Constantine and his Contributions

[Name of the Institute]

CONSTANTINE AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

Introduction

The era of Constantine is considered to be one of the most successful eras of the Roman emperors that not only brought various changes to the pagan rituals but also made different contributions for the people of Rome. The greatest change that was brought during his reign was his conversion from being pagan to Christian that made variations in his governance towards the Roman emperor. Throughout the three centuries that is from fourth to Sixth, changes were occurring among the political and church structure in the West. The Christianity that was considered to be persecuted religion and minority's faith previously, by the end of the century turned into the religion of Empire. The Rome's bishop was considered to have universal and highest authority in the lands of Christian. The changing relationships of the Emperor, pagan religion and Church are of great importance to the history as it brought changes to the Christianity and made it an important religion in the world. All these changes were greatly supported by the Constantine and made him the ultimate challenger that change the teachings of Roman emperor. The purpose of this paper is to explore the religious contributions “Constantine the Great” made for the Roman people.

Thesis statement

Constantine, being the first Christian Roman emperor made Christianity a dominant religion of the Rome thereby declined the pagan rituals and made contributions for the betterment of Roman people.

Discussion

Scholars conventionally view Roman religion as a public phenomenon that served to promote social cohesion within the Roman state but did not provide for individual religious experiences or expressions of personal piety. This dissertation argues that Romans did in fact experience religion on a personal level and, furthermore, that they distinguished between public and private religion. When the distinction between public and private religion is applied to the Roman emperors, it becomes clear that many of them pursued personal religious interests in addition to their public religious role.

Because the emperor was a public figure, there existed a public discourse about his religion and his relationship to the gods in both the private and public spheres. This discourse focused on the emperor's personal attitude toward religion and involved questions of 'Romanness' and 'foreignness' as well as debate about what constituted superstition. Understanding how Romans thought about the emperor's religion contributes to a more sophisticated understanding of Roman religion in the imperial period. In several cases, emperors manifested devotions to particular deities: these include Augustus, Domitian, Trajan, Heliogabalus, and Constantine. In each case, there is evidence that the relationship between emperor and god was based on personal religious sentiment and was not simply an ideological tool.

The contributions made by Roman Emperor Constantine are of great importance for the historians and the people of Rome itself. The fourth century started with the presence of four sovereigns including two inferior and two superior groups that were named as Galerius Maximianus, Constantius Chlorus and Maximianus Herculius, Diocletian. The turning of Constantine from pagan ...