Podcasts about milvian bridge

Michael Walsh's new book A Rage to Conquer is a journey through twelve of the most important battles in Western history. As Walsh sees it, war is an important facet of every culture - and, for better or worse, our world is unthinkable without it. War has been an essential part of the human condition throughout history, the principal agent of societal change, waged by men on behalf of, and in pursuit of, their gods, women, riches, power, and the sheer joy of combat. In A Rage to Conquer, Walsh brings history to life as he considers a group of courageous commanders and the battles they waged that became crucial to the course of Western history. He looks first at Carl Von Clausewitz, the seminal thinker in the Western canon dealing with war. He then moves on to Achilles at Ilium, Alexander at Gaugamela, Caesar at Alesia, Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, Aetius at the Catalaunian Plains, Bohemond at Dorylaeum and Antioch, Napoleon at Austerlitz, Pershing at St.-Mihiel, Nimitz at Midway and Patton at the Bulge with a final consideration of how the Battle of 9/11 was ultimately lost by the U.S. and what that portends for the future.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

Michael Walsh's new book A Rage to Conquer is a journey through twelve of the most important battles in Western history. As Walsh sees it, war is an important facet of every culture - and, for better or worse, our world is unthinkable without it. War has been an essential part of the human condition throughout history, the principal agent of societal change, waged by men on behalf of, and in pursuit of, their gods, women, riches, power, and the sheer joy of combat. In A Rage to Conquer, Walsh brings history to life as he considers a group of courageous commanders and the battles they waged that became crucial to the course of Western history. He looks first at Carl Von Clausewitz, the seminal thinker in the Western canon dealing with war. He then moves on to Achilles at Ilium, Alexander at Gaugamela, Caesar at Alesia, Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, Aetius at the Catalaunian Plains, Bohemond at Dorylaeum and Antioch, Napoleon at Austerlitz, Pershing at St.-Mihiel, Nimitz at Midway and Patton at the Bulge with a final consideration of how the Battle of 9/11 was ultimately lost by the U.S. and what that portends for the future.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

A Rage to Conquer: Twelve Battles That Changed the Course of Western History by Michael Walsh Amazon.com Award-winning author Michael Walsh looks at twelve momentous battles that changed the course of Western history. A sequel to Michael Walsh's Last Stands, his new book A Rage to Conquer is a journey through the twelve of the most important battles in Western history. As Walsh sees it, war is an important facet of every culture – and, for better or worse, our world is unthinkable without it. War has been an essential part of the human condition throughout history, the principal agent of societal change, waged by men on behalf of, and in pursuit of, their gods, women, riches, power, and the sheer joy of combat. In A Rage to Conquer, Walsh brings history to life as he considers a group of courageous commanders and the battles they waged that became crucial to the course of Western history. He looks first at Carl Von Clausewitz, the seminal thinker in the Western canon dealing with war. He then moves on to Achilles at Ilium, Alexander at Gaugamela, Caesar at Alesia, Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, Aetius at the Catalaunian Plains, Bohemond at Dorylaeum and Antioch, Napoleon at Austerlitz, Pershing at St.-Mihiel, Nimitz at Midway and Patton at the Bulge with a final consideration of how the Battle of 9/11 was ultimately lost by the U.S. and what that portends for the future.About the author With six critically acclaimed novels, as well as a hit TV movie, journalist, author and screenwriter Michael Walsh has achieved the writer's trifecta: two New York Times best-sellers, a major literary award and, as co-writer, the Disney Channel's then-highest-rated show. The 1998 publication of As Time Goes By -- his long-awaited and controversial prequel/sequel to everybody's favorite movie, Casablanca -- created a literary sensation; translated into more than twenty languages, including Portuguese, Chinese and Hebrew, the story of Rick and Ilsa landed on best-seller lists around the world.

Originally commissioned in 1654 by Pope Innocent X to be a free-standing statue in the Basilica of St. Peter, Bernini's “Vision of Constantine” was later incorporated into Bernini's Scala Regia. The marble statue represents – in typical Bernini dramatic fashion – the miraculous vision of Constantine who was shown a cross by an angel and told “In hoc signo vinces” (“In this sign, you will conquer”) on the eve of the momentous Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

How did Constantine the Great conquer his rivals and shape the Roman Empire?Tristan Hughes discusses the dramatic rise of Roman Emperor Constantine I with Professor David Potter. They discuss the scandalous tales and strategic manoeuvres that defined Constantine's ascent, including his brutal execution of his son Crispus and his wife Fausta, his significant victory at the Milvian Bridge, and his delicate balance between Christianity and Roman paganism. Together they uncover the personal dramas and political strategies that reshaped the Roman Empire and cemented Constantine's legacy.Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here:https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MKTheme music from Motion Array, all other music from Epidemic Sound

Send us a textThe REAL History of Nicaea You Never Knew.In an era of doctrinal confusion and church scandals, many believers are questioning the very foundation of Christian faith. Can the Nicene Creed offer clarity and stability?In this episode, we dive deep into the history and significance of the Nicene Creed, established at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., which has served as a cornerstone of Christian belief for centuries. We'll unpack its core affirmations about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, exploring how it provides a resilient framework for faith amid modern challenges.But why was the Council of Nicaea so pivotal? Is there biblical support for such councils, or do they risk adding human error to Scripture's sufficiency? Together, we'll examine biblical precedents, such as the early church gatherings in Acts 11 and 15, and look at how councils like Nicaea sought to safeguard Christian doctrine and address critical issues facing the church.From Constantine's political influence to Arius's divisive teachings, we'll trace how the debates and decisions of the Nicene bishops shaped the bedrock of Christian orthodoxy. Join us as we explore the timeless relevance of the Nicene Creed, discovering how it can strengthen and steady us through personal and collective crises of faith.✨Episode Sponsored by Logos Bible Software - The all new Logos is now easier to use and more accessible than ever with monthly plans starting at $9.99. Visit https://www.logos.com/remnant to get started for FREE with an exclusive extended free trial of up to 60-days!

Join Constantine as he crossed the Alps and marches on Rome, to meet his rival Augustus, Maxentius (son of Maximian the Mischievous) at the fabled Milvian Bridge.  Constantine is intent on unwinding Diocletian's project, the Frankenstein-ish Tetrarchy, and consolidating power in his hands.  He will use his considerable wiles, and the surging Christian sect, to accomplish his audacious objectives.  

In this episode we will examine the story of a real life demon who betrayed his brothers in arms, deceived many in a craven lust for power and murdered his own wife and child. With a resume like that, it goes without saying Roman Emperor, Saint Constantine the Great is held up as an iconic Christian hero. Also making special guest star appearances we have Romans, CAESAR, Christians, Eusebius, Lactantius, Christianity, Roman Empire, France, Britain, Italy, Rome, Tetrarch, Maxentius, Tiber river, Milvian Bridge, Jesus Christ, Chi Rho, Greek, Christos, Twitter, X, staurogram, crucifix, Arch of Constantine, Tetrarchy, Licinius, Maximinus, Edict of Milan, RON BURGUNDY, Paganism, Pontifex Maximus, pagan, Pope, council of Nicaea, Nicene Creed, Holy Trinity, Arius, Holy Land, St Helena, Constantinople, Fausta, Crispus, Jupiter, Persians, Armenia, Tiridates III, Persia, river Jordan, Bishop of Nicomedia, Pentecost, Holy Ghost, Mary, Apostles, Heaven, #SketchComedy #Sketch #Comedy #Sketch Comedy #Atheist #Science #History #Atheism #ConspiracyTheory #Conspiracy #Conspiracies #Sceptical #Scepticism #Mythology #Religion #Devil #Satan #Skeptic #Debunk #SatanIsMySuperhero #Podcast #funny #sketch #skit #comedy #comedyshow #comedyskits #HeavyMetal #RomanEmpire #Rome #AncientRome #Romans #RomanEmperor 

"When you break rules, break 'em good and hard…" PJ and Andy plunge into Cosgrove Hall's 1997 adaptation of Wyrd Sisters and a simple filler episode becomes an experimental marathon. Rob Rackstraw Vs Christopher Lee: who will win? No, it's a serious question. Watch or listen with us as we talk animation, voice casting, the script, and how Les Dennis blew our minds with his surprise magnificence. NEW SHINY WE MADE FOR YOU Produced by PJ, 'John Meagher: The Divil's Own' at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yhg4 Produced by Andy, 'Milvian Bridge' at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWtsF2ILa2g FIND THE POD ON THE WEB Listenings: https://anchor.fm/iveneverreaddiscworld Twitter: https://twitter.com/discworldGNU Facebook: https://facebook.com/discworldGNU Andy's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/andyluke Our show on Wyrd Sisters (the novel) https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iveneverreaddiscworld/episodes/Book-6--Wyrd-Sisters-e1v7gh1 Be sure to check out two regular new web series, '200 Seconds Sunny' and '338 Seconds Doctor Who' at @AndrewLuke 's YouTube channel.

When Emperor Maxentius sets a trap for his enemy, he doesn't realize the danger to himself. This is the problem with sin-it hurts the sinner. Praise the Lord for Jesus, who comes to set us free from the traps we fall into! Blueprint for Men is a ministry that empowers husbands, fathers, and leaders to live like Jesus.  Sign up for our weekly newsletter at Join Blueprint's virtual purity group by reaching out to Tom Pyke at:  tom.pyke@blueprintformen.org Want to be a mentor? Go to Amazon and get : Empower Men to Win by being a Life Coach. Want to pray with other men? Join us daily at 7 AM ET on zoom. Want to be in a small group? Go to Amazon and get : Men's Small Group Book to Build Strong Morning Habits. Want to understand the last message for God's people? Go to Amazon and get . 

Even after Constantine's victory at Milvian Bridge, the Roman Empire was not free of Christian persecutions. Seven years later, a persecution in the eastern half of the empire would create the 40 martyrs of Sebaste.   On this episode, Scott treks thru their fate, their attempt to keep their number at 40, and Rome's famous Lightning Legion.   ("Martyrs" series no. 1, 40 Martyrs of Sebaste)

The Angels Were Amazed by Mihai OaraHuman history has had many mysterious episodes for which there is no easy explanation. Why did the magi decide to take a long and dangerous journey, all the way from Persia to Jerusalem, to bring gifts to a supposed future king? What about the Chi-Rho sign in the sky that encouraged Constantine's soldiers to fight the army of Maxentius and win a great victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which led to the recognition of Christianity in the Roman Empire? Why did Atilla give up on his march to Rome at a time when he had military supremacy in Italy? Why did the Mongols, poised to conquer the whole of Europe, suddenly stop and go back home? Why did the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, decide to stay and die in the city when the fall of Constantinople was imminent?God's hand appears in all these episodes. He is sending His angels, who take on human appearance and make the light and barely noticeable push that changes the direction of history. In dealing with humans, they do not use supernatural powers, only their wisdom and skills. God's grandiose plans for humanity, beyond their immediate comprehension, are gradually revealed to them. They act as God's ministering spirits, in constant contemplation of God's wonderful creation and His love for mankind.While interesting and engaging, the stories in this book follow a common thread and convey deep truths about God and men.https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Were-Amazed-Mihai-Oara/dp/B0CQPKT7H7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4U15EM8S9OGE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6A0Nrv4xW7M7FHZLCnDHAvWz2lgNOjYzVHJDdMYmMPmcQ0XIsuaxHF7j524k_EhpDZeq6hKgnC4mut-OyhU0iAykaar5MXAy4XR0VGy62B7zJRkQkBB4VAlsEZWq5-H6KBjy00qaGl2QPJJJJDp0qQ.7LwTiIBUO1-MZ-gmbPkWbsLwQU46Wy1ut0KJviaCuZU&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Angels+Were+Amazed&qid=1705208134&s=books&sprefix=as+i+walk+in+the+heart+of+god%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C324&sr=1-1https://mihaioara.com/http://www.KingPagesPress.com   http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/11824kpp1.mp3   

[Part 1] Emperor Constantine was said to have had a vision of something in the sky, which convinced him to convert to Christianity. But was this the whole story? After the Battle of the Milvian Bridge between Constantine and Maxentius, the Arch of Constantine was erected to celebrate his victory. Why were pagan scenes depicted in the arch? Were the “old gods'” ways secretly incorporated into Constantine's rule? The ruling elite at the time were devout followers of the cult of Mithraism, so to whom was Constantine really loyal? When the Metaphysical Podcast started uncovering historical discrepancies, sun worship, Zoroastrianism, and evidence of bull sacrifice, it brought into question the mainstream stories of Constantine. Has the ruler been put on a pedestal and actually become a figure of worship today, adopted from even older objects of devotion? Hear John Vivanco's remote viewing data and Rob Counts' investigative research. Join Metaphysical for a show that's out of this world.

