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Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor Kindle Edition

by Paul Stephenson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 61 ratings
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This “knowledgeable account” of the emperor who brought Christianity to Rome “provides valuable insight into Constantine’s era” (Kirkus Reviews).

“By this sign conquer.” So began the reign of Constantine. In 312 A.D. a cross appeared in the sky above his army as he marched on Rome. In answer, Constantine bade his soldiers to inscribe the cross on their shield, and so fortified, they drove their rivals into the Tiber and claimed Rome for themselves.

Constantine led Christianity and its adherents out of the shadow of persecution. He united the western and eastern halves of the Roman Empire, raising a new city center in the east. When barbarian hordes consumed Rome itself, Constantinople remained as a beacon of Roman Christianity. Constantine is a fascinating survey of the life and enduring legacy of perhaps the greatest and most unjustly ignored of the Roman emperors—written by a richly gifted historian. Paul Stephenson offers a nuanced and deeply satisfying account of a man whose cultural and spiritual renewal of the Roman Empire gave birth to the idea of a unified Christian Europe underpinned by a commitment to religious tolerance.

“Successfully combines historical documents, examples of Roman art, sculpture, and coinage with the lessons of geopolitics to produce a complex biography of the Emperor Constantine.” —Publishers Weekly
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  1. Print length
    377 pages
  2. Language
    English
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  4. Publisher
    ABRAMS Press
  5. Publication date
    June 10, 2010
  6. File size
    10792 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stephenson, a historian at the University of Durham, successfully combines historical documents, examples of Roman art, sculpture, and coinage with the lessons of geopolitics to produce a complex biography of the Emperor Constantine. Rather than the divinely guided hero of legend who singlehandedly brought pagan Rome to Christian orthodoxy, Constantine is depicted as very much a product of his political environment. Recognizing the growing influence of the Christian Church, he adapted the generally pacifist faith to the Roman theology of victory and created a newly militant Christianity that would sustain his rule. Constantine wisely sought to impose religious toleration on the diverse Roman Empire while discouraging trivial disputes among the Christian faithful. Stephenson examines the variety of religious beliefs in the early fourth century with emphasis on Mithraism, a pagan mystery cult practiced by pre-Constantine soldiers, and on the bitter divisions within victorious Christianity that ultimately led to the Council of Nicaea. Constantine is revealed as a master politician who, while delaying his own baptism for reasons not fully explained in the text, became the ruler of both church and state. 24 pages of illus.; 8 maps. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Assessing the Roman emperor who embraced Christianity, historian Stephenson casts a critical scholarly eye on much of contemporary propaganda's attributions to Constantine. His vision of the cross before the 312 Battle of the Milvian Bridge, though a later construction of Constantine's apologists, nevertheless inspires Stephenson with a plausible explanation of Christianity's appeal to Constantine and his troops. Elaborating a Roman “theology of victory,” Stephenson delves into pagan cults and rituals practiced in the Roman army, emphasizing the primacy paid to gods associated with winning battles. Rather detailed discussion of evidence in coins, inscriptions, and monuments carries the religious part of Stephenson's narrative and supplements his scrutiny of written sources about Constantine and his actions to attain the imperial throne. Mindful that those flowed from civil wars with rival claimants, Stephenson tempers the insults heaped on those Constantine defeated and handles his adoption of a new, victorious god not as a single personal revelation but as an extended conversion process throughout the late Roman world. Constantine in his times is well illuminated by Stephenson's able and discerning work. --Gilbert Taylor

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07MWBMD4R
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ABRAMS Press; 1st edition (June 10, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 10, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 10792 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 377 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 61 ratings

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
61 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry N. Stout
5.0 out of 5 stars Making real sense of history!
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
Stephenson proves himself a superior historian in cogently separating historiographic wheat from chaff (easier said than done) in his "Constantine", a truly exceptional book, insightfully conceived and methodically written. Carefully establishing a background and framework, and drawing upon written sources (with full measure of due skepticism), and numismatic and art-historical evidences as well, he constructs an astutely plausible and convincing narrative, eschewing the slog of pedantic footnote digressions, while debunking mythos and steering clear of the romanticism and artificial dramatization of historical fiction. This is not ordinary historical biography, this is trenchant investigative historiography. A great piece of work, very enjoyable, very insightful and enlightening!

