete decades and a bit more, and set the full term of his mortal life at twice that number of years. Being pleased to make him a representative of His own sovereign power, God displayed him as the conqueror of the entire race of tyrants and the destroyer of those godless rulers of the earth who had dared with reckless audacity to raise their impious weapons against Him, the supreme King of the universe. These tyrants appeared for only a brief moment before being destroyed together. Meanwhile, the one and only true God enabled His servant, dressed in heavenly armor, to stand alone against many enemies. Through him, God freed humanity from the multitude of the ungodly and appointed him as a teacher of His worship to all nations, to declare with a loud voice in everyone's hearing that he acknowledged the true God and turned away in disgust from the error of false gods.
Chapter 6: Servant of God and Conqueror
Like a faithful and good servant, Constantine acted and testified in this way, openly declaring himself the obedient minister of the supreme King. God immediately rewarded him by making him ruler and sovereign, victorious to such a degree that he alone among all the emperors pursued a continuous course of conquest, undefeated and invincible, holding imperial power greater than tradition records any predecessor ever possessed. So dear was he to God, and so blessed: so devout and so fortunate in everything he attempted that he brought more nations under his control with greater ease than anyone before him, and yet kept his power undisturbed until the very end of his life.
Chapter 7: Compared to Cyrus and Alexander
Ancient history describes Cyrus as by far the most illustrious of all the Persian kings. Yet if we look at the end of his days, we find it corresponded little with his past prosperity, since he met an inglorious and dishonorable death at the hands of a woman.
Again, the Greeks celebrate Alexander the Macedonian as the conqueror of many diverse nations. Yet we find that he was cut down by an early death before he had reached the full strength of manhood, killed by the effects of revelry and drunkenness. His whole life spanned only thirty-two years, and his reign extended to no more than a third of that period. Relentless as the thunderbolt, he pursued his career of slaughter and reduced entire nations and cities with all their inhabitants to slavery. But when he had scarcely arrived at the maturity of life, and was lamenting the loss of youthful pleasures, death fell on him with a terrible stroke and (lest he should make still further havoc of the human race) cut him off in a foreign and hostile land, leaving no children to inherit his fame and without a home to call his own. His kingdom too was instantly dismembered, each of his officers at once tearing away and seizing a portion for himself. And yet this man is praised for such deeds as these!
Chapter 8: His Vast Empire
But our emperor began his reign at the same age when the Macedonian died, yet he lived twice as long and ruled for three times as many years. After training his soldiers in the gentle and disciplined teachings of godliness, he extended his military campaigns as far as Britain and the peoples living in the very heart of the Western ocean. He also conquered all of Scythia, though it lay in the farthest North and consisted of countless diverse and barbarous tribes. He even pushed his conquests to the Blemmyans and Ethiopians on the very edges of the South, and he didn't consider the Eastern nations beneath his attention. In short, spreading the radiance of his holy light to the ends of the entire world (even to the most distant Indians and other peoples living throughout the inhabited earth), he received the submission of all the rulers, governors, and satraps of barbarous nations. These leaders cheerfully welcomed and saluted him, sending embassies and gifts, and placing the highest value on his acquaintance and friendship. They honored him with portraits and statues in their respective countries to such a degree that Constantine alone, of all emperors, was acknowledged and celebrated by everyone. Moreover, even among these distant nations, he boldly proclaimed the name of his God in his royal edicts.
Chapter 9: Imperial Dynasty
Constantine didn't just talk about virtue while failing to live up to it. He walked every path of righteousness and produced abundant fruit in his godly life. He won the loyalty of his friends through generous acts of kindness, and because he governed with compassion, his rule felt light and acceptable to all his subjects. Finally, after many years of faithful service to God, the Lord he honored crowned him with an eternal reward. God took him from his earthly kingdom to the everlasting life He has prepared for the souls of His saints, and raised up three sons to inherit his power. Just as Constantine had received the imperial throne from his father, so by natural law it passed to his children and their descendants, continuing like a family inheritance through endless generations. Indeed, God Himself (who honored this blessed emperor with divine recognition while he still lived among us, and who adorned his death with special blessings from His own hand) should be the one to write his story. After all, He has recorded Constantine's labors and their successful outcomes on the tablets of heavenly memory.