Dan Philpott discusses the role of religious liberty in US Foreign Policy, Thomas Madden tells us what happened to Constantine at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, A letter from the Synod on Synodality asks the Church to work on ways to have more Synodality before the next Synod on Synodality. Matthew Bunson helps us straighten it out.

While preparing for the decisive Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine reportedly witnessed a Christian cross which may have been accompanied by a Latin inscription which roughly translates as ‘In this sign, you will ...

Dan Philpott discusses the role of religious liberty in US Foreign Policy, Thomas Madden tells us what happened to Constantine at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, A letter from the Synod on Synodality asks the Church to work on ways to have more Synodality before the next Synod on Synodality. Matthew Bunson helps us straighten it out.

In the year 312, two claimants to the Roman imperial throne met outside the walls of Rome near a bridge that crossed the Tiber River.  The subsequent battle that followed was not that different from many other Roman battles that had been fought over the centuries.  However, the implications of that battle have long-reaching ramifications that have shaped the world for the past 1700 years.  Learn more about the Battle of Milvian Bridge and how it changed the world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Draft Kings Step into the thrilling world of sports and entertainment with DraftKings, where every day is game day! Join the millions of fans who have already discovered the ultimate destination for fantasy sports and sports betting. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code EVERYTHING to score two hundred dollars in bonus bets instantly when you bet just five dollars! Newspapers.com Newspapers.com is like a time machine. Dive into their extensive online archives to explore history as it happened. With over 800 million digitized newspaper pages spanning three centuries, Newspapers.com provides an unparalleled gateway to the past, with papers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and beyond. Use the code “EverythingEverywhere” at checkout to get 20% off a publisher extra subscription at newspapers.com. Noom  Noom is not just another diet or fitness app. It's a comprehensive lifestyle program designed to empower you to make lasting changes and achieve your health goals. With Noom, you'll embark on a personalized journey that considers your unique needs, preferences, and challenges. Their innovative approach combines cutting-edge technology with the support of a dedicated team of experts, including registered dietitians, nutritionists, and behavior change specialists. Noom's changing how the world thinks about weight loss. Go to noom.com to sign up for your trial today!   ButcherBox ButcherBox is the perfect solution for anyone looking to eat high-quality, sustainably sourced meat without the hassle of going to the grocery store. With ButcherBox, you can enjoy a variety of grass-fed beef, heritage pork, free-range chicken, and wild-caught seafood delivered straight to your door every month. ButcherBox.com/Daily  Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jsoth, wonders what account of the battle of Milvain Bridge does Murray find most convincing, and what supporting evidence is of the battle? Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

The final vision of evil that John sees in Revelation is that of a woman riding a beast. This woman is called "Mystery, Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth." It is quite the title, and the bible tells us that this woman is drunk with the blood of believers because of the persecution she wages over them. But who is this woman and why is she riding a beast? As usual God is very particular with the details He has revealed in scripture, and careful study reveals the exact identity of Mystery Babylon. Today we will look at scripture and history to see who she is, and more importantly: why we living today need to prepare ourselves for her rule. Stay connected at: www.danceoflife.com RESOURCES: End Times Prophetic Timeline https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vRiMza0rWIbxv3wQ8mM9w8Kdw_eRgN6TeeMj1iHZYhrEqHsS8OOFBoT9T2aSUE_Nwt9-nEzKToeSovv/pubhtml Other churches are no sisters of ours, the Vatican insists https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/other-churches-are-no-sisters-of-ours-the-vatican-insists-699556.html Development of Christian Doctrine by John Henry Newman, p. 372 https://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/chapter8.html Constantine's vision, Battle of the Milvian Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge The Religion of Constantine https://www.crcbermuda.com/reference2/online-books/the-two-republics/chapter-x-the-religion-of-constantine 20 Centuries Of Christianity A Concise History, p.58 https://archive.org/details/20centuriesofchr009187mbp/page/n75/mode/2up Baptized Paganism https://www.christianwalks.org/churchlite/baptized_paganism.shtml 10 kingdoms established in Rome AD 476 https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/division-of-west-rome-into-10-parts/ Intermarriage, European failure to unite again https://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception_end-time_Antichrist_Daniel_kingdoms Historical significance of 508AD https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=jigr Historical significance of 538 AD https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=jigr Papacy established AD 538 (Justinian decree) https://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_1_January_2017/7.pdf

"In this sign, thou shalt conquer" or will you? The story of Constantine the Great comes with a vision, and Milvian Bridge brought him glory and immortality. Of many Roman Emperors throughout history, few impacted our present-day world like Constantine the Great. In a decaying Roman Empire was the rising population of Christians a grasp of hope or a political tool? With more facts uncovered daily, people became more uncertain if the Edict of Milan was an act of divine intervention or political marriage between religion and power. How did the devoted pagan become the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, where does Constantine's triumphal arch lay in this puzzle and what answers does it provide? How much Constantine changed the original Christian religion, did he think of him as the Flavian, 13th Apostle, or maybe even better Jesus, why did he commission 50 copies of the Bible, what happened after his death, and many more controversies and theories, as we try to dissect if Constantine The Great and answer if he was saint or sinner.

This is part 11 of the Early Church History class. Have you heard of the Roman emperor Constantine? He had a massive impact on Christianity. Not only did he end the brutal persecutions of his predecessors, but he also used the Roman government to actively support the Church. However, his involvement also resulted in significant changes that eventually led to the merger between Church and State called Christendom. In this episode you'll learn about the good and the bad effects of Constantine's involvement in Christianity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDFaIh2SsY&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=11 Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— More podcasts about Constantine Get Kegan Chandler's book, Constantine and the Divine Mind Find out more about this summer's Family Camp here. More Restitutio resources on Christian history See other classes here Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— Today, we're looking at one of the most influential people in church history: Constantine (272-337). Also called Constantine the Great or Constantine I There would be 10 more emperors named Constantine. Constantine 11th was the last Roman emperor who died when the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453. Constantine's “Edict of Milan”[1] 303-313 - The Great Persecution 313 - Toleration granted to Christians and all religions Restore confiscated property Constantine's Favoring of Christianity Exemption from public office Tax exemption Use of cursus publicus Printing of Christian scriptures Closing of law courts on Sundays Abolition of face-branding as a punishment Constantine and Churches Donated 3,000 bags of money to church in African provinces Rebuilt and enlarged damaged churches Built new churches, especially through his mother, Helena Helena also allegedly finds the true cross (relic). Constantine's Government Appointed government officials that were Christians Sought advice from Christian bishops on decisions Shared his table with Christians Had bishops accompany soldiers Christian Attitude Toward Military Prior to Constantine Jesus and his apostles taught to love enemies (Matthew 5.5, 9, 38-48; 1 Thessalonians 5.15; Romans 12.14, 17-21; 1 Peter 3.8-11) Didache 1.3-4; Justin Martyr, First Apology 39, Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.34, Tertullian, On Idolatry 19, Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 16.17-19, Origen, Against Celsus 5.33, Cyprian, Epistle I: To Donatus 6, Arnobius, Against the Heathen 1.6, Lactantius, Divine Institutes 5.8.[2] Preston Sprinkle: “Despite the presence of Christians in the military, it is clear that no single Christian writer before Constantine sanctioned the use of violence, not even toward bad guys.”[3] Constantine's Vision Had been a worshiper of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) Allegedly saw something above the sun Had a dream in which Christ told him to use his initials, chi rho (also called, labarum), on his soldiers' shields (“in this you will conquer”) At the battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine defeated Maxentius, fished his body out of the river, decapitated him, and paraded his head through the city on a stick. Christian Leaders Seek Favor Christians requested the emperor to persecute other Christians. Constantine's Edict Against the Heretics Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulians, Cataphrygians Currying imperial favor to defeat one's Christian enemies became a standard tactic. The Constantinian shift initiated a new stage in church history—Christendom, the idea that a society or nation could be Christian. Before long, all infants would be baptized, making everyone a member of the church by birth. Everyone would be raised Christian. The government would pay clergy their salaries. How many of these so-called Christians followed Christ? Evangelism was no longer needed. The kingdom had come. The Roman Empire became the holy Roman Empire and was seen as God's kingdom on earth. Review Constantine's involvement in Christianity brought several significant changes, both good and bad, initiating the “merger” of the church and the state known as Christendom. Constantine ended the persecution of Christians, issuing the Edict of Milan (along with Licinius) in 313. Constantine donated large sums of money to rebuild churches, build new churches, and support clergy. Constantine's favoritism of Christianity incentivized people to join the church. Christians changed from discouraging military participation to blessing it. Christians pursued the emperor's favor to persecute pagans, Jews, and other Christian sects with different beliefs. Constantine's desire to have Christian advisors in his entourage caused some Christians to begin identifying the Roman Empire as God's kingdom on earth. Rather than strict obedience to the teachings of Christ, Christendom came to lower the requirements for all, while the zealous left, pursued monasticism whether as isolated hermits or in communities. [1] Scholars point out that the “Edict of Milan” was really a letter sent from Nicomedia. [2] More quotations in David Bercot, Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. [3] Preston Sprinkle, Fight (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2013), 212-3.

One of the most important battles within the Roman Empire, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge is also famous as a defining moment in Christian history. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly examine how Emperor Constantine I defeated his rival Maxentius on 28 October 312. 

Al has more thoughts on the reality of Hell and Chris Caldwell discusses the impact the 1960s have had on the world today. Is it time for Catholics to embrace Halloween? Fr Steve Grunow joins us, and Bill Cook tells the story of Constantine's victory at Milvian Bridge.

