On This Day In Roman History, February 10
The Edict of Milan was a plan aiming to treat Christian Romans with more liberties and benevolence within the Empire, created under Constantine I in February, 313 CE. The "Edictum Mediolanense", as it was known in Latin, was engineered by Constantine I and the Dacian-born Emperor Gaius Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustus. Commonly referred to as Constantine's first great act as a Christian Emperor, the edict furthered the previous Edict of Toleration orchestrated by Emperor Galerius. By late 313 the Christian property that was destroyed was returned and actually reimbursed in the form of state subsidies, and meeting places for Christians were re-opened.
Did you know?
The translated texts and letters from these edicts were preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea, who translated them to Greek in his works titled Historia Ecclesiastica. The edicts actually refer to the Empire itself as a republic. Within the depths of the "Dominate" era of the Emperors, it is interesting to see that individuals still referred to the Empire as both a commonwealth and a republic.
Pictured: Plaque with the Edict of Toleration of emperor Galerius in Latin Greek and Bulgarian in front of the St Sofia Church, Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo by Wikipedia user Мико, via Wikimedia Commons.
Quoted from the edict: "Among other arrangements which we are always accustomed to make for the prosperity and welfare of the republic, we had desired formerly to bring all things into harmony with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans, and to provide that even the Christians who had left the religion of their fathers should come back to reason; since, indeed, the Christians themselves, for some reason, had followed such a caprice and had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity, which perchance their own ancestors had first established; but at their own will and pleasure, they would thus make laws unto themselves which they should observe and would collect various peoples in diverse places in congregations."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! I feel it important to view Constantine's religious beliefs and aptitude at this time as still very much "Romanized". While his early views were probably state-centric, focusing on cutting down the civil strife that was becoming more of a problem from the non-toleration of Christians, Constantine was probably still very religious/ spiritual. It may have been possible that Constantine simply viewed the Christian God as the most powerful in his pantheon of ideas, and in a still very mystical and superstitious culture righting what was wronged was important. In a multi-cultural state, it is important to not marginalize certain communities or groups for the purpose of civil cohesion. I believe Constantine knew this better than anyone, but we should be weary whether his initial motives were inspired via solely Christian ideals and beliefs. It is much more likely his spiritual superstition and political savviness were the original motivators for his edict.
Sources
Barnes, T. D. (1981). Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Leithart, P. J. (2010). Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom. IVP Academic.
Sordi, M. (1986). The Christians and the Roman Empire. London: Croom Helm.
Stevenson, J. (1987). A New Eusebius: documents illustrating the history of the Church to AD 337. London: SPCK.
Further Reading:
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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