Chapter 10: Why This History Matters
Speaking worthily of this blessed man is difficult, and staying silent would certainly be safer and less risky. Nevertheless, I must avoid the charge of laziness and neglect by creating something like a verbal portrait as a memorial to this pious prince, much as an artist might sketch a likeness. I would be ashamed if I didn't use my best efforts (feeble and inadequate as they are) to praise someone who honored God with such extraordinary devotion. I also believe my work will be both instructive and necessary on other grounds, since it will describe those royal and noble actions that God, the universal Sovereign, is pleased to approve. After all, it would be disgraceful if the memory of Nero and other wicked and impious tyrants far worse than he should find diligent writers to embellish their worthless deeds with elegant language and record them in lengthy histories, while I remain silent. God Himself has given me an emperor unlike any in recorded history and has allowed me to come into his presence, to know him, and to enjoy his close friendship.
Chapter 11: Recording Constantine's Pious Acts
If anyone has a duty to widely proclaim Constantine's virtues to all who might be inspired by noble examples to love God, I certainly do. After all, some writers have chronicled the lives of worthless people and recorded actions that do little to improve morality. They've done this for personal reasons (gratitude or revenge, perhaps), and sometimes simply to show off their own literary skill. By dressing up intrinsically base actions in refined and elegant language, they've given undue importance to things that don't deserve it. Worse, they've exposed others (people whom God's favor had kept from evil) to knowledge of conduct that is not only vile in itself but deserves to be buried in darkness and forgotten. My narrative, however inadequate it may be to capture the greatness of the deeds I must describe, will gain luster simply from recounting noble actions. Surely the record of conduct that has pleased God will provide a profitable and highly instructive subject for people with well-ordered minds.
I intend, however, to pass over many of this thrice-blessed emperor's royal deeds: his battles and military engagements, his personal courage, his victories and successes against enemies, and his many triumphs. I'll also skip his provisions for individual citizens, his legislative enactments for the social benefit of his subjects, and countless other imperial labors that everyone still remembers.
My purpose here is to discuss and document only those aspects of his life that relate to his religious character. Since even these are remarkably diverse, I'll choose from the facts I know those that are most appropriate and worth preserving, and I'll try to tell them as concisely as I can. From now on, there's a real and open opportunity to celebrate this most blessed prince in every possible way. Until now, we couldn't do this, since we're forbidden to call anyone blessed before their death because of life's unpredictable changes. Let me ask for God's help, and may the inspiring power of the heavenly Word be with me as I begin my history from the very start of his life.
Chapter 12: Raised in Imperial Palaces Like Moses
Ancient history tells us that a cruel dynasty of tyrants once oppressed the Hebrew people. God, who looked with compassion on their suffering, arranged for the prophet Moses to be raised as an infant in the very palaces of those oppressors, educated in all their wisdom. When Moses reached adulthood and the time came for divine justice to vindicate the afflicted people, this prophet of God obeyed a higher Lord's will and left the royal household. He distanced himself, both in word and action, from those who had raised him, openly choosing instead to join his true brothers and kinsmen. In time, God elevated him to lead the entire nation. After freeing the Hebrews from their enemies' bondage, God used Moses to bring divine judgment on that tyrannical race. This ancient story, though many dismiss it as myth, has reached everyone's ears. But now the same God has allowed us to witness miracles more astonishing than any fable, and because they happened so recently, more credible than any secondhand account. The tyrants of our own time dared to make war against the Supreme God and brutally persecuted His Church. In the midst of these tyrants lived Constantine, who would soon destroy them but was then just a young man, his face still showing the soft beard of early youth. Like God's servant Moses before him, he lived in the tyrants' own household. Yet despite his youth, he took no part in their godless activities. From those early years, his noble character (guided by the Divine Spirit) drew him toward a life of devotion and service pleasing to God. The desire to follow his father's example also motivated the son toward a virtuous life. His father's name was Constantius (and we should remember him now), the most distinguished emperor of our era. To honor his son properly, we need to briefly recount a few details about Constantius's life.