In the year 312, two claimants to the Roman imperial throne met outside the walls of Rome near a bridge that crossed the Tiber River.  The subsequent battle that followed was not that different from many other Roman battles which had been fought over the centuries.  However, the implications of that battle have long-reaching ramifications that have shaped the world for the past 1700 years.  Learn more about the Battle of Milvian Bridge and how it changed the world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Darcy Adams Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Thor Thomsen   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EverythingEverywhere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ Everything Everywhere is an Airwave Media podcast. Please contact sales@advertisecast.com to advertise on Everything Everywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 6 All Change Under Constantine! Last time we looked briefly at two main enemies from within the church: systemic disorganization and chaos within leadership and structure of churches and false and heretical teaching which was creeping in surreptitiously. We move on today to a landmark period in the life of the church. Remember that one of the main persecutors of the Church was the Roman Empire. Now we come to the Emperor Constantine. This period is described by Diarmaid MacCulloch as “crucial for the Christian Church” (A History of Christianity). Constantine was pronounced as Emperor by the Army in 306AD following the death of his father, Constantius 1. Under the rule of Diocletian, the Empire had been reorganized into a team of 4 emperors under his leadership. However civil war soon re-commenced. During this time at the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD, Constantine overthrew his rival, Maxentius, and became the Emperor of the Western Empire. He had been a worshipper of the 'Unconquered Sun', but before this battle he saw a vision of the cross of Christ and had a dream commanding his soldiers to fight under the name of Jesus Christ. He made his soldiers shields with a monogram of Christ, the first 2 letters of Christ's name in Greek. Constantine went on to restore property to the church in his domain which had been confiscated by previous Roman emperors. Then in 313AD Constantine and his ally, Licinius, made a proclamation whereby those identified as Christians would be treated equally with those who were not Christians. This proclamation also declared a new policy of toleration for all religions throughout all the Roman Empire. FF Bruce writes in The Spreading Flame “This led to Christians once banished to return from exile. Their property was restored; their demolished church edifices rebuilt. The last round between Christianity and Roman paganism had been the most desperate of all; but it ended with the acknowledgement that Christianity had won.” Constantine, according to Shelley in his book "Church History in Plain Language", also made many changes in his private life. This including raising his family as a Christian family. He was baptized by Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia. After his Baptist, he refused to wear the imperial purple again and chose to wear his baptismal robes. He died shortly after in 337AD but not before establishing Constantinople as a new capital of the Roman world. A quick look at the historical writing of Eusebius sees Constantine epitomised as an superlative Christian leader and almost envisages a new age of salvation! Here are some of the ways Eusebius describes Constantine from his writings. “Constantine, the mightiest victor, adorned with every virtue of piety…” “For Constantine, like an all-gracious emperor, giving him evidences of true favour…” “God was the friend, protector, and guardian of Constantine, and bringing the plots which had been formed in secrecy and darkness to the light, he foiled them.” Constantine was “the protector of the virtuous, mingling hatred for evil with love for good, went forth with his son Crispus, a most beneficent prince, and extended a saving right hand to all that were perishing.” Constantine brought both significant advantages and disadvantages for Christianity. These include: Advantages for Christianity. Religious tolerance and freedom Restoration of church property - a major church building program by the Emperor e.g. St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Christianity became the favoured religion in the Empire, since Constantine was at the very least nominally Christian. In 312 AD he declared Sunday a holiday. Disadvantages for Christianity. Christianity became nominal, and it was fashionable to be called a Christian. Many pagan ideas were intermingled with Christianity - incense, images, candles, vestments, veneration of saints & martyrs, and Mary idolised like a goddess. The emperor exercised his authority in the church as head of the Roman religion, Pontifus Maximus. This set an unfortunate precedent for involvement of government in Christianity which we will see later causes great trouble for the church and Christianity. While Constantine did not enforce others to join Christianity, that didn't last long. After Constantine's death, belief in Christianity was made a matter of imperial command under the regime of the emperor Theodosius. He had new church buildings designed in order to stress the new hierarchy of Jesus Christ and the Roman emperor. There were also heavy penalties enforced upon those who were not Christians and from other religions. Theodosius enforced the thinking that the there was a close connection between the will of God, his own will and a connection with the Roman empire. How does the church itself react to all this? How was the thinking and theology of the church growing and/or adapting? Well for the answer to that, you will have to wait until the next Podcast! Tap or lick here to save this as an audio mp3 file

In Episode 131, David Bercot is back on Reclaiming the Faith to discuss Constantine the Great. Here, we discussed the events that led up to the Church being enamored with Constantine, what exactly happened on the Milvian Bridge in AD 312, and the effects his reign had on Christianity.  Find all of David Bercot's books here: https://scrollpublishing.com/products-category/books-by-david-bercot/   David Bercot's series on Paul's Letter to the Romans: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqT0pXOZS5AAYFV9MtoKdl1dK-YboVrWs   Faithful Witness: The Early Church's Theology of Martyrdom    https://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Witness-Churchs-Theology-Martyrdom/dp/B09K21NSPC/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=          Phil's Website – https://philsbaker.com Patreon Page - patreon.com/philsbaker Apple Podcasts Channel - Reclaiming the Faith Contact me – emailphilsbaker@gmail.com BDK - www.omegafrequency.com The Ante-Nicene Writings - https://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/more-CD-ANF.html

The Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity shortly before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 is seen as a landmark event in not just the history of the Roman Empire but of Christianity, and indeed of the entire world. But what really happened? Find out in this episode.

Part 2 of 2In October 312, Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius clashed at the Battle of Milvian Bridge to decide who would become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.  Prior to the battle, Constantine reportedly has a vision of a Christian symbol and the message "under this sign conquer". Eventually, Constantine would make Christianity the "official" religion of the Empire.How would things have differed if Constantine had not led this change?You can follow A Fork In Time on….Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aforkintimeTwitter: @AFITPodcastPinterest: www.pinterest.com/aforkintimeOur YouTube ChannelIf you enjoy the podcast and want to support it financially, you can help by:Supporting us monthly via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aforkintime....or, make a one-time donation via Podfan to A Fork In Time or The Room Where It HappenedWebsite: www.aforkintimepodcast.comE-Mail: aforkintimepodcast@gmail.comDirect Link to Listener Survey: https://www.aforkintimepodcast.com/listenersurveyCheck Out The Room Where It Happened, our other podcast where the focus is on "real" history:https://www.aforkintimepodcast.com/theroomwhereithappenedTheme Music: Conquer by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/aforkintime)

Part 1 of 2In October 312, Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius clashed at the Battle of Milvian Bridge to decide who would become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.  Prior to the battle, Constantine reportedly has a vision of a Christian symbol and the message "under this sign conquer". Eventually, Constantine would make Christianity the "official" religion of the Empire.How would things have differed if Constantine had not led this change?You can follow A Fork In Time on….Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aforkintimeTwitter: @AFITPodcastPinterest: www.pinterest.com/aforkintimeOur YouTube ChannelIf you enjoy the podcast and want to support it financially, you can help by:Supporting us monthly via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aforkintime....or, make a one-time donation via Podfan to A Fork In Time or The Room Where It HappenedWebsite: www.aforkintimepodcast.comE-Mail: aforkintimepodcast@gmail.comDirect Link to Listener Survey: https://www.aforkintimepodcast.com/listenersurveyCheck Out The Room Where It Happened, our other podcast where the focus is on "real" history:https://www.aforkintimepodcast.com/theroomwhereithappenedTheme Music: Conquer by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/aforkintime)

How Roman Emperor Constantine became Christian, and his experience at the Battle of Milvian Bridge is a historical enigma we seek to solve. The post The Curious Case of Constantine and Christianity | 311AD-320AD appeared first on TGNR.

If I were to ask you what you consider the most decisive battle or conflict in history, what would you say? Perhaps Constantine's victory at Milvian Bridge . . . the colonists' triumph over Great Britain . . . Hitler's defeat in World War II. No matter what your opinion is, you can put all the important battles in history together and they will still pale in comparison to a battle that is yet to be fought. The Battle of Armageddon, as Scripture calls it, will change the face of the world . . . literally. Wisdom for the Heart is the Bible-teaching ministry of Stephen Davey and is a ministry of Wisdom International. In addition to this daily broadcast, we have many other resources designed to equip and encourage you in the Christian faith. We have a collection of books, booklets, Bible study guides, commentaries, and more. You can learn more about us and access all of our resources by visiting wisdomonline.org. Each month we offer a free resource to anyone who wants it. Learn more at wisdomonline.org/offer. Our only source of funding is the gifts we receive from listeners like you. Please consider making a donation. Your gift goes directly into supporting this ministry and enables us to develop and distribute these resources. To make a donation, visit wisdomonline.org/donate. Wisdom International 2703 Jones Franklin Road, Suite 105 Cary, NC. 27518 866-482-4253

To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/545/29 If I were to ask you what you consider the most decisive battle or conflict in history, what would you say? Perhaps Constantine's victory at Milvian Bridge . . . the colonists' triumph over Great Britain . . . Hitler's defeat in World War II. No matter what your opinion is, you can put all the important battles in history together and they will still pale in comparison to a battle that is yet to be fought. The Battle of Armageddon, as Scripture calls it, will change the face of the world . . . literally.

We have a returning guest Matt Gonzalez. We get into the Mithraism going on behind the scenes with the Elite and Army officers. We get into the story of Constantine's vison and dream of the Battle of Milvian Bridge. We go into Constantine's Arch and some if the Pagan gods depicted on the artwork. We also go into the secret Mithras churches hidden beneath the Christian churches. We also get into the true origin of Christmas. We get into idols of other gods displayed throughout Constantinople Constantine's city. We also go into sun worship and idol worship going on in the Roman Catholic Church today. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-monday/support

312 - Was this the battle that caused Christianity to become the globally mighty religion that we know today, or did the Christian scribes of history use Constantine as a propaganda tool to push the word of Jesus into the consciousness of everybody?

This week we remember James “the Amazing” Randi, a great skeptic and generous person who like no one else influenced the skeptic movement. His legacy lives on. We also reflect a bit on daylight saving before we go further back in time than usual in this week in history and look into the importance of Emperor Constantine and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge for early Christianity. Then Pontus looks into if Pope Francis really has changed his and the Church's position on gay rights, before we get into the news: COVID-19 update No evidence contact tracing helps tackle COVID WHO and Wikipedia team up to combat pandemic misinformation United Nations turns 75 Iris Hundertmark and her pharmacy – update ARP-SAPC news Patents on homeopathic products IPSOS – Trust in news sources by country Enjoy! Segments: Intro; Greetings; Pontus Pokes the Pope; This Week; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

Construction of the New Basilica began under the emperor Maxentius in the year 308 but was completed by emperor Constantine in 312 after his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Indeed, the change in ruler during its building means that this is sometimes referred the Basilica of Maxentius or the Basilica of Constantine. The term Basilica in modern usage suggests a large church or cathedral but in ancient Rome it was more associated with a large civic chamber or meeting hall.  It would have contained statues of gods but was not likely a place of worship.  The Basilica's 3 large bays that dominate the north side of the Via Sacra faced onto a large central nave and were mirrored by another set of 3 matching bays on the South side. These bays had large windows to help light the halls and the ends each bay’s dividing support wall originally had a massive marble column 14.5 meters high and roughly 1 meter wide. All but one of these 8 columns were destroyed – the last remaining was removed by Pope Paul V in the early 1600s and placed in La Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore where it still stands. 

The Temple of Divus Romulus is recognizable as a tall round building on the North side of the Via Sacra. From the name you can be forgiven for thinking that this temple is dedicated to Romulus the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Instead the association comes from the theory that this is the temple dedicated to Marcus Aurelius Romulus co-consul who died at the age of 14 in the year 309. His father, the Emperor Maxentius, dedicated a Temple in this area and commissioned a series of commemorative coins which showed a domed shrine with one of the doors ajar, and an eagle on top.  The temple was probably part of a larger rebuilding program undertaken by Maxentius following a disastrous fire in 306. The project was only partially complete when Maxentius died in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge while defending Rome against Emperor Constantine and his invading troops.  What remains is the main entrance to a 4th Century Temple the front of which was originally flanked by two halls who’s remnants are hinted at by the surrounding brickwork and columns. The current street level is much lower than when the temple was constructed so we can see a lot of the exposed footings. Much of the façade has gone but sufficient remains to have a sense of the curving front with niches for 2 statues on each side of the main entrance door. The columns and carvings are mostly repurposed materials from older constructions. 

