Edict of Milan and attacking

Licinius, on the other hand, had espoused paganism more and more openly in recent years, rescinding the Edict of Milan and attacking the church in order to seize its wealth for the building of the army with which he planned to destroy his brother wearer of the purple. To this end, he had developed a weapon whose extent he had been able to keep largely secret a vast fleet recruited from the maritime countries under his rule. At the Hellespont, the mouth of the waterway separating Europe from Asia, he now assembled more than three hundred and fifty ships of war under the command of an admiral named Amandus.

Constantine reacted to the knowledge that the coming conflict would be fought both on land and sea with two swift maneuvers. At Thessalonica, near the head of the Grecian Sea, he ordered that work be carried on night and day in the shipyards to build a fleet of two hundred war galleys and more than a thousand transports. In the meantime, lest Licinius attack the vital shipyards with his superior fleet and cripple this phase of the war, Constantine hastily prepared for a campaign on land designed to keep his opponent busy.

Licinius, however, countered by attacking, seeking to throw Constantine off balance before he could marshal enough land and sea forces for a combined pincers operation against Byzantium, whose fortifications had been rebuilt since the city had fallen to Maximin Daia so easily some ten years ago. Hurriedly mobilizing to meet this new threat, Constantine sent word for Crispus and Dacius to bring as many of the regular legions from Gaul as could be spared, leaving Crocus with a small force to parry any attack across the Rhine by the ever watchful Germanic tribes. From Italy, he also brought the legions ordinarily stationed there, adding them to his

Hardbitten veterans

Army of Illyricum, a force of hardbitten veterans of the campaign against the Goths.

It was a warm June day when Crispus and Dacius, at the head of a small but seasoned army from Gaul, marched into the camp on the plains before the city of Hadrianopolis, where Licinius had chosen to make his stand. Constantine greeted the two warmly and led them to a hill overlooking the area where the crucial battle would soon be fought.

Bishop of Caesarea

“I was forced to endure imprisonment in Egypt for a while,” Eusebius said. “But God released me in time, perhaps so I could continue writing a history of the church.”

“I knew you had become Bishop of Caesarea, but I had forgotten about the latter project.”

“I feel that it will help others to know the various vicissitudes through which the church has come,” Eusebius said, “but lately I have been troubled by matters of the present that make it difficult to write objectively about the past. I hesitate to burden you with them, Dominus, but I have journeyed from Caesarea to speak to you on behalf of a priest named Arius, and his difficulties with Bishop Alexander of Egypt.”

“Why must priests bicker, if they are united in the one purpose of serving God?”

“Perhaps our zeal to serve God in the best way makes us differ,” Eusebius admitted. “Surely questions of military policy come up among your generals from time to time.”

Constantine smiled. “Whenever they do, I resolve them by knocking heads together, until all think as one.” Then his face grew sober. “But priestly heads seem harder than soldierly ones; the more

I knock, often the worse they quarrel. I have almost come to believe that government should have no part in religious matters.

“But there must be a final authority,” Eusebius protested. Else how would anything be decided?”

Excommunicated Arius

“By prayer and seeking the will of God, as I have sought to settle doubtful questions in my own life. But get on with your own petition, Eusebius. I suppose you are here to ask me to reverse the decision of the synod of bishops from Egypt and Libya who excommunicated Arius two years ago.”

Eusebius looked startled. “I had no idea ”

“I kept close watch over happenings here in the East while it was ruled by Emperor Licinius,” Constantine assured him. “Still, I must confess that I cannot see what this controversy is about, or why Arius has stirred up so much trouble. Perhaps you can tell me.” “The question of the nature of God has intrigued religious philosophers since the beginning of time.”

Dacius said quietly

“What do you know of redemption?” Constantine demanded. “You’re not even a Christian.”

“I was speaking of redemption by another besides the Son of God if he really were that. By yourself.”

“Now you’re talking in riddles.” Constantine turned to Crocus. “Do you understand him?”

“I know nothing of Christianity,” the Gallic king admitted. “But I think I know what he means.”

“Then explain it to me if you please.”

“There’s no point in becoming angry at Crocus,” Dacius said quietly. ‘Today, when Nazarius was delivering his oration in praise of Crispus at the Quinquennalia and called him the ‘most noble Caesar of his august father,’ I was watching your face. I saw something reflected there I’d hoped never to see envy of your own »

son.

“That’s ridiculous.” Constantine controlled himself with a great effort. “No, you’re right. I do envy Crispus his youth, and what lies before him. I envy him the adoration of the people of Gaul and Britain that once was mine. Here in Italy and the East, I hardly seem able to please anyone anymore.” He turned upon Dacius almost savagely. “You cannot know what it is to bear the responsibilities of government. The endless complaints and bickering can drive a man mad.”

