Constantine and the Conversion of Europe

Men and Their Times

by A.H.M. Jones

'Constantine hardly deserves the title of Great which posterity has given him, either by his character or by his abilities. He was highly susceptible to flattery, and fell completely under the influence of any dominating personality who happened to be at his side ... Still less does Constantine deserve the title of saint, which the Eastern Church has bestowed upon him. He was, it is true, according to his lights, a good man on the whole, though his political murders – particularly that of Licinius – shocked even contemporary opinion, and his execution of his wife and son was felt by many to be an inexpiable stain on his character

To the other title which the Orthodox Church has bestowed upon him, the "Peer of the Apostles," he has a better claim, for his career profoundly influenced the history of the Church and the future of Christianity ... Constantine had no doubts about his imperial duty. It was his task to secure God's favour on the empire by securing, by force if necessary, that his subjects worshipped God in a manner pleasing to Him.'

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Biography, Church History, Theology, European History

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) — known as A.H.M. Jones — was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.

Jones's best-known work, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602 (1964), is considered the definitive narrative history of late Rome and early Byzantium, beginning with the reign of the Roman tetrarch Diocletian and ending with that of the Byzantine emperor Maurice. One of the most common modern criticisms of this work is its almost total reliance on literary and epigraphic primary sources, a methodology which mirrored Jones's own historiographical training. Archaeological study of the period was in its infancy when Jones wrote, which limited the amount of material culture he could include in his research.

He published his first book, The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, in 1937. In 1946, he was appointed to the chair of the Ancient History department at University College, London. In 1951, he moved to Cambridge University and assumed the same post there. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1947.

Jones was reportedly an extremely fast reader with an encyclopedic memory. His disdain for "small talk" sometimes made him seem remote and cold to those who did not know him well, but he was warmly regarded by his students. He was sometimes criticized for not fully acknowledging the work of earlier scholars in his own footnotes, a habit he was aware of and apologized for in the preface to his first book.

Jones died of a heart attack in 1970 while traveling via boat to Thessaloniki to give a series of lectures.

Since Jones's death, popular awareness of his work has often been overshadowed by the work of scholars of Late Antiquity, a period which did not exist as a separate field of study during his lifetime. Late Antiquity scholars frequently refer to him, however, and his enormous contributions to the study of the period are widely acknowledged.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I recall best about this rather dry, scholarly review of the Roman transition to state-sponsored Christianity was Jones' discussion of the problematic of Constantine's supposed conversion. Contrary to Church legend, he did not, so far as we know, convert at the battle of the Mulvian bridge. Indeed, he may only have been baptised upon his death bed--and even for this we have only suspect Christian sources. That he was superstitious, however, is well known. It is probable that he maintained a prudent respect for all popular cults and good relations with those supportive of his political and dynastic purposes. What he did do with the Christian cult was to include it in the equation and to thereby garner substantial support from elements of it. Such few hindrances as remained against the cult were removed and he involved himself personally in aspects of its administration and processes of self-definition by such acts as sponsorship of a great council of bishops. Whether he had any strong feelings about creed or dogma, beyond a monarchical prejudice suited to his own ambitions, is quite debatable.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the end I found this book quite enlightening. I had trouble with the earlier parts because of my lack of familiarity with the chaotic period that preceded Constantine. I also found many of the long quotes that Jones includes for good reason hard to get through. Nonetheless as a short introduction to the expansion of Christianity in the Roman Empire this book is excellent.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent..., esp. good is his treatment of the social basis of Constantine's program and also Jones' account of the early heresies

[Rebecca Hazen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth look at the impact Constantine had on transforming the Roman Empire from pagan beliefs to Christianity. It also looks at his active involvement in attempts to resolve theological disputes in the early Church.

[Nile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent, if short read on the topic.

I think at this point it clearly shows its age, in terms of scope (to what degree or how he was Christian), approach (implication Nicean Creed was correct), and terminology (Unconquered Sun used where Sol Invictus is commonly used now).

As this is part of the old 'teach yourself' range of historical non-fiction, the author leaves you to make conclusions rather than really hammer home their position. For what it's worth, I think Christianity was to Constantine the last, ultimate imperial cult. His adolescence was peppered with Christian persecution which only seemed to bring personal difficulty to Augustus' and Caesars. Meanwhile he himself, as well as his father, not indulging in the persecution, seemed charmed by luck. He doesn't seem interested in personal salvation, only imperial protection.

