CosmosPowerConstantine
Constantine
Also called: Constantine the Great · Constantine I
The Roman emperor who legalized Christianity.In this narrative, he was a priest of Mithraism, and the man who fixed Sunday and December 25 on their present dates.
Established facts
Constantine I was Roman emperor from 306 to 337 CE.The 313 Edict of Milan recognized Christianity as a legal religion.He convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 to settle doctrinal disputes.He moved the capital to Constantinople in 330.He is said to have been baptized only near the end of his life.His reign marks the point from which Christianity became the Roman Empire's dominant religion.
The sun that halts at the winter solstice and rises again is said to be the skeleton of the Jesus story.
In this narrativeThe claim that he was a Mithraic priest
In this narrative, Constantine was a devoted follower of Mithraism1.He was, further, a priest of Mithraism himself1.A former Roman soldier, he first encountered the Mithraic faith that spread widely through the army1.Even after legalizing Christianity in 313, he did not erase the traces of sun worship1.This picture draws him as a man straddling two faiths.
In this narrativeThe hand that set Sunday and December 25
Constantine issued a decree to observe "the day of the sun god" (Sunday) in place of the Sabbath (Saturday)1.From then on, Rome's administration, military, and culture settled into resting on Sunday1.December 25, once a Mithraic festival day, also shifted to become the birth date of Christ1.These two decisions built the skeleton of today's Christian calendar.
In this narrativeWhere the word "heresy" began
Emperor Theodosius, who succeeded Constantine, made Christianity Rome's state religion1.He suppressed and executed clergy of other religions1.From this point, anyone who taught something different from the clergy the emperor recognized was called a "heretic"1.The emperor's administrative and military power was mobilized for that suppression1.Even the name Mithramas was, around this time, simply changed to Christmas1.
Connected concepts
- Mithras →The faith Constantine is said to have belonged to is Mithraism.
- Winter Solstice →The December 25 he is said to have moved sits at the place of the winter solstice festival.
- Days of the Week →His decree is claimed to have fixed Sunday as the day of worship.
- The Vatican Pine Cone →Christianity's later center, once it became Rome's state religion, was the Vatican.
Leads here fromJesus as the Sun