The Emperor Constantine I, better known as Constantine the Great, is one of the most significant emperors in Roman history. His later Christian biographers lauded him as an icon, the man who set in motion Rome's dramatic transformation into a primarily Christian empire. And yet Constantine's own beliefs were deliberately ambiguous, as Professor David Potter explained. He learned from Diocletian, he witnessed the mistakes and the successes. He figured out how to heal divisions in the empire, but at the same time restore it to one man rule through blood and battle. Constantine's military and administrative successes are often-overlooked, but these in themselves were extraordinary. In this podcast David and I chatted through Constantine's remarkable life, his legacy and why you wouldn't rate your chances of survival if you were part of his family.David is the author of 'Constantine the Emperor'.Some notes from the pod:Galerius - A Roman emperor between 305 and 311(Valerius) Severus - Galerius' preferred candidate to become the new Augustus in the west in 306, following the death of Constantius (Constantine's father). He was opposed by Constantine.The Wall - Hadrian's WallThe Chi Rho - a Christian symbol, but also a symbol of good fortune. Constantine painted the symbol on his soldiers' shields at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.Lactantius - an early Christian author who talked about the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.Maximinus Daia - ruled alongside Licinius in the east. Formed an alliance with Maxentius against Licinius and Constantine. Defeated by Licinius.Licinius - ruler of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Co-ruled the Empire with Constantine for a while (doesn't end well!). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The arch was erected by the Roman Senate to commemorate emperor Constantine's victory over emperor Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge which had taken place on October 28 in the year 312.  This tour gives the context for the rich details shown on the arch and explores the deeper history of why two Emperors ended-up waging war on each-other.

It was the evening of October 27, 312 A.D. Constantine was going into battle the next day against Maxentius. It is called The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which was an important route over the Tiber, the third-longest river in Italy. The battle would determine whether Constantine or Maxentius would be the Emperor.

Scott and Cole discuss what it means to "render unto Caesar," and whether we're even asking the right questions about the relationship between church and state. The rise of Imperial Christianity and the relationship of Christianity to power are explored. Show Links: The Battle of Milvian Bridge (Wikipedia) Battle of Milvian Bridge and Rise of Christianity (Cavendish, Richard) Edict of Milan Edict of Thessalonica Moral Man, Immoral Society (Niebuhr, Reinhold) Contact Us: Email: cpsquarepodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @cp_square Dr. Self's Website: jscottself.com