That raises its own question, of what the 'true' Church is; whether Nicean Creed is a bastardisation of an authentic heterogeneous faith, or an act of distillation of authentic religion from heresy. Much like the collection of Qur'ans and their return standardised, with sections from some purged during the process, the faithful have to hope for a miracle in this process, that God was watching over the actions of men and guiding them.

That attempt to make such an imperial cult out of an existing faith would long-term lose the Empire Egypt and the Levant. Once those dissenters were lost, leaving the Empire in faith homogeneous, the religion acted as a redoubt for what was left of the Empire. Constantine may have doomed the Empire in the form he knew it, but fashioned the means for an unconquerable rump out of it. God moves in mysterious ways...

[Christopher Cerone · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author notes that Constantine was “no saint: his relations with God were regulated by fear and hope and not by love”. That captures the essence of this fine, yet narrow, account of the Roman emperor. Constantine’s conversion to Christianity is linked to an explicit form of divine intervention, which, he believed, contributed to his epic victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. The author suggests that the conversion may have happened without that specific intervention, as Constantine was generally respectful of Christians at a time when pagan rulers were seriously unkind to them. The author spends significant time discussing paganism, often in painstaking detail, and portrays Constantine as determined to unify - though not necessarily expand - the Christian faith at the expense of paganism. The accounts of the famous Council of Nicaea and Constantine’s constant tussles with the Donatists, Arians and Meletians are exquisite. This may not make for the easiest of reads for some, but the books sure puts a focused spotlight on the consequential emperor and the lasting imprint he left on Christianity.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read and certainly a book which I must read another time.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly and dry, but got my juices going in grad school.

[no · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jones working with textual sources only means those chapters on subjects that are well-served solely by those sources hold up fine, such as the chapters on the Donatist heresy or the minutes of the council of Nicaea, whereas other chapters are better as a record of what people thought about these times in the late 1940s. It's all still pretty dated. Jones thinks Constantine was a Roman general who converted due to chance, and his conversion meant he devoted the remainder of his life to unifying the nascent Christendom, but he was neither Great nor a saint. Weirdly caustic and down on his subject, Jones did his best given the times, I guess. For grad students only.

Takeaway:
"'Athanasius is very despondent,' as we learn from a contemporary letter which chance has preserved from the rubbish-heaps of Egypt."

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a class on Byzantine History. Wouldn't read recreationally, not because the topic isn't interesting but because Jones is a rather dry author.

Some of the chapters - discussions of Diocletian and the organizational clusterfuck that was the Roman Empire - I found legitimately interesting, but this text is definitely not introductory and I was quickly lost when the text pivoted from Roman/Byzantine history to Christian history (which felt like most of it, to be honest).

Unless you're a history major, you probably won't like this. Even as a history major, I wasn't a huge fan - I've definitely read more engaging stuff for classes.

[Luke Nassief · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book almost caused me a mental breakdown in the middle of campus. I must say, it was unjustly so! The first part of the book was exceptionally dull but the rest turned out to be very interesting. The highlight was certainly Constantine’s involvement with the first Ecumenical Council. It felt like, in spite of the book being rather mundane, the climax of an exciting novel.

This is definitely not the kind of book I would normally read, but, contrary to what I originally thought, being forced to read it for my Byzantine History class wasn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. Give it a read if this period of Christian History fascinates you.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Except the bad synthesis in the last chapter, a very clear and concise introduction

[Claire Khaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed, compelling and clear about how Christianity was created.

[McHale Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

i agree with the author how a kinslaying, power hungry, hot head like Constantine ever got the cognomen great is beyond me. Other reviews are correct, the writing is dry and scholarly.

[Jayson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read some dry history but this takes the cake. Impossible to tell what exactly is going on because it’s just a bunch of random fact thrown together.

[Muskan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chapters I covered were quite fun to read!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes rambly and un-linear, sometimes overly or underly detailed. It was ok for an introduction to Constantine, but not great.

That said, I don't know why people praise Constantine as a Christian saint. Was he even a Christian? He postponed baptism till his deathbed because he believed baptism removed sins, and he had plenty of them; the murder of his wife and son in a fit of rage over their transgressions being just one of the standouts in his less than saintly life.

It sounds like Christianity was to him a tool for unifying his empire.

His theological motif was: Obviously God is with me because I have conquered my enemies. Also, if you see funny lights in the sky you should definitely join whatever religion you can associate them with.

Although Constantine's 'conversion' to Christianity brought a reprieve to a lot of Christian persecution, Constantine's Rome was the first instance of Christians being persecuted by a Christian government, while simultaneously diluting what it meant to be a Christian as the whole empire followed the emperor's example.