“Why listen to them? Crispus leaves such things to Eumenius, while he guards the frontier.”

Bassianus great responsibility,

“Crispus has you two and Eumenius, but who can I trust here? Once I put my confidence in Licinius and he failed me. I would have given Bassianus great responsibility, but he tried to assassinate me. You have no conception of what it is to have the whole world look to you for final judgment in all its controversies. Why, the followers of this priest Donatus alone have caused me enough trouble to last a lifetime.”

“Destroy them then,” Dacius said bluntly. “Or are you so afraid of your new god that you dare not act as the Emperor should?”

“Afraid?” Constantine found that he could examine the word without rancor. “No, not afraid. But if I accept the favor of God, I must try to live according to his laws and the principles taught by his Son.”

Chrysopolis and Constantines fleet

Constantine, Dacius and Crispus stood upon one of the seven hills making up the peninsula upon which Byzantium stood and looked down at the city, scarred and tom by the siege. It had fallen quickly after Licinius’ defeat at Chrysopolis and Constantine’s fleet which Crispus had handled so masterfully now rode at anchor within the homshaped inlet forming a major part of the harbor, an area where fish schooled so often in the sunlight that its inhabitants likened it to the mythical Golden Horn of Plenty.

“I think this is one of the most beautiful spots in the world,” Dacius said.

“It could also be the most important to me,” Constantine said thoughtfully.

“Why do you say that, Father?” Crispus asked.

“You, Dacius and Crocus should be able to hold the Germanic tribes in check in the West. With troops stationed at Milan and Sirmium, it should not be difficult to maintain the Danube frontier to the north. But the East is another matter. The Sassanid kings of Persia have grown more daring lately, but Licinius seems to have made no attempt to hold them in check. Unless they are put down soon the entire eastern border will be in revolt.”

“You’ve come almost full circle,” Dacius reminded him. “Your first major command was on the Persian frontier when Narses rebelled against Diocletian.”

East has never heard of God

“And I first found Christ there, in a painting on the wall of the ruined church at Dura. A whole world out there in the East has never heard of God and his Son. For some reason, certainly not through any worthiness of my own, God has chosen to favor me in all my efforts. Perhaps he intends for Persia to be next.”

Far to the east, in the haze where sky and water met, an irregular dark line marked the distant shore of the beautiful inland sea. That line had been a frontier, Constantine remembered, even in ancient times, when Jason and the Argonauts had sailed there, seeking the almost legendary fleeces placed by earlier inhabitants in mountain streams to trap particles of gold washed down from deposits in the hills above.

Caesar Crispus visited Rome

“Did you say Caesar Crispus visited Rome?” Someone more observant than Marcellinus would have noticed the sudden change in Constantine’s voice and manner.

“Yes, Augustus, on the way home to Gaul. All of us were heartened when he sacrificed to Apollo. You have a worthy son to ”

“How long was he there?”

“Almost a week. The people went wild over him and would not let him go. And now ”

Constantine got suddenly to his feet. “I will talk to you and the delegation again tomorrow, Marcellinus,” he said sharply and this time even the old Senator could not fail to see that something was wrong.

“But Aug”

Constantine left the room before Marcellinus could finish what he was saying and did not stop until he was in his own private quarters and the door was shut. There he poured wine for himself with trembling hands and gulped it down, almost choking from the tension of anger constricting his throat.

So the treachery had not ended with Licinius, he told himself. Now his own son was working behind his back to build favor with the people of Rome, sacrificing to the old gods because he knew it would please them, letting himself be honored and receiving the plaudits of the crowd. What made matters even worse was Constantine’s realization that with the whole area east of the Alps almost denuded of veteran troops to build the army that had defeated Licinius and the Army of Gaul fanatically loyal to him, Crsipus could take Italy and Rome if he wished, as Constantine himself had taken it from Maxentius.

Constantine brooded

Fighting for control, and losing the battle, Constantine brooded over what he considered the ingratitude of his son until finally he fell asleep, only to awaken in the grip of a nightmare in which a gleeful Crispus sacrificed his own father upon the altar of Apollo. When the dawn came, he summoned his magister memoriae and dictated a terse order removing Crispus from his position as Caesar of Gaul and Britain and naming his son Constantine II as ruler there although the boy was not yet in his teens with Eumenius, whose loyalty it did not occur to him to doubt, as acting Prefect. This done, he sent a peremptory letter to Fausta at Rome, ordering her to come at once to Nicomedia and bring the children with her.

Listening to Marcellinus

“Is it true that you removed Crispus as Caesar of Gaul?” Helena demanded angrily.