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students. Byzantine Empire: 600 - 1450 Regional and interregional interactions   European Middle Ages: feudalism and serfdom: Audrey - The Middle Ages lasted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was a little before 500 AD, to 1500 AD. There are three major sections of the Middle Ages, the Early Middle Ages, lasting from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to 1000 ad, was the first, the High Middle Ages, from 1000 ad to 13 ad, which was a high point for the Middle Ages, and last, the late Middle Ages, this lasted from 1300 to 1500 ad and it wasn't a very pleasant time to live in Europe. Gabe - feudalism is where if your poor you live on some land that you don't own a really rich guy called a baron or duke owns it and you still don't have money so you share a plow with your neighbor and you combine your ox together just to plow the ground so you can make a little money and you cant even leave with permission from your landlord you're a serf in a serfdom which is a state of being a feudal laborer so your like a slave who gets paid enough to survive   Ella - A Roman Emperor by the name of Charlemagne  conquered Northern Italy, around modern day France, and many other places including Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Charlemagne was able to unify most of Western Europe and was considered a defining figure of the early middle ages. Emma - The word feudal comes from the medieval latin word feudum which means “landed estate”. It is a really broad term that refers to many types of landowner-tenant living situations that took place during the middle ages in Europe. In the seventeenth century, historians and lawyers studying the middle ages wanted to give a name to these types of lifestyles in this era, thus naming it feudalism. Modern day historians don’t necessarily agree that they should all be lumped under one name. Ben - And at that time around 1100 AD Rome was losing land to the Muslims that conquered some of the Byzantine area, So they sent some crusaders in 1096 to take the land back, (especially the holy land) and when they did, they decided instead of adding the land back into the byzantine empire they would just make some crusader kingdoms, so they made separate kingdoms that only advanced the divide between the east and west empires. Skylar - Peasant revolting was also called popular uprisings. The peasants revolted in England in 1831. The revolted because they felt that they were not getting treated equally as everyone else, ex. they were working harder than everyone else and barely surviving. Other reasons for popular uprisings/peasant revolting is the government taxing certain people more, cultural issues, and religious issues. 7.Ethan- The Byzantine Iconoclasm was the destroying of religious stuff. This brought up much controversy that lasted about a century. This also further differed the East and the West. The Western Church used religious images often and the Iconoclasm didn’t affect them as much.   Origins of Islam: Audrey - The closest translation of the word Islam to English is surrender, and in the context of the Islamic faith it would be the surrender to the will of God. A Muslim is someone who practices Islam, and submits to the will of God. The central text of Islam is the Quran, which is believed by Muslims that it is the word of God revealed by the messenger Muhammad. Especially in older texts Islam might be referred to as Muhammadism, like Christianity, but this is incorrect because the Muslims didn’t view Muhammad as a divine figure but as someone God spoke through. Ella - Muslims and Christians biggest difference is that muslims do not believe in the crucifixion or the resurrection. They also don’t believe that Jesus is the son of god. They belief he was only and early prophet. Muslims also believe in a system of 5 pillars. These pillars are made up of faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Emma - Islam is similar to Christianity in many ways. For example, they believe that Moses, Abraham, and Jesus were all doing God’s work. They also believe that parts of the Bible are indeed God’s word though they also believe that Muhammad is another of God’s messengers and that they word he conveyed is also divinely inspired. Ben - The biggest figure in Islam is Muhammad, Muhammad was born in 570 BC, sadly his mother died in 576 BC and his grandfather died in 578 BC. He got married in 595 BC. After he saw revelations and visions from god he went down to the big cube and told everyone “hey your gods are fake” but as expected, everyone got mad at him so he had to move to a place with a Christian king. He went to where is now Ethiopia and preached his teachings. Gabe - he started preaching in mecca and the Quraysh tribe did not like that so he moved to Medina or Yathrib and here he kind of became a spiritual ruler over the city And they actually fight the quraysh tribe 3 to 1 because there's only about 300 of them and there's 900 quraysh and they win this battle and quraysh fight them again in the battle of uhud and now there’s 750 so they are building in numbers but there’s 3300 And the quraysh win  and then they have another war which is the  battle of the trench and they actually dug a trench around the city and they fought 3000 to 10000 so three to one again and the muslims won and this is all by account of the muslims though because they are the only record we have of that time 6.Ethan- Muslims consider Muhammad as the last person in the line of disciples. These disciples include, Moses, Abraham, and Jesus. Also, as soon as Muhammad was born most of the Middle East abandoned polytheism. Skylar - the early part of Islamic faiths are center around revelations of the prophet, Muhammad. A lot of the revelations with Muhammad are about surrendering to god. Muslims believe that the Quran is the final testament. Sunni and Shia Islam:  Ella - After the death of Muhammed, these two divisions known as Sunni and Shia came into play. 90% of the world's 1.6 billion muslims are Sunni and 10% are Shia. The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah which is referring to Muhammad. The word Shia comes from Shi'atu ‘Ali which means followers of Ali. Audrey - The general division, between the Sunnis and the Shias, is who should succeed Muhammad, after his death, as leader of the Muslim community. The Shias believe that members of Muhammad’s family, especially his descendants, should become leader. The Sunnis disagree, and believe that it doesn’t really matter who succeeds Muhammad. Ben - As the divide gets more and more intense it causes the “Battle of the Camel” named after Aisha’s camel in 656 BC, then after that the “Battle of Siffin” happens merely a year after in 657 BC.  Gabe - the shias believe even more so that ali should be his successor after a speech saying he is mawla and ali is also mawla and when muhammad died his very close friend abu bakr takes his place and then umar and then uthman who is assassinated and ali finally takes his place      Emma - Ali became caliph in the year 656 AD, after the assassination of Uthman. At this time, Muawiya was the governor of Damascus and he felt that Ali was not putting in a full effort to punish the people who commited the crime. Because of this, he refuses to pledge his allegience to Ali. This started the Fist Fitna, or first Muslim civil war. Skylar - Muhammad was born in the year 570. He starts having revelations to god in the year 610, the Muslim calendar doesn’t start until 622 though. Muhammad married Khadijah and had several kids with her, one being named, Fatimah. Fatimah then married Ali, the son of Abu Talib. That’s where the word shi’atu ali comes from. 7.Ethan- The Shia are mainly based in places like Iraq and Iran, but are spread throughout the world itself. As you can probably guess, the Sunni are in many different places, since 9/10 Muslim are Sunni. Much blood was spilled through these 2 denominations throughout time..   Age of Islam: Ella - The Islamic Empire Grew as it obtained information from other civilizations such as the Byzantine and Persian empires. The collected knowledge and cultural ideas from surrounding empires and people they would meet around their area such as the Indians and the Chinese.          Audrey - They collected and obtained this information all throughout the Umayyad dynasty but most of it happened during the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid Caliphate built Baghdad and moved the of the empire there. Ben - In 786 Al-Ma’mun was born, but later in his life (813 BC) he created the Baghdad house of wisdom. The baghdad house of wisdom contained almost all advanced human knowledge from at the time, from mathematics to astronomy, the house of wisdom contained all great wisdoms, even those that were fictional such as poetry. Gabe - they built baghdad right on the route between europe and asia making it the place a prime spot to trade in allowing the abbasids very wealthy because they imported all sorts of good like silk glass tile paper ivory soap honey diamonds Emma - During this time, something called the translation movement took place. Some of the caliphs like al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun wanted to make popular Greek texts accessible to the Arab world, so they encouraged scholars to translate Greek works into Arabic. They were trying to preserve the thoughts of great scholars such as Aristotle. 6.Ethan- The Abbasid Dynasty built Baghdad which is the capital of Iraq. While this was not always so, Damascus was the original capital city. At the time, this was the perfect place for the capital, for it was by the Tigris and Euphrates river. Thus made is ideal for crop production which allowed larger population. Skylar - Al-Kwarizmi was a persian mathematician who studied at the house of wisdom. Al-Kwarizmi is the inventor of algebra. The word algebra comes from the Arabic word al-jabr. He also created the Hindu numerals. The Great Schism: Audrey - Emperor Nero had these purges of Christians like the Roman fire or fire of rome in 64 ad. Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and was lighting them alive for punishment. Many historians believe that the apostles Peter and Paul were killed in these purges. Ben - Around the early 4th century a new emperor comes along and we’ve talked about him previously, Constantine. But today I’m going to go more in depth into Constantine’s life. He was born in 280 AD. His father was the previous western emperor before him, being made emperor in 305 AD. At Constantine’s thirties he was fighting for power within the western region, becoming victorious and being crowned emperor in 312 AD, and later became emperor of not just western rome but all of it in 324. He instilled multiple laws protecting christian people and converted to christianity/was baptised on his deathbed. He died in 337 AD. Gabe - after constantine there was theodosius who made christianity the main religion of rome and persecuted other religions he was also the last to rule both sides of rome when he died the germanic tribes took the west side of rome leaving justinian to the east side who conquered modern day italy back from the germanic tribes leaving the germanic tribes with modern day france and modern day germany and modern day france is owned by the franks the tribe of france which is why you have french and german but they were actually just german to begin with      Ella -  The Christians of the time were missionaries, going around and spreading their beliefs to other Roman Civilizations. In some cases families were split apart when half of the family decided to abandon Roman practices. Emma - Under the rule of Justinian, there was a power struggle in the Roman Empire. There were many people who possessed large amounts of power with different titles. There was obviously the Emperor, but then there was also the Bishop of Rome, now known as the Pope, who considers himself to somewhat the head of Christianity. There were also several other patriarchs across the Empire who held power and influence over the people. Skylar - Christianity started from the Roman Empire, it started from a jewish sect in Judea and Galilee, from early ministries. Going into the third century christianity was becoming pretty big. There were more purges. In 312 Constantine wins the battle at Milvian Bridge, and shortly after christianity becomes legal, and the christians are no longer persecuted for doing something they believe in. Ethan- The Holy Roman Empire was called this by Voltaire, “It is neither holy, nor an empire”. This Voltaire was a french Enlightenment writer/speaker. Otto der Grosse or Otto the Great was a Roman emperor who originated in Germany. He unified the Empire around the 10th century. It started to split around the 11th century. The Crusades:  Gabe - it was called the crusades because it was a war but from the pope so the pope wanted some land and he convinced a mighty Lord to go fight for him and his land so he goes and dies of starvation there and nevers sees his land again Audrey - Crusades were wars but they were considered just warfare. A war could be considered just if it had a just cause legitimate authority and the right intention. Ella - Eventually after losing a lot of territory, the Byzantine Empire was able to take back some of the Anatolian Peninsula from a muslim group called the Seljuk Turks. Supposedly, the crusades were made for the Byzantine Empire to get back the territory they lost, but the crusades usually took the land for themselves. Skylar -The Byzantine empire was losing the holy land, as the Arabians started to overrun it. Crusades were wars declared by the pope. Pope Urban II told all the christians they need to fight against the muslims to get the holy land back, and whoever fights will be forgiven of their sins. Emma - The crusades made a big impact on the expansion of European kingdoms and territories. In the north and est, crusading helped to expand parts of the Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark. It also influenced the establishment of new political systems like Prussia. Ben - The one they hired to lead the charge against the Muslims that were taking over Jerusalem was Pope Urban II. This took place in 1095. His famous speech hat launched the crusades was, “Under Jesus Christ, our Leader, may you struggle for your Jerusalem, in Christian battle line, [that] most invincible line, even more successfully than did the sons of Jacob of old—struggle, that you may assail and drive out the Turks, more execrable than the Jebusites, who are in this land, and may you deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which he died for us. But if it befall you to die this side of it, be sure that to have died on the way is of equal value, if Christ shall find you in his army” 7.Ethan- The First Crusade was Jerusalem’s first military order. These military orders were more of taking on things like communal poverty, chastity, and obedience. But also violence… lots of violence… for the Christian faith of course. Examples consist of the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Knights. 8.   Medieval Japan:   Gabe - medieval japan becomes a militaristic japan and it gets kind of fragmented and doesn't get reunited till around the modern period every wonder why japanese and chinese is a lot alike because the japanese borrowed many ideas from the chinese because there so close together china was like your older sibling influencing you     Skylar - The Heian period was a golden age for Japan. The Heians were very powerful. The Heian period was known for architecture, culture, arts, and philosophy. They had amazing cultural advancement for their time, around the year 1000. The women had a say in thing, like emperial arts. Lady Murasaki is known as the first novelist. A Shogun is a military dictator, the first Shogun was Minamoto Yuritomo. Audrey - China had a huge influence on Japan even though China never conquered Japan because of how close they are Japan borrowed many ideas from China in the Classical period. Japanese rulers sent delegations to China in the 7th century to better understand what the Chinese do to run their government. Ella - In the time he ruled, Oda Nobunaga took advantage of guns. He was able to use them to put most of the other lords into submission. He also worked towards unifying Japan. The next two rulers Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued working towards unify Japan. Ben - (Y’all better be ready for me to correct your pronunciation since I’m learning Japanese. Nah Jk) The capital of Japan during the heian period was Heian-kyo (today’s Kyoto). Also another little fact about the golden age of Japan was that woman that were in the family of very important political figures had a significant amount of power themselves, unlike other civilizations like Rome. Japan in its early state was famous for taking things and ideas from other people and making their own version. This is how they became one of the first truly industrialized countries.   Emma - The structure of Medieval Japan under the Bakufu system, or shogunate, was actually very similar to a lot of the European systems, and was even called a feudal system by some. In this time, the position of Emperor still existed, but all the power belonged to the Shogun who was a sort of military leader. Under the shogun there were several daimyo, which could be compared to lords. Beneath them was the warrior class of samurai, which are very similar to the knights of europe.   Ethan- The Edo period is named for the castle Edo. This castle was ruled by the Tokuwaga shogunate which is still going. The shogun is at the top of the chain which how the bakufu system normally works. This system is considered the reason Japan began to be unified. Maya, Aztec, and Inca   Skylar - The Aztec Empire starts to form when Azcapotzalca gets in a civil war, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan for a triple alliance and conquer Azcapotzalca. The Aztec empire was very small at the time with only three city-states. The Inca empire called themselves the Tawantinsuyu, they called their ruler Inca.   Gabe - after a while in the Aztec empire Tenochtitlan which was once the weaker city state before in entered the aztec empire actually became the capital of the Aztec empire and the Aztec empire is actually around for another hundred years   When hernando cortes comes and conquered it in 1521        Audrey - The Aztec civilization and the Aztec empire are different from each other because the Aztec civilization was made up of broad groups of people over hundreds of years where the Aztec empire was a very specific entity that was formed in the hundred years before the Spanish colonization. Ella - Hernando Cortes was able to convince several hundreds of conquistadors to conquer empires for him. He collected people from neighboring city states who were having problems with the Mexico or Aztec Empires. He eventually took over the city of Tenochtitlan and it became a very advanced civilization. Ben - One of the biggest ways the English were able to conquer ancient Mexico was with the bringing of smallpox which the native Americans never really had before. Even before they started calling themselves the Inca, they already had a sort of advanced civilization. They taxed their citizens, but not in a traditional way, since they didn’t use a coin or currency system, citizens had to dedicate some of their working time to the government. Emma - The advancements of Inca Empire are on their own monumental, but to put it into perspective, from the historical evidence we currently have, there is no proof that the Incas had a written language. They did have a system of knots that they used, but that was the extent of and record keeping. Ethan- The Mayans were well known for their astronomics, mathematics, and their calendar. Their civilization was based in southeastern Mexico and Guatemala. There was also El Salvador, Belize, and Honduras.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students. Byzantine Empire: 600 - 1450 Regional and interregional interactions   European Middle Ages: feudalism and serfdom: Audrey - The Middle Ages lasted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was a little before 500 AD, to 1500 AD. There are three major sections of the Middle Ages, the Early Middle Ages, lasting from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to 1000 ad, was the first, the High Middle Ages, from 1000 ad to 13 ad, which was a high point for the Middle Ages, and last, the late Middle Ages, this lasted from 1300 to 1500 ad and it wasn't a very pleasant time to live in Europe. Gabe - feudalism is where if your poor you live on some land that you don't own a really rich guy called a baron or duke owns it and you still don't have money so you share a plow with your neighbor and you combine your ox together just to plow the ground so you can make a little money and you cant even leave with permission from your landlord you're a serf in a serfdom which is a state of being a feudal laborer so your like a slave who gets paid enough to survive   Ella - A Roman Emperor by the name of Charlemagne  conquered Northern Italy, around modern day France, and many other places including Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Charlemagne was able to unify most of Western Europe and was considered a defining figure of the early middle ages. Emma - The word feudal comes from the medieval latin word feudum which means “landed estate”. It is a really broad term that refers to many types of landowner-tenant living situations that took place during the middle ages in Europe. In the seventeenth century, historians and lawyers studying the middle ages wanted to give a name to these types of lifestyles in this era, thus naming it feudalism. Modern day historians don’t necessarily agree that they should all be lumped under one name. Ben - And at that time around 1100 AD Rome was losing land to the Muslims that conquered some of the Byzantine area, So they sent some crusaders in 1096 to take the land back, (especially the holy land) and when they did, they decided instead of adding the land back into the byzantine empire they would just make some crusader kingdoms, so they made separate kingdoms that only advanced the divide between the east and west empires. Skylar - Peasant revolting was also called popular uprisings. The peasants revolted in England in 1831. The revolted because they felt that they were not getting treated equally as everyone else, ex. they were working harder than everyone else and barely surviving. Other reasons for popular uprisings/peasant revolting is the government taxing certain people more, cultural issues, and religious issues. 7.Ethan- The Byzantine Iconoclasm was the destroying of religious stuff. This brought up much controversy that lasted about a century. This also further differed the East and the West. The Western Church used religious images often and the Iconoclasm didn’t affect them as much.   Origins of Islam: Audrey - The closest translation of the word Islam to English is surrender, and in the context of the Islamic faith it would be the surrender to the will of God. A Muslim is someone who practices Islam, and submits to the will of God. The central text of Islam is the Quran, which is believed by Muslims that it is the word of God revealed by the messenger Muhammad. Especially in older texts Islam might be referred to as Muhammadism, like Christianity, but this is incorrect because the Muslims didn’t view Muhammad as a divine figure but as someone God spoke through. Ella - Muslims and Christians biggest difference is that muslims do not believe in the crucifixion or the resurrection. They also don’t believe that Jesus is the son of god. They belief he was only and early prophet. Muslims also believe in a system of 5 pillars. These pillars are made up of faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Emma - Islam is similar to Christianity in many ways. For example, they believe that Moses, Abraham, and Jesus were all doing God’s work. They also believe that parts of the Bible are indeed God’s word though they also believe that Muhammad is another of God’s messengers and that they word he conveyed is also divinely inspired. Ben - The biggest figure in Islam is Muhammad, Muhammad was born in 570 BC, sadly his mother died in 576 BC and his grandfather died in 578 BC. He got married in 595 BC. After he saw revelations and visions from god he went down to the big cube and told everyone “hey your gods are fake” but as expected, everyone got mad at him so he had to move to a place with a Christian king. He went to where is now Ethiopia and preached his teachings. Gabe - he started preaching in mecca and the Quraysh tribe did not like that so he moved to Medina or Yathrib and here he kind of became a spiritual ruler over the city And they actually fight the quraysh tribe 3 to 1 because there's only about 300 of them and there's 900 quraysh and they win this battle and quraysh fight them again in the battle of uhud and now there’s 750 so they are building in numbers but there’s 3300 And the quraysh win  and then they have another war which is the  battle of the trench and they actually dug a trench around the city and they fought 3000 to 10000 so three to one again and the muslims won and this is all by account of the muslims though because they are the only record we have of that time 6.Ethan- Muslims consider Muhammad as the last person in the line of disciples. These disciples include, Moses, Abraham, and Jesus. Also, as soon as Muhammad was born most of the Middle East abandoned polytheism. Skylar - the early part of Islamic faiths are center around revelations of the prophet, Muhammad. A lot of the revelations with Muhammad are about surrendering to god. Muslims believe that the Quran is the final testament. Sunni and Shia Islam:  Ella - After the death of Muhammed, these two divisions known as Sunni and Shia came into play. 90% of the world's 1.6 billion muslims are Sunni and 10% are Shia. The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah which is referring to Muhammad. The word Shia comes from Shi'atu ‘Ali which means followers of Ali. Audrey - The general division, between the Sunnis and the Shias, is who should succeed Muhammad, after his death, as leader of the Muslim community. The Shias believe that members of Muhammad’s family, especially his descendants, should become leader. The Sunnis disagree, and believe that it doesn’t really matter who succeeds Muhammad. Ben - As the divide gets more and more intense it causes the “Battle of the Camel” named after Aisha’s camel in 656 BC, then after that the “Battle of Siffin” happens merely a year after in 657 BC.  Gabe - the shias believe even more so that ali should be his successor after a speech saying he is mawla and ali is also mawla and when muhammad died his very close friend abu bakr takes his place and then umar and then uthman who is assassinated and ali finally takes his place      Emma - Ali became caliph in the year 656 AD, after the assassination of Uthman. At this time, Muawiya was the governor of Damascus and he felt that Ali was not putting in a full effort to punish the people who commited the crime. Because of this, he refuses to pledge his allegience to Ali. This started the Fist Fitna, or first Muslim civil war. Skylar - Muhammad was born in the year 570. He starts having revelations to god in the year 610, the Muslim calendar doesn’t start until 622 though. Muhammad married Khadijah and had several kids with her, one being named, Fatimah. Fatimah then married Ali, the son of Abu Talib. That’s where the word shi’atu ali comes from. 7.Ethan- The Shia are mainly based in places like Iraq and Iran, but are spread throughout the world itself. As you can probably guess, the Sunni are in many different places, since 9/10 Muslim are Sunni. Much blood was spilled through these 2 denominations throughout time..   Age of Islam: Ella - The Islamic Empire Grew as it obtained information from other civilizations such as the Byzantine and Persian empires. The collected knowledge and cultural ideas from surrounding empires and people they would meet around their area such as the Indians and the Chinese.          Audrey - They collected and obtained this information all throughout the Umayyad dynasty but most of it happened during the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid Caliphate built Baghdad and moved the of the empire there. Ben - In 786 Al-Ma’mun was born, but later in his life (813 BC) he created the Baghdad house of wisdom. The baghdad house of wisdom contained almost all advanced human knowledge from at the time, from mathematics to astronomy, the house of wisdom contained all great wisdoms, even those that were fictional such as poetry. Gabe - they built baghdad right on the route between europe and asia making it the place a prime spot to trade in allowing the abbasids very wealthy because they imported all sorts of good like silk glass tile paper ivory soap honey diamonds Emma - During this time, something called the translation movement took place. Some of the caliphs like al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun wanted to make popular Greek texts accessible to the Arab world, so they encouraged scholars to translate Greek works into Arabic. They were trying to preserve the thoughts of great scholars such as Aristotle. 6.Ethan- The Abbasid Dynasty built Baghdad which is the capital of Iraq. While this was not always so, Damascus was the original capital city. At the time, this was the perfect place for the capital, for it was by the Tigris and Euphrates river. Thus made is ideal for crop production which allowed larger population. Skylar - Al-Kwarizmi was a persian mathematician who studied at the house of wisdom. Al-Kwarizmi is the inventor of algebra. The word algebra comes from the Arabic word al-jabr. He also created the Hindu numerals. The Great Schism: Audrey - Emperor Nero had these purges of Christians like the Roman fire or fire of rome in 64 ad. Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and was lighting them alive for punishment. Many historians believe that the apostles Peter and Paul were killed in these purges. Ben - Around the early 4th century a new emperor comes along and we’ve talked about him previously, Constantine. But today I’m going to go more in depth into Constantine’s life. He was born in 280 AD. His father was the previous western emperor before him, being made emperor in 305 AD. At Constantine’s thirties he was fighting for power within the western region, becoming victorious and being crowned emperor in 312 AD, and later became emperor of not just western rome but all of it in 324. He instilled multiple laws protecting christian people and converted to christianity/was baptised on his deathbed. He died in 337 AD. Gabe - after constantine there was theodosius who made christianity the main religion of rome and persecuted other religions he was also the last to rule both sides of rome when he died the germanic tribes took the west side of rome leaving justinian to the east side who conquered modern day italy back from the germanic tribes leaving the germanic tribes with modern day france and modern day germany and modern day france is owned by the franks the tribe of france which is why you have french and german but they were actually just german to begin with      Ella -  The Christians of the time were missionaries, going around and spreading their beliefs to other Roman Civilizations. In some cases families were split apart when half of the family decided to abandon Roman practices. Emma - Under the rule of Justinian, there was a power struggle in the Roman Empire. There were many people who possessed large amounts of power with different titles. There was obviously the Emperor, but then there was also the Bishop of Rome, now known as the Pope, who considers himself to somewhat the head of Christianity. There were also several other patriarchs across the Empire who held power and influence over the people. Skylar - Christianity started from the Roman Empire, it started from a jewish sect in Judea and Galilee, from early ministries. Going into the third century christianity was becoming pretty big. There were more purges. In 312 Constantine wins the battle at Milvian Bridge, and shortly after christianity becomes legal, and the christians are no longer persecuted for doing something they believe in. Ethan- The Holy Roman Empire was called this by Voltaire, “It is neither holy, nor an empire”. This Voltaire was a french Enlightenment writer/speaker. Otto der Grosse or Otto the Great was a Roman emperor who originated in Germany. He unified the Empire around the 10th century. It started to split around the 11th century. The Crusades:  Gabe - it was called the crusades because it was a war but from the pope so the pope wanted some land and he convinced a mighty Lord to go fight for him and his land so he goes and dies of starvation there and nevers sees his land again Audrey - Crusades were wars but they were considered just warfare. A war could be considered just if it had a just cause legitimate authority and the right intention. Ella - Eventually after losing a lot of territory, the Byzantine Empire was able to take back some of the Anatolian Peninsula from a muslim group called the Seljuk Turks. Supposedly, the crusades were made for the Byzantine Empire to get back the territory they lost, but the crusades usually took the land for themselves. Skylar -The Byzantine empire was losing the holy land, as the Arabians started to overrun it. Crusades were wars declared by the pope. Pope Urban II told all the christians they need to fight against the muslims to get the holy land back, and whoever fights will be forgiven of their sins. Emma - The crusades made a big impact on the expansion of European kingdoms and territories. In the north and est, crusading helped to expand parts of the Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark. It also influenced the establishment of new political systems like Prussia. Ben - The one they hired to lead the charge against the Muslims that were taking over Jerusalem was Pope Urban II. This took place in 1095. His famous speech hat launched the crusades was, “Under Jesus Christ, our Leader, may you struggle for your Jerusalem, in Christian battle line, [that] most invincible line, even more successfully than did the sons of Jacob of old—struggle, that you may assail and drive out the Turks, more execrable than the Jebusites, who are in this land, and may you deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which he died for us. But if it befall you to die this side of it, be sure that to have died on the way is of equal value, if Christ shall find you in his army” 7.Ethan- The First Crusade was Jerusalem’s first military order. These military orders were more of taking on things like communal poverty, chastity, and obedience. But also violence… lots of violence… for the Christian faith of course. Examples consist of the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Knights. 8.   Medieval Japan:   Gabe - medieval japan becomes a militaristic japan and it gets kind of fragmented and doesn't get reunited till around the modern period every wonder why japanese and chinese is a lot alike because the japanese borrowed many ideas from the chinese because there so close together china was like your older sibling influencing you     Skylar - The Heian period was a golden age for Japan. The Heians were very powerful. The Heian period was known for architecture, culture, arts, and philosophy. They had amazing cultural advancement for their time, around the year 1000. The women had a say in thing, like emperial arts. Lady Murasaki is known as the first novelist. A Shogun is a military dictator, the first Shogun was Minamoto Yuritomo. Audrey - China had a huge influence on Japan even though China never conquered Japan because of how close they are Japan borrowed many ideas from China in the Classical period. Japanese rulers sent delegations to China in the 7th century to better understand what the Chinese do to run their government. Ella - In the time he ruled, Oda Nobunaga took advantage of guns. He was able to use them to put most of the other lords into submission. He also worked towards unifying Japan. The next two rulers Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued working towards unify Japan. Ben - (Y’all better be ready for me to correct your pronunciation since I’m learning Japanese. Nah Jk) The capital of Japan during the heian period was Heian-kyo (today’s Kyoto). Also another little fact about the golden age of Japan was that woman that were in the family of very important political figures had a significant amount of power themselves, unlike other civilizations like Rome. Japan in its early state was famous for taking things and ideas from other people and making their own version. This is how they became one of the first truly industrialized countries.   Emma - The structure of Medieval Japan under the Bakufu system, or shogunate, was actually very similar to a lot of the European systems, and was even called a feudal system by some. In this time, the position of Emperor still existed, but all the power belonged to the Shogun who was a sort of military leader. Under the shogun there were several daimyo, which could be compared to lords. Beneath them was the warrior class of samurai, which are very similar to the knights of europe.   Ethan- The Edo period is named for the castle Edo. This castle was ruled by the Tokuwaga shogunate which is still going. The shogun is at the top of the chain which how the bakufu system normally works. This system is considered the reason Japan began to be unified. Maya, Aztec, and Inca   Skylar - The Aztec Empire starts to form when Azcapotzalca gets in a civil war, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan for a triple alliance and conquer Azcapotzalca. The Aztec empire was very small at the time with only three city-states. The Inca empire called themselves the Tawantinsuyu, they called their ruler Inca.   Gabe - after a while in the Aztec empire Tenochtitlan which was once the weaker city state before in entered the aztec empire actually became the capital of the Aztec empire and the Aztec empire is actually around for another hundred years   When hernando cortes comes and conquered it in 1521        Audrey - The Aztec civilization and the Aztec empire are different from each other because the Aztec civilization was made up of broad groups of people over hundreds of years where the Aztec empire was a very specific entity that was formed in the hundred years before the Spanish colonization. Ella - Hernando Cortes was able to convince several hundreds of conquistadors to conquer empires for him. He collected people from neighboring city states who were having problems with the Mexico or Aztec Empires. He eventually took over the city of Tenochtitlan and it became a very advanced civilization. Ben - One of the biggest ways the English were able to conquer ancient Mexico was with the bringing of smallpox which the native Americans never really had before. Even before they started calling themselves the Inca, they already had a sort of advanced civilization. They taxed their citizens, but not in a traditional way, since they didn’t use a coin or currency system, citizens had to dedicate some of their working time to the government. Emma - The advancements of Inca Empire are on their own monumental, but to put it into perspective, from the historical evidence we currently have, there is no proof that the Incas had a written language. They did have a system of knots that they used, but that was the extent of and record keeping. Ethan- The Mayans were well known for their astronomics, mathematics, and their calendar. Their civilization was based in southeastern Mexico and Guatemala. There was also El Salvador, Belize, and Honduras.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

