I was going through a shop which had old books and things and came across a volume of books which included Byzantium I: The Early Centuries, and Byzantium II: The Apogee, by John Julius Norwich. I went through them and it traces the history of the city from the birth of Constantine in 274 and goes into the theological controversies, the notorious background, and the proverbially "Byzantine" court intrigues. It showed many Christian icons and church's that came from this period and gave much credit to the first Christian Emperor as he is known. Constantine's mother was Helena, a Bithynian and it is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantine's father or merely his concubine, as the father left Helena to marry (the emperor at the time} Maximian's stepdaughter Theodora in 288 or 289 to allow himself to rise in the ranks.
His father did rise and Constantine became the prime candidate for future appointment as Caesar as soon as his father took the position which Diocletian gave as first appointee for the office of Caesar, and Constantine joined the Emperors court. Constantine witnessed the beginnings of Diocletian's "Great Persecution", the most severe persecution of Christians in Roman history. Diocletian ordered the destruction of Nicomedia's new church, condemned its scriptures to the flames, and had its treasures seized. In the months that followed, churches and scriptures were destroyed, and Christians cleansed of the ranks and offices of the Empire. Constantine was there and in his later writings he would attempt to present himself as an opponent of Diocletian on this, but nothing indicates that he opposed it.
Through political intrigue and various shifts he was able to gain the office he is best known for. Interestingly in he moved away from the pagan Roman religion with its focus on twin dynasties of Jupiter and Hercules and had it spread around that he experienced a divine vision of Apollo and Victory granting him laurel wreaths of health and a long reign. In the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to whom would be granted "rule of the whole world". This religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in Constantine's coinage. In his early reign, the coinage of Constantine advertised Mars as his patron. Mars was replaced by Sol Invictus, a god conventionally identified with Apollo. There is little reason to believe that either the dynastic connection or the divine vision are anything other than fiction, but their proclamation strengthened Constantine's claims to legitimacy and increased his popularity.
Constantine was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 and interesting his official imperial title was 'Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the pious, the fortunate, the undefeated'. After 312, he added MAXIMVS "the greatest", and after 325 replaced "undefeated" with VICTOR, as ''invictus'' reminded many of Sol Invictus, the Sun God and some have even made him a saint and is known as 'Saint Constantine'.
In A.D. 330 Emperor Constantine inaugurated Constantinople as his capital on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium. It was at this time we find the pagan sun worship replacing the true worship of God, and history relates how 'Constantine the Great' and the fact that he, as Roman Emperor, commanded the civil observance of Sunday. The Sunday law of Constantine had nothing to do with Christianity however, it was purely a political move in keeping with the history of the 'Byzantine' changes as to the most advantageous position.
We find that "He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sabbatum, but under its old astrological and heathen title, Dies Solis. familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshippers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians. There is no reference whatsoever in his law either to the fourth commandment or to the resurrection of Christ.
Constantine worshipped all the gods especially Apollo the god of the sun. He held the title Pontifex Maximus which was the title of the high priest of paganism. These and other considerations make it clear that Constantine's form of Christianity was actually a modified version of mystery religion. The Mystery of Iniquity that had been at work since the time of Babel.
This same system, characterized by the shrouding of truth in secrecy and the manipulation of the truth in order to achieve it’s ends, set out, in the third century, to combine paganism with Christianity. These goals were partially accomplished through the proclamation on March 7th 321 A.D. of Constantine the Great, stating:" All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon The Venerable Day of the Sun."
Shortly after he made his sun-day proclamation, Constantine ordered his wife and eldest son murdered and had a bronze statue of himself set atop a tall column as Apollo, the sun god. Do we see a pattern...
His father did rise and Constantine became the prime candidate for future appointment as Caesar as soon as his father took the position which Diocletian gave as first appointee for the office of Caesar, and Constantine joined the Emperors court. Constantine witnessed the beginnings of Diocletian's "Great Persecution", the most severe persecution of Christians in Roman history. Diocletian ordered the destruction of Nicomedia's new church, condemned its scriptures to the flames, and had its treasures seized. In the months that followed, churches and scriptures were destroyed, and Christians cleansed of the ranks and offices of the Empire. Constantine was there and in his later writings he would attempt to present himself as an opponent of Diocletian on this, but nothing indicates that he opposed it.
Through political intrigue and various shifts he was able to gain the office he is best known for. Interestingly in he moved away from the pagan Roman religion with its focus on twin dynasties of Jupiter and Hercules and had it spread around that he experienced a divine vision of Apollo and Victory granting him laurel wreaths of health and a long reign. In the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to whom would be granted "rule of the whole world". This religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in Constantine's coinage. In his early reign, the coinage of Constantine advertised Mars as his patron. Mars was replaced by Sol Invictus, a god conventionally identified with Apollo. There is little reason to believe that either the dynastic connection or the divine vision are anything other than fiction, but their proclamation strengthened Constantine's claims to legitimacy and increased his popularity.
Constantine was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 and interesting his official imperial title was 'Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the pious, the fortunate, the undefeated'. After 312, he added MAXIMVS "the greatest", and after 325 replaced "undefeated" with VICTOR, as ''invictus'' reminded many of Sol Invictus, the Sun God and some have even made him a saint and is known as 'Saint Constantine'.
In A.D. 330 Emperor Constantine inaugurated Constantinople as his capital on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium. It was at this time we find the pagan sun worship replacing the true worship of God, and history relates how 'Constantine the Great' and the fact that he, as Roman Emperor, commanded the civil observance of Sunday. The Sunday law of Constantine had nothing to do with Christianity however, it was purely a political move in keeping with the history of the 'Byzantine' changes as to the most advantageous position.
We find that "He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sabbatum, but under its old astrological and heathen title, Dies Solis. familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshippers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians. There is no reference whatsoever in his law either to the fourth commandment or to the resurrection of Christ.
Constantine worshipped all the gods especially Apollo the god of the sun. He held the title Pontifex Maximus which was the title of the high priest of paganism. These and other considerations make it clear that Constantine's form of Christianity was actually a modified version of mystery religion. The Mystery of Iniquity that had been at work since the time of Babel.
This same system, characterized by the shrouding of truth in secrecy and the manipulation of the truth in order to achieve it’s ends, set out, in the third century, to combine paganism with Christianity. These goals were partially accomplished through the proclamation on March 7th 321 A.D. of Constantine the Great, stating:" All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon The Venerable Day of the Sun."
Shortly after he made his sun-day proclamation, Constantine ordered his wife and eldest son murdered and had a bronze statue of himself set atop a tall column as Apollo, the sun god. Do we see a pattern...
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