“Yes. How did you learn of it?”

“Constantia sent word to me. Why didn’t you tell me yourself, without waiting for me to hear of it through palace gossip?”

“It is done,” Constantine said morosely. “What difference does it make now?”

“But why?”

“Because my son has betrayed me!” Constantine’s anger boiled over again, as it had while he was listening to Marcellinus. “Do you know that he went to Borne and let the people there celebrate a triumph in his honor?”

“He deserved no less, after winning battles for you.” Helena gave him an appraising look. “Is it possible that you are jealous of your own son?”

The question was too close to home not to give Constantine pause; he had asked it of himself more than once during the past several nights, while he had lain awake, feeling his heart break inside him and unable to find a way to heal the wound. What was more he realized what a terrible mistake he had made in publishing the edict inviting informers to betray others, yet was unable to bring himself to a public confession of error.

“I will admit that Crispus earned a triumph, Mother,” he said. “In time I would have ordered it myself, perhaps on his Decennalia. But he had no reason to go to Rome now, except for that purpose. And he sacrificed to the old gods.”

“How do you know that?”

“Marcellinus told me and he would not lie. Why else would Crispus sacrifice to Apollo than to remind the people of Rome that he is not a Christian, like his father?”

Taken aback by the question, Helena was silent.

Maximian Bassianus Licinianus

“You see, you cannot answer, no more than I. He must be seeking to make Rome support him, so he can take Italy as well as what I have already given him. First Maximian, then Bassianus, then Licinianus, and now my son. Why must the people I trust always betray me?” It was a cry of pain.

“Crispus would not betray you deliberately, I’m sure of that.” Helena’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “It must be her doing.”

“Whose?”

“Your wife. Don’t forget that she’s Maximian’s daughter and the blood of traitors runs in her veins. This is the sort of thing Maximian’s get would think of.”

Constantine felt his imagination

Who could say that a new frontier for him did not lie beyond the Pontus Euxinus, beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris, beyond even Armenia and Mesopotamia, in the vast territory extending to the river Indus in faroff India? It had been conquered briefly by Alexander the Great and called Ariana by him, but Rome had never extended its domain there. And at the thought that he might one day rule a greater expanse of the East than even the victorious Alexander had ever been able to conquer, Constantine felt his imagination take fire.

“Rome is dying.” To Crispus and Dacius, Constantine seemed to be speaking to himself rather than to them. “I shall leave it behind me and build here a great city from which to rule an Empire of the East, a Christian Empire greater than the world has ever known.”

Seeing the glowing light in Constantine’s eyes Dacius was reminded of another occasion when he had seen that same look in the camp on the bank of the Euphrates behind the Persian lines, where Constantine had risen from sleep and revealed his daring plan of attack. And yet though Dacius could not see it one great difference, besides that of age, separated the youthful commander, who had risked all that day to gain much, and the Emperor who stood now with the world at his feet. For while the youth had been filled with confidence in his own strength, the Emperor freely acknowledged that another Power, higher than himself, had been instrumental at every critical point in his life, prescribing by various means the course he would follow.

Christ at Saxa Rubra

The change had been a gradual one, it was true. But Constantine himself had already acknowledged it publicly when, in a letter to the Council of Arles two years after he had raised the standard of Christ at Saxa Rubra and gone on to Rome in victory, he had written:

The inconceivable goodness of our God forbids that mankind should continue to wander in the dark. I have realized this truth from many examples outside myself, but I can also confirm it from my own experience. There were things in my own nature that were devoid of righteousness and I seemed to see no heavenly power that I might have been carrying hidden in my breast. But Almighty God, who watches from the high tower of heaven, had vouchsafed to me what I have not deserved. Verily past numbers are the blessings that he, in his heavenly goodness, has bestowed on me, his servant.

Chrysopolis and Constantines fleet

Constantine, Dacius and Crispus stood upon one of the seven hills making up the peninsula upon which Byzantium stood and looked down at the city, scarred and tom by the siege. It had fallen quickly after Licinius’ defeat at Chrysopolis and Constantine’s fleet which Crispus had handled so masterfully now rode at anchor within the homshaped inlet forming a major part of the harbor, an area where fish schooled so often in the sunlight that its inhabitants likened it to the mythical Golden Horn of Plenty.

“I think this is one of the most beautiful spots in the world,” Dacius said.

“It could also be the most important to me,” Constantine said thoughtfully.

“Why do you say that, Father?” Crispus asked.

“You, Dacius and Crocus should be able to hold the Germanic tribes in check in the West. With troops stationed at Milan and Sirmium, it should not be difficult to maintain the Danube frontier to the north. But the East is another matter. The Sassanid kings of Persia have grown more daring lately, but Licinius seems to have made no attempt to hold them in check. Unless they are put down soon the entire eastern border will be in revolt.”

