The Champion Christian in Rome: Second Episode

The Roman realm was currently partitioned into two sections toward the east and west, each with six sections of Diocletian. The two rulers Constantine and Licinius ruled on their kingdoms with not very many references among them and none of them demonstrated any extraordinary enthusiasm for testing the other to add up to control.

Succession planning, however, causes problems if one of them dies. In 315 and 316, both were parents of children. Constantine already had a son named Crispo from his first wife Minervina, but Constantine did not know if he wanted Crispo to be his chosen heir. As son Licinius was born, the two men agreed that none of the children should succeed, but that it should be the patrimony of both halves of the Empire Bassanius, the husband of the half-sister of Constantine.

But Konstantin's first son came with his second wife Fausta and changed his mind. If someone wanted to show that the apparent conversion to Christianity of Constantine did not imply a change of opinion in favor of Christian morality, his machinations would have had to prove his interests in favor of his family. Bassano was quickly executed by a false accusation and Constantine prepared to declare war on Licinius.

However, not all things have run their course. Licinius proved difficult and Constantine succeeded in conquering only one of the three occupied by the dioceses of Licinio Balkan. He was forced to accept a compromise on the estate that recognized the statements of the two children and Crispo. The contract that solves this problem was signed in March 317 and is in place for the next seven years.

In 324 Costantino and Fausta had produced two more sons and a daughter. He considered himself the head of a potentially powerful dynasty and saw no reason for his family to share the imperial throne with anyone else and decided to get rid of Licinius forever.

The civil war began in the summer of 324 and ended in November. Licinius was exiled but then suffered the same fate as the unfortunate Bassanio. There was no doubt about who was leading the Empire.

Now that the Christians of the Empire have been freed from persecution, they have done what religious fundamentalists have done with pleasure over the centuries, that is, by persecuting each other. Relatively young religion was divided by arguments on theological issues, and Konstantin was well aware that this was a powerful source of interruption. He decided to intervene and hit some heads.

The dispute that caused the greatest discomfort and had the most profound impact occurred when an Alexandrian priest named Arius had a profound disagreement with his bishop, Alexander. It concerned the nature of Christ and his relationship with God the Father. Arius claimed that the two were of different substance and that the son was subordinate to the father. Alexander maintained that they were of the same substance and that the Son existed forever rather than being created when he was born of the Virgin Mary.

Arius and Alexander had many supporters of their point of view, and the problem of Constantine could be solved only by bringing together all the parts and arriving at a decision that should have had imperial approval. The Grand Council met in Nicea, in today's Turkey.

The result was a declaration of faith known as the Nicene Creed and apparently written by Constantine, although it was probably written by counselors, which was later the basic declaration of faith of most Christian denominations. It was a compromise between the two opposing sides, although it supported Archbishop Alexander's vision far more than that of Arius.

If they had a free choice, many modern Christians would think that the theory of Arius has much to recommend, but they do not have this option. For this, they must thank for a half-pagan Roman emperor, whose understanding of theology trembled at best, and who could have decided that the vision of a bishop had more influence than that of a mere priest. In any case, the decision remained firm.