Trevor and Jerry dive into the long, complicated history of Rome and the Catholic Church's miraculous survival.   Early 40s AD - Church in Rome established 58 - Early 60s AD - St. Peter associated with Rome In the beginning, Rome experiences conflict between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians about whether the Jewish law must be followed to follow Christ. St. Paul addresses this in his Letter to the Romans 49 AD - Jews expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius Around 54 AD - Nero allows Jews back into Rome 64 AD - The Great Fire erupts in Rome. Emperor Nero blames the Christians, leading to mass persecutions Sts. Peter and Paul are martyred around the time of Nero's persecutions First popes: Peter, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus 258 AD - Persecutions of Valerian 303 AD - Persecutions of Diocletian 306 AD - Maxentius lightens the persecutions 312 AD - Emperor Constantine and the Battle of Milvian Bridge 313 AD - Edict of Milan - Christianity tolerated in the Roman Empire 493 - 537 AD - Ostrogothic Papacy 537 - 752 AD - Byzantine Papacy 756 - 857 AD - Frankish Influence 800 AD - Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope 904 - 1048 AD - Influence over the papacy by powerful roman families 1048 - 1257 AD - Conflicts with the Holy Roman Emperor and the Eastern Church 1257 - 1309 AD - Popes moved around in Italy outside of Rome to escape violence 1309 - 1377 AD - Avignon Papacy 1378 - 1417 AD - Western Schism 1417 - 1534 AD - Renaissance Papacy 1517 - 1580 AD - Reformation and Counter-Reformation 1585 - 1689 AD - Baroque Papacy 1775 - 1848 AD - The Age of Revolution in the World, suppression by Napoleon 1870 - 1929 AD - Papacy loses temporal power, left with Vatican City 1930 AD - Present - Fight against fascism, Nazis, and communism. Vatican II convened. Papacy primarily a spiritual power, not a temporal one. Papacy is globalized.   Song Credit: Star Visions Of A Champ (KieLoKaz ID 103) by KieLoBot Website: https://wedaretosay.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedaretosay/

These two pivotal battles in world history face off against each other to see who moves on to the second round.Support the show (http://www.battlegroundhistory.com)

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge changed our world. The christogram is wedded to this event. Constantine made it the symbol of his victory. This podcast is dedicated to the first use of the Chi-Rho on a coin.