Caveat: In the edition I have (Overlook Press, 2010), some of the scales of maps at the front are wildly inaccurate; Map 8, the worst example, shows Constantinople's Hippodrome to be some 100 miles in width! Nicomedia is mislocated on Map 5. And the text goes off the editorial rails in the second paragraph of p. 181, where we find the Bosphorus referred to as the Hellespont, and Lampsakos (on the Hellespont) is said to be near Chalcedon (on the Bosphorus); whereas, they are distant some 135 miles as the crow flies, much further apart by an army's land route. I am inclined to attribute these gaffes to the publisher's staff.
10 people found this helpful
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CC Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars clear, up-to-date, with good perspective
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2011
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Paul Stephenson finds a Constantine who is neither the pious saint nor the machiavellian poseur.

Incorporating research into how people convert to new religions, how Christianity is likely to have spread during this time period, and with illuminating references to the development of the military and governmental structure, the minting of coins, and most importantly the emperor's qualifications to rule -- his genius / good fortune / divine protection making him unconquerable in battle -- he gives us a very convincing life story in a clear context.

D. G. Kousoulas still offers a more linear approach if you're looking for a narrative biography. If you don't know anything about the tetrarchy and haven't yet learned the differences among Maximian, Maxentius, and Maximin you might (like the latter) hit your head against a wall until your eyes pop out.

But I agree with more aspects of Stephenson's reconstruction than with any other I've read, especially since he backs it up with the most current scholarship. I think this book also has the best descriptions of the arch of Constantine and the establishment of Constantinople (which he compares and contrasts to other imperial seats of power).

It's also fun! The enthusiasm of the voice reminds me of the popularizing but now musty G.P. Baker Constantine biography, to which I think he even refers at one point. I enjoy how he works out his ideas and I'm grateful to him for sharing them.
11 people found this helpful
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David Lee Saunders
4.0 out of 5 stars Is it enough to just convert to Christianity?
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2017
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Now I know how Christianity got so far away from following Christ's Great Commission. Christians allowed Constantine, A Roman Emperor, to pollute The Gospel, just because "he was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity". Christianity has suffered ever since. Constantine did not confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. Christianity was allowed to me placed on the mantle piece with the rest of the Roman Gods. Many Christians are still under the illusion that you can mix and match Jesus with something else, and that we are not in disobedience of the First Commandment. Christianity is responsible for many great social changes in the world. But social changes will not get you eternal life. Only faith in Christ Jesus, not Jesus and...! Notwithstanding my remarks, the book is a great read.
6 people found this helpful
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Terry McElroy
3.0 out of 5 stars Constantine and Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2017
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Well written, interesting and informative. While there is development of the life and times of Constantine, the focus is on the effect on Christianity from Constantine's adoption of that religion as the official religion of the Roman Empire during the middle to latter stages of his reign. Gibbons, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has a less positive view of Constantine, his rule and influence on Christianity.
4 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Backgroud is Everything!
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015
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Just visited Trier for the first time. I've read fairly extensively about the shift from the Republic to the Emperorship but not much after the end of the first century AD. This is an excellent source because Stephenson reviews the first three hundred plus years of "divine" rule before embarking on Constantine's reign which is so dependent upon everything that's happened before. Very readable.
5 people found this helpful
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Marcus Valerius Priscus
1.0 out of 5 stars The worst modern biography on Constantine the Great that I have read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2021
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Save your money because this isn't a very good biography on Constantine the Great. One review said that the author has an agenda agaist Constantine the Great and he is absolutely right. The author is very ignorant of all of the evidence which points to Constantine genuinely converting to Christianity in 312 AD. There is very little on Constantine's capabilities as a military commander. He also makes all kinds of assertions without citing sources, and some just plain ridiculous like there being a war between the "gens-flavians" and "gens-valerii". The author apparently didn't know that both Constantine and his father Constantius Chlorus had the nomen "Valerius". The author also had Licinius fleeing to Dacia a lost Roman territory long abandoned by the Emperor Aurelian, and this is just to name a few historical errors! I mean where did this author get his history from? Look if you want the best biography about Constantine's Christian Faith then read Charles Odahl's book Constantine and the Christian Empire published as part of Routledge Press' Imperial Biography Series which is the gold standard concerning biographies about Roman Emperors. If you want the best book about Constantine the Great's military skills then read Constantine the Great General written by Elizabeth James & Stephen English published by Pen & Sword. There other good biographies on Constantine the Great that I could recommend but these two are a good place to start.
26 people found this helpful
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