Chapter 13: Constantius Refuses to Persecute Christians
When four rulers divided control of the Roman Empire among themselves, Constantius alone chose a path different from his colleagues and openly declared himself a friend of the Supreme God.
While the others attacked and destroyed God's churches, razing them to the ground and obliterating even the foundations of houses of prayer, he kept his hands clean from their abominable wickedness and never acted like them in any way. They polluted their provinces with the indiscriminate murder of holy men and women, but he kept himself free from the stain of this terrible crime. They entangled themselves in the maze of godless idolatry and enslaved first themselves, then everyone under their authority, to the errors of evil demons. Meanwhile, he established the deepest peace throughout his territories and secured for his subjects the right to worship God without interference. In short, while his colleagues oppressed everyone through crushing taxes and made their lives unbearable (worse than death itself), Constantius alone governed his people with a gentle and peaceful hand, showing them truly parental and nurturing care.
His character possessed countless excellent qualities that everyone praises. I will record one or two examples as samples of those I must pass over in silence, and then I will continue with the main course of my narrative.
Chapter 14: Constantius's Test of Loyalty
Given the many rumors circulating about this prince, which described his kindness and gentle character, along with the remarkable depth of his piety, and which also claimed that because of his extreme generosity toward his subjects, he didn't even have a reserve of money in his treasury, the emperor who held supreme power at that time sent messengers to criticize his neglect of the public good. At the same time, the emperor accused him of poverty and pointed to his empty treasury as proof of the charge. In response, Constantius asked the emperor's messengers to stay with him for a while. He then called together the wealthiest of his subjects from all the nations under his rule and informed them that he needed money, and that this was the time for them all to voluntarily demonstrate their loyalty to their prince.
As soon as they heard this (as if they had long been waiting for an opportunity to show the sincerity of their goodwill), they eagerly filled the treasury with gold and silver and other wealth. Each person was eager to outdo the rest in the size of his contribution, and they did this with cheerful and joyous expressions. Constantius then invited the messengers of the supreme emperor to personally inspect his treasures and told them to give an accurate report of what they had seen. He added that on this occasion he had taken this money into his own hands, but that it had long been kept for his use in the custody of the owners, as securely as if it were under the care of faithful treasurers. The ambassadors were overwhelmed with astonishment at what they had witnessed. When they departed, it is said that the truly generous prince sent for the owners of the property and, after praising them individually for their obedience and true loyalty, returned it all and told them to go back to their homes.
This single fact alone proves the generosity of the man whose character we're trying to capture. Another incident will provide even clearer evidence of his devotion to God.
Chapter 15: The Great Persecution
The supreme authorities of the empire had ordered the governors of every province to launch a widespread persecution against those who worshiped God. In fact, the very first martyrs came from the imperial courts themselves. These faithful believers endured trials that tested their faith, willingly facing fire and sword, drowning in the sea, and every other form of execution. Within a short time, all the royal palaces had been stripped of godly people. The result was that those responsible for this evil lost God's protection entirely. By persecuting His worshipers, they had also silenced the prayers that used to be offered on their own behalf.
Chapter 16: Constantius Tests His Servants
Constantius, on the other hand, came up with a shrewd plan and put it into action. It sounds strange even to describe, but its execution was truly remarkable.
Constantius presented every officer in his court, even those holding the highest positions of power, with a stark choice: either sacrifice to demons and keep their positions and honors, or refuse and be permanently barred from his presence and stripped of all association with him. Once each person had made their decision and their choices were recorded, this remarkable emperor revealed the true purpose behind his test. He condemned those who had complied for their cowardice and self-interest, while he praised the others for their principled devotion to God. He also declared that anyone who had betrayed their God couldn't be trusted to serve their emperor faithfully. After all, how could people who had proven disloyal to a higher authority be expected to remain faithful to him? He therefore decided to remove such individuals from the imperial court entirely.
By contrast, he entrusted the protection of both his person and his empire to those men who had demonstrated through their actions that they were genuine servants of God. He declared that these same people would show unwavering loyalty to their emperor, and that he was obligated to regard them as his closest and most valued friends. He would honor them far more than the greatest wealth.