This is the first episode of the premium series! October 28, 312. The Battle of Milvian Bridge. Conny wins and marches into Rome, with the head of Maxentius carried on a spike. Just like Jesus would have done. Arianism started in Alexandria. It's named after Arius, a pretty popular and charismatic priest who believed that […] The post Episode 5 – A Quarrel Over Unimportant Points appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

This is the first episode of the premium series! October 28, 312. The Battle of Milvian Bridge. Conny wins and marches into Rome, with the head of Maxentius carried on a spike. Just like Jesus would have done. Another thing Conny does to emulate his lord and saviour, is to have Maxentius' family all killed. […] The post Episode 4 – I Have The Power! appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine had a vision. But of what? Our sources differ. The post Episode 3 – Constantine's Vision appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Come see the Tussle on the Tiber, Jehovah versus Jupiter.  ***  The backing track for this piece was taken from the Free Music Archive.  It is titled “Apache Force” from the album Future Shapes by Little Glass Men.  It is being used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  

Hello and welcome to episode twenty-two of Prose.   This week's episode, like last week's,  is quite a bit different than your average episode of Prose.  The first three parts of the episode are entries in a mini-series called “Easter Loves History” that was a part of another series of mine called Thumbnail History.  So, yes, it's yet another deviation from our norm, and, yes, I am, yet again, hoping you'll be up for the ride once more.   If you are enjoying the show, its deviations, and/or anything in between, or even if you are not, please to feel free to contact me through prosepodcast@gmail.com with anything you might want to say, be it praise, critique, advice, or simply saying hello.  You can also keep up with or communicate with the podcast by following Prose on Twitter through @prosepodcast or on Facebook under the same handle, though Twitter is the far more active of the two.   Lastly, it would not be an introduction if I did not tell you to head over to iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or the podcast-catcher of your choice and leave a rating and/or review for Prose.  Let's see some reviews and ratings come rolling in.   Thank you for taking the time to listen to Prose.  Let's get to the pieces, shall we?   This week, we have “ Easter Loves History: Tiglath-Pilessar III,” “Easter Loves History: Charlemagne,” “Easter Loves History: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge,” and the traditional Biblical Easter Story.  Happy Easter.   Enjoy!  

Explore the background of the 4th Century in which there was chaos. The Great Persecution happened under Diocletian (284-305 AD) around 297-301 AD. Explore the Tetrarchy with the Eastern Empire ruled by Diocletian and Galerius, and the Western Empire ruled by Maximian Augustus and Constantius. Galerius provoked Diocletian into persecuting the Christians. Diocletian retired in 304 AD and insisted that Maximian retire as well. Galerius took over for Diocletian and Constantius took over for Maximian. Galerius continued the persecution. Constantius did not think Christians should be persecuted so did not pursue Christians. Eventually Galerius concedes defeat since the public was not unifying but actually dividing. Galerius issued the Edict of Toleration. Consider Eusebius’ response. Christianity became a religio licita (a legal religion) once again. Constantine was in Britain when his father died and he claimed to be the rightful successor to the throne. Maxentius also claimed the throne. There was a political and physical battle going on but also a spiritual battle. Constantine had a conversion experience in which the Labarum symbol (Chi-Rho) appeared and so it was used on the shields of his men during the battle at Milvian Bridge where he defeated Maxentius. Constantine was theologically confused from the start. Consider Henry Chadwick’s description of Constantine. Constantine never left this syncretic faith. The Arch of Constantine marks the spot of the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine took control of the Western Empire, formed an alliance with Licinius, and agreed to no more persecution of Christians through the Edict of Milan. Was all well and everyone living in peace? Not exactly. Distant rulers such as Maximinus Daia who ruled the furthest eastern part of the Empire carried on the persecution but was eventually overthrown by Licinius. Constantine and Licinius had a complex friendship or relationship. There was distrust between them and in 324 AD Constantine overthrew Licinius. Constantine became the sole ruler of the entire Empire and desired unity.

View a picture of the Amphitheatre at Carthage, the likely martyr site of Perpetua and Felicitas). Continue to explore the physical opposition and major persecutions of Christians during this time. Decius (249-251 AD) had a big impact and wanted to preserve classical culture. He ordered everyone to make sacrifices to the Emperor and those who did were provided with a libellus, which was a receipt or proof of the sacrifices. Christians had no libellus and the Bishop of Rome was executed. Valerian (253-260 AD) ordered similar decrees that all Christians had to sacrifice to the Emperor. Cyprian of Carthage was martyred during this time in 258 AD. During the reign of Gallienus (260-268 AD), persecutions seem to die down. He was the first Emperor to issue an edict of toleration. Christianity was still illegal but decriminalized. Explore the tetrarchy established by Diocletian (284–305 AD). He divided the Empire into two parts, East and West. Each part had a Ruler and a deputy or lieutenant ruler. In the West, his lieutenant, Maximian Augustus, was in charge. Diocletian took over the Eastern part. Under Maximian Augustus was Constantius I in the West and under Diocletian in the East was Galerius, who did not like Christians. The Great Persecution began in 297-301. What was the spark? Galerius was the reason Diocletian persecuted Christians. He issued four edicts and each ratcheted up persecutions. In February 303 AD, churches and books were destroyed. In mid-year 303 AD, the clergy was imprisoned. In November 303 AD, amnesty was offered to Christians who would sacrifice to the Roman gods. In the spring of 304 AD, everyone had to sacrifice or face death. Some Christians responded by burning the emperor’s palace in Nicomedia. Diocletian responded by making 268 Christians martyrs. What were the types of punishments for persecuted Christians? They were thrown into cages with wild animals, had their eyes gouged out, were beheaded, crucified, and had molten lead poured down their throats. Consider Hebrews 11:25-27. Diocletian retired in 305 AD and forced Maximian to retire also. Galerius, his lieutenant took over the East and continued the persecution of Diocletian. Constantius ruled over the West and took a far less brutal path. He did not execute people, but he did burn various churches. What were the results of this persecution? This heroism brought new converts and attracted people to the faith. Many in the crowds watching had sympathy. In 311 AD, Galerius, in the East changed his mind (a politically expedient move) and issued an edict of toleration. Christianity was once again a religio licita (legal religion). The edict ended by asking the Christians to pray for the empire. When Constantius I died, his son, Constantine defeated Maxentius in 312 AD at the battle of Milvian Bridge for control. How does this relate theologically to us today? Jesus tells us, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”(Luke 9:23) We also read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge changed our world. The christogram is wedded to this event. Constantine made it the symbol of his victory. This podcast is dedicated to the first use of the Chi-Rho on a coin.

In the year AD 312, Constantine the Great defeated his main rival for the title of emperor in Western Europe. He is one of the most significant people in history, as the first Christian Emperor, who vigorously promoted the religion See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rebroadcast of the long running radio program, "The Ave Maria Hour", a presentation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. www.AtonementFriars.org. St. Helena - Empress mother of Constantine the Great. She was a native of Bithynia, who married the then Roman general Constantius I Chlorus about 270. Constantine was born soon after, and in 293, Constantius was made Caesar, or junior emperor. He divorced Helena to marry co Emperor Maximian?s stepdaughter. Constantine became emperor in 312 after the fateful victory at Milvian Bridge, and Helena was named Augusta, or empress. She converted to Christianity and performed many acts of charity, including building churches in Rome and in the Holy Land. On a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Helena discovered the True Cross. She is believed to have died in Nicomedia. Her porphyry sarcophagus is in the Vatican Museum. Geoffrey of Monmouth, England, started the legend that Helena was the daughter of the king of Colchester, a tradition no longer upheld. In liturgical art Helena is depicted as an empress, holding a cross. 

The arch of Constantine has long puzzled scholars trying to trace the religious development of the first Christian emperor. Dedicated just three years after his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the arch shows no trace of the Christian inspiration said to have led to Constantine's victory by Eusebius and Lactantius. Lenski argues that the arch's inscription represents not a Christian but a pagan interpretation of the victory put forward by the Roman Senate, adding further refinements to this earlier argument based on the arch's iconography. He will examine the many representations of the sun god on the monument to show that the arch's designers wished to credit Constantine's success to the intervention of Sol Invictus. He will then examine the role assigned to the Senate itself on the arch's reliefs and particularly in the two Constantinian friezes on the arch's northern side. The prominent place of senators seems designed to co-opt Constantine into the Roman Senate and its ideology and thereby to ensure his acceptance of its version of the events surrounding the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

Professor Freedman examines how Christianity came to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. This process began seriously in 312, when the emperor Constantine converted after a divinely inspired victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Constantine’s conversion would have seemed foolish as a political strategy since Christianity represented a completely different system of values from that of the Roman state, but not only did it prove to be a brilliant storke in aid of Constantine’s quest for power, it fundamentally changed the character of the Empire and that of the early Church. Constantine also moved his capitol to a new city he founded in the East, named Constantinople, opening the possibility of a Roman Empire without Rome. Professor Freedman ends the lecture with a comparison of Diocletian and Constantine. Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu This course was recorded in Fall 2011.

On October 28, 312 AD Constantine and Maxentius fought a battle at Rome's doorstep for control of the Western Empire.

Professor Kleiner presents the architecture of Constantine the Great, the last pagan and first Christian emperor of Rome, who founded Constantinople as the "New Rome" in A.D. 324. She notes that Constantine began with commissions that were tied to the pagan past (the Baths of Constantine in Rome) but built others (the Aula Palatina at Trier) that looked to the Christian future. Professor Kleiner makes an impassioned case that some of the finest and most innovative Roman buildings date to the Constantinian period. The "Temple of Minerva Medica," a garden pavilion, for example, is decagonal in shape and the colossal Basilica Nova was inventively modeled on the frigidaria of Roman imperial bath complexes. In addition, the Arch of Constantine, a triple-bayed structure commemorating Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, serves as a compendium of Constantine’s accomplishments in the context of those of the "good emperors" of the second century A.D. In conclusion, Professor Kleiner asserts that the transfer of the Empire's capital from Rome to Constantinople diminished Rome’s influence, at least temporarily, but not the impact of its architecture, which like the city of Rome itself, is eternal.

Professor Kleiner presents the architecture of Constantine the Great, the last pagan and first Christian emperor of Rome, who founded Constantinople as the "New Rome" in A.D. 324. She notes that Constantine began with commissions that were tied to the pagan past (the Baths of Constantine in Rome) but built others (the Aula Palatina at Trier) that looked to the Christian future. Professor Kleiner makes an impassioned case that some of the finest and most innovative Roman buildings date to the Constantinian period. The "Temple of Minerva Medica," a garden pavilion, for example, is decagonal in shape and the colossal Basilica Nova was inventively modeled on the frigidaria of Roman imperial bath complexes. In addition, the Arch of Constantine, a triple-bayed structure commemorating Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, serves as a compendium of Constantine’s accomplishments in the context of those of the "good emperors" of the second century A.D. In conclusion, Professor Kleiner asserts that the transfer of the Empire's capital from Rome to Constantinople diminished Rome’s influence, at least temporarily, but not the impact of its architecture, which like the city of Rome itself, is eternal.

