The Roman Revolution of Constantine
Cambridge University Press, 9/3/2007
EAN 9780521882095, ISBN10: 0521882095
Hardcover, 458 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm
Language: English
The reign of the emperor Constantine (306–337) was as revolutionary for the transformation of Rome's Mediterranean empire as that of Augustus, the first emperor three centuries earlier. The abandonment of Rome signaled the increasing importance of frontier zones in northern and central Europe and the Middle East. The foundation of Constantinople as a new imperial residence and the rise of Greek as the language of administration previewed the establishment of a separate eastern Roman empire. Constantine's patronage of Christianity required both a new theology of the Christian Trinity and a new political image of a Christian emperor. Raymond Van Dam explores and interprets each of these events. His book complements accounts of the role of Christianity by highlighting ideological and cultural aspects of the transition to a post-Roman world.
Introduction
Part I. A Roman Empire without Rome
1. Constantine's rescript to Hispellum
2. His favorite rooster
old Rome and new Rome
3. 'Hope in His name'
the Flavian dynasty
4. Reading ahead
Part II. A Greek Roman Empire
5. Constantine's dialogue with Orcistus
6. 'The most holy religion'
petitioning the emperor
7. 'The Roman language'
Latin and the Greek East
8. Falling water
Part III. Emperor and God
9. 'Begotten of the gods'
the imperial tetrarchy
10. 'Begotten from the Father'
the Christian Trinity
11. 'Only-begotten son'
history becomes theology
12. The search for the Christian doctrine of the emperor
Epilogue
one emperor.