“You’ve come almost full circle,” Dacius reminded him. “Your first major command was on the Persian frontier when Narses rebelled against Diocletian.”

East has never heard of God

“And I first found Christ there, in a painting on the wall of the ruined church at Dura. A whole world out there in the East has never heard of God and his Son. For some reason, certainly not through any worthiness of my own, God has chosen to favor me in all my efforts. Perhaps he intends for Persia to be next.”

Far to the east, in the haze where sky and water met, an irregular dark line marked the distant shore of the beautiful inland sea. That line had been a frontier, Constantine remembered, even in ancient times, when Jason and the Argonauts had sailed there, seeking the almost legendary fleeces placed by earlier inhabitants in mountain streams to trap particles of gold washed down from deposits in the hills above.

Caesar Crispus visited Rome

“Did you say Caesar Crispus visited Rome?” Someone more observant than Marcellinus would have noticed the sudden change in Constantine’s voice and manner.

“Yes, Augustus, on the way home to Gaul. All of us were heartened when he sacrificed to Apollo. You have a worthy son to ”

“How long was he there?”

“Almost a week. The people went wild over him and would not let him go. And now ”

Constantine got suddenly to his feet. “I will talk to you and the delegation again tomorrow, Marcellinus,” he said sharply and this time even the old Senator could not fail to see that something was wrong.

“But Aug”

Constantine left the room before Marcellinus could finish what he was saying and did not stop until he was in his own private quarters and the door was shut. There he poured wine for himself with trembling hands and gulped it down, almost choking from the tension of anger constricting his throat.

So the treachery had not ended with Licinius, he told himself. Now his own son was working behind his back to build favor with the people of Rome, sacrificing to the old gods because he knew it would please them, letting himself be honored and receiving the plaudits of the crowd. What made matters even worse was Constantine’s realization that with the whole area east of the Alps almost denuded of veteran troops to build the army that had defeated Licinius and the Army of Gaul fanatically loyal to him, Crsipus could take Italy and Rome if he wished, as Constantine himself had taken it from Maxentius.

Constantine brooded

Fighting for control, and losing the battle, Constantine brooded over what he considered the ingratitude of his son until finally he fell asleep, only to awaken in the grip of a nightmare in which a gleeful Crispus sacrificed his own father upon the altar of Apollo. When the dawn came, he summoned his magister memoriae and dictated a terse order removing Crispus from his position as Caesar of Gaul and Britain and naming his son Constantine II as ruler there although the boy was not yet in his teens with Eumenius, whose loyalty it did not occur to him to doubt, as acting Prefect. This done, he sent a peremptory letter to Fausta at Rome, ordering her to come at once to Nicomedia and bring the children with her.

Constantines maneuver or the fact

Licinius’ forces on the opposite bank had not missed the significance of Constantine’s maneuver or the fact that it was led by the Emperor himself, for whose death their commander would reward them hugely. The sharp bark of orders rang out in the morning air as the centurions realigned the troops who had been moving to the rear to attack Crispus and his force. But as the enemy bowmen rushed to the water’s edge to concentrate their attack upon the small force making the desperate attempt to float the bridge across the river, they were met by a withering hail of arrows from the archers commanded by Dacius.

The result was a brief period of confusion at the water’s edge, giving Constantine some of the time he needed to swim his horse across the main current, dragging the free end of the floating bridge behind him by means of a rope attached to it. Held back by the drag of the bridge, his horse lunged desperately to keep its head above the water, and, seeking to help the hardpressed animal, Constantine slipped from the saddle and swam beside it. He heard the trumpeter whose horse was swimming beside him cry out when an arrow drove through his heart, killing him instantly. And almost in the same instant, Constantine’s own mount went under when an arrow drove deep into the animal’s body.

Constantine used the sinking body

Quickly loosening the loop attaching the towrope to his saddle, Constantine used the sinking body of his own mount as a stepping stone, so to speak, and managed to throw himself across the back of the trumpeter’s horse. Seizing the reins, he urged the animal forward, and seconds later they were clear of the main pull of the current. With the horse swimming strongly now, Constantine was able to swing himself into the saddle.

Arrows were whining past him on either side, but his heart took a great leap when he looked back and saw that the bridge was safely across the main part of the current, being steadied by men of his own guard, who swam their mounts beside it. The water was a melee of dying men and horses, for the toll had been heavy, in spite of Dacius’ quick thinking in concentrating a hail of arrows against the opposite bank to protect Constantine and the daring band who were swinging the bridge across.