This week's episode is titled, “Keeping a Record”The first 3 Cs of Church History are at times a difficult puzzle to sort out because no coherent historical narrative was being kept.Luke's account in the Books of Acts recounts a time span of about 30 yrs & roughly narrates the spread of the Faith from Jerusalem to Rome. The next narrative doesn't come till the writings of the Christian historian Eusebius in the 4th C.  What we have for a period of over 200 yrs are the writings of the Fathers whose letters give little more than a thumbnail sketch of what was happening. We have to infer & assume a lot by picking up what facts we can about what was happening. As we've seen, the work of the Church Fathers focused mainly on providing pastoral & apologetic support.  Gaining an historical framework for this period comes from merging secular accounts of history with the commentary of the Fathers. But with the work of Eusebius at the opening of the 4th C, the narrative becomes significantly clearer.Eusebius began compiling his magnum opus of Church History in the 290's. Titled Ecclesiastical History, it's an attempt to provide a narrative of the Communion of the Saints from the Apostles to his time.Eusebius was born & raised in Caesarea on the coast of Israel. He was a student of the Christian leader Pamphilas, who was himself a student of the great Apologist Origen. Eusebius became the bishop at Caesarea in 313. He played a major role in the Council of Nicaea in 325, which we'll take a closer look at in a future episode.Eusebius is a key figure in the study of Church History because his Ecclesiastical History is the first work after Luke's to attempt an historical narrative of the Faith. He's also an important figure because of his close association with the Emperor Constantine.I want to quote the opening of Eusebius' narrative because it gives us a sense of the monumental nature of his work.  He knew he was attempting to reconstruct a narrative of the Church from scant resources.In Chapter 1, which he titled, “The Plan of the Work” he writes –It is my purpose to write an account of the successions of the holy apostles, as well as of the times which have elapsed from the days of our Savior to our own; and to relate the many important events which are said to have occurred in the history of the Church; and to mention those who have governed and presided over the Church in the most prominent parishes, and those who in each generation have proclaimed the divine word either orally or in writing.It is my purpose also to give the names and number and times of those who through love of innovation have run into the greatest errors, and, proclaiming themselves discoverers of knowledge falsely so-called, have like fierce wolves unmercifully devastated the flock of Christ. …But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely.Having gathered therefore from the matters mentioned here and there by them whatever we consider important for the present work, and having plucked like flowers from a meadow the appropriate passages from ancient writers, we shall endeavor to embody the whole in an historical narrative. …This work seems to me of especial importance because I know of no ecclesiastical writer who has devoted himself to this subject; and I hope that it will appear most useful to those who are fond of historical research.Eusebius was unaware of any previous attempt to provide an historical narrative of the development of the Faith from the late 1st C to his time in the early 4th, a period of a little over 200 yrs. From a modern perspective, Eusebius' account might be considered suspect, relying as it does on tradition & at best fragmentary evidence. What must be remembered is the importance of that oral tradition and the accuracy of such transmission over long periods of time. Because the ancient world didn't possess cheap and plentiful means of recording information, it was dependent on oral tradition & rote memorization.  With the advent of the printing press and more economic media, the priority of the oral tradition declined. Eusebius had both written and oral source material to draw from. His work can be considered dependable, while subject to question when it leaned toward the ancient penchant for using history as propaganda.As we return to the narrative timeline of Church history we need to pick up the story with the reign of the Diocletian who presided over the last & in many ways worst round of persecution under the Roman emperors.Though Christians remember Diocletian for that, he was in truth one of the most effective of the Roman Emperors. By the time he came to the throne, the Roman Empire was a sprawling & unwieldy beast of a realm to rule. The City of Rome was an old & decayed relic of its former glory. So Diocletian moved his headquarters eastward to Nicomedia in Asia Minor, modern Turkey.  Instead of trying to exert control over the entire empire himself & solely, Diocletian appointed Maximian as co-emperor to rule the western half of the Empire from Rome while he ruled the East.One of the persistent problems that led to so much unrest in the recent decades was the question of succession; who would rule after the current emperor? To forestall that turmoil, Diocletian appointed dual successors for both himself & Maximian.  Flavius Constantius became Maximian's successor while Diocletian took on Galerius. This established what's known as the Tetrarchy.While Diocletian had no warm & fuzzy feelings for the followers of Christ, it was really his successor Galerius that urged him to launch a campaign of persecution. Galerius was a military commander who thought Christians made poor soldiers. He knew their loyalty was supremely to their God and thought they made for unreliable troops. Galerius was also a committed pagan who believed in the Roman deities. He attributed any setback for the Army & any of the regular natural disasters that shook the realm, to their displeasure that so many of Rome's subjects were turning to the new god on the block. So it was really at Galerius' urging Diocletian approved the severe measures taken against Christians and their churches.  When Diocletian retired to his villa to raise cabbages & turned the eastern half of the Empire over to Galerius, persecution increased.Eventually, Constantius replaced Maximian in the West, just as Galerius had assumed the mantle in the East. And Diocletian's tetrarchy began to unravel. Galerius decided he wanted to be sole ruler and abducted Constantius' son, Constantine who'd been named successor to his father in the West. When Constantius fell ill, Galerius granted Constantine permission to visit him.Constantius died, & Constantine demanded Galerius recognize him as his co-emperor. No doubt Galerius would have launched a military campaign against Constantine's bid for rule of the West, but Galerius himself was stricken with a deadly illness. On his deathbed, Galerius admitted his policy of persecution of Christians hadn't worked and rescinded his policy of oppression.In the West, Constantine's claim to his father's throne was contested by Maximian's son, Maxentius. The showdown between them is known as the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Maxentius didn't want Constantine marching his troops into Rome so he tore down the Milvian Bridge after marching his troops across it to meet Constantine. Just in case the battle went against Maxentius, he had a temporary bridge built of a string of boats across the river.At this point, the story gets confused because there's been so many who've written about what happened and the reports are varied. On the day before the battle, Constantine prayed, most likely to the sun-god. As he did, he looked toward the sun & saw a cross. Then, either he saw the words or heard them spoken, “By this sign, Conquer.” That night while he slept, Jesus appeared to him in a dream, telling him to have his soldiers place a Christian symbol on their shields. The next morning, chalk was quickly passed round & the soldiers put what's called the Chiron on their shields. Chi & Rho are the first 2 letters of the Greek word Christos, Christ. In English it looks like a P on top of an X.When the 2 forces met, Constantine's veterans bested Maxentius' less experienced troops, who retreated to their makeshift bridge. While crossing, Maxentius fell into the water & drowned. Constantine then marched victoriously into Rome.A year later, he and his new co-emperor Licinius issued what's known as the Edict of Milan, which decreed an end to all religious persecution, not just of Christians, but all faiths. For Constantine, Jesus was now his divine patron & the cross, an emblem of shame & derision for generations, became instead—a kind of charm. Instead of being a symbol of Rome's brutality in executing its enemies, the cross became a symbol of Imperial power.Bishops began to be called priests as they gained parity with their peers in pagan temples. These Christian priests were shown special favors by Constantine. It didn't take long for the pagan priests to realize which way the winds of political favor were blowing. Many converted.Now à there's been much debate over the legitimacy of Constantine's conversion. Was he genuinely born again or was he just a savvy politician who recognized a trend he could co-opt and turn to his favor? People will disagree on this and my meager offering is unlikely to convince anyone. But I think Constantine was probably a genuine Christian. He certainly did some things after his conversion that are difficult to reconcile with a sincere faith, but we have to remember the moral base he grew up in as the son of a Caesar & as a general of Roman legions was very different from the Biblical morality that's shaped Western civilization.  Also, Constantine's actions which are so decidedly non-Christian, like murdering those who threatened his power, may have been rationalized not as personal acts so much as attempts to secure the peace & safety of the empire. I know that's a stretch, but when analyzing history, we need to be careful about judging people when we don't have at our disposal all the facts they did.If we could sit down with Constantine and say, “You shouldn't have executed that guy.” He could very well say something like, “Yes, as a Christian, I shouldn't have. You're right. But I didn't execute him out of personal anger or suspicion or mere selfishness. It really bothers me that I had to off him; but I discovered he was plotting to usurp my throne and it would have thrown the empire into years of civil war & chaos.” To which we'd reply,  “Well Constance, you need to trust God more. He'll protect you. He put you on the throne, He can keep you there.” And Constantine might reply, “Yeah, I considered that & I agree. But it's a tough call. You see, in terms of my personal life, I trust God. But when it comes to my role as Emperor, I need to make tough choices others who don't wield the power I do will understand.”Let's not forget that Constantine, while being a competent general & astute politician, was at best a novice believer.I share this little made-up discussion because it points up something we're going to encounter again & again in our review of the history of the Church. We look on past ages, on what they believed and the things they did, with an attitude of moral superiority because we wouldn't do the terrible things they did, or we assume would do some things they failed to. We need to be cautious with this attitude for the simple reason that when we take the time to listen to the voices of the past and let them explain themselves, we often come to a new appreciation for the difficulty of their lives & choices. We may not agree with them, but we at least realize in their own minds & hearts, they thought they were doing what was best.You make up your own mind about the genuineness of Constantine's faith, but let me encourage you to spend a little time looking up what Eusebius wrote about him and some of the tough decisions Constantine had to make during his reign.Some of the things regarded as incompatible with a genuine conversion is that he retained his title of Pontifex Maximus as the head of the state religious cult. He conceived & hatched political plots to remove enemies. He murdered those deemed a threat to his power.On the other hand, from 312 on, his favor of Christianity was quite public. He granted the same privileges to bishops, pagan priests enjoyed. He banned crucifixion & ended the punishment of criminals by using them in gladiatorial games. He made Sunday a holiday. His personal charity built several large churches. And his private life demonstrated a pretty consistent genuine faith. His children were brought up in the Church & he practiced marital fidelity, at least, as far as we know. That of course, was certainly NOT the case with previous Emperors or even the wider Roman nobility.Critics like to point to Constantine's delay of baptism to shortly before his death as evidence of a lack of faith. I suggest that it ought to be read exactly the opposite. Remember what we learned about baptism a few episodes back. In that time, it was believed after baptism, there were certain sins that couldn't be forgiven. So people delayed baptism to as close to death as possible, leaving little chance for commission of such a sin to occur. Following his baptism, Constantine never again donned the imperial purple of his office but instead wore only his white baptismal robes. That sounds like he was concerned to enter Heaven, not a casual disregard of it.Chief among Constantine's concerns upon taking control of the Empire was unity. It was unity & strength that had moved Diocletian to establish the tetrarchy. Decades of civil war as one powerful general after another seized control and beat down his challengers had desperately weakened & impoverished the realm. Now that Constantine ruled, he hoped the Church would help bring a new era of unity based on a vital & dynamic faith. It didn't take long before he realized the very thing he hoped would bring unity was itself fractured.When the Church was battered & beaten by imperial persecution, it was forced to be one. But when that pressure was removed, the theological cracks that had been developing for a while became immediately evident. Chief among them was the Donatist Controversy we recently considered. In 314 the Donatists appealed to Constantine to settle the issue on who could ordain elders.Think about what a momentous change this was! The church appealed to the civil authority to rule on a spiritual affair! By doing so, the Church asked for imperial sponsorship.At this point we need a robot to wave its arms manically & cry “Danger! Will Robinson, Danger!”Constantine knew this was not a decision he was capable of making on his own so he gathered some church leaders in Arles in the S of France to decide the issue. The Donatist bishops were outnumbered by the non-Donatists – so you know where this is going. They decided against the Donatists.Instead of accepting the decision, the Donatists called the leaders who opposed them corrupt and labeled the Emperor their lackey.  The Church split between the Donatist churches of North Africa and the rest who now looked to Constantine as their leader.As tensions rose, the Emperor sent troops to Carthage in 317 to enforce the installation of a pro-government bishop opposed by the Donatists. For the first but far from last time, Christians persecuted Christians. Opponents of Constantine were exiled from Carthage. After 4 years, he realized his strong arm tactics weren't working and withdrew his troops.We'll pick it up and this point next time.