The finger of Constantine the Great

Since last year, the bronze Emperor Constantine in the Capitoline Museums in Rome has temporarily his left index finger back. The Louvre in Paris is lending the 38-centimetre-long index finger for the time being for five years.

The statue of the Roman emperor consists of a head, a globe and the left hand. The index finger was missing for a long time until it was discovered in Paris in 2018. In France, the finger is accidentally categorised as a "toe", but French scientist Aurélia Azéma, during her research on bronze statues, discovers that the object must be Constantine's missing index finger. It is now temporarily attached to the emperor's hand.

Although the colossal statue is still incomplete, it gives an impression of the power of this first Christian emperor, who was born on February 27th, 272 - it may also have been 273 - in an army camp in what is now Serbia. His father, Constantius, later ruled over Britain and Gaul; his mother, Helena, was a Christian.

Around 300, there were no signs that the position of Christians in the Roman Empire would change soon. Under Emperor Diocletian, Christians again faced persecution because they refused to acknowledge him as a deity and did not participate in the emperor's obligatory cult. But these persecutions were not very effective because there were now too many Christians: estimated at almost one-tenth of the population.

Conversion

Constantine follows in his father's footsteps as an army leader. It is not entirely clear when he became a Christian. Possibly, Constantine made a cautious choice for Christianity in the course of 311 or the spring of 312.

Then there is also a dream, or perhaps a sign in the sky. Constantine is told or seen that he will defeat his rival Maxentius if he openly expresses support for the Christian God. The imperial banner, shields and helmets will bear the Christogram, an abbreviation of the Greek word "Christos". In this sign, he will be victorious. Constantine defeats Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, just outside Rome. A triumphal arch next to the Colosseum still commemorates this victory.

To this day, doubts remain about Constantine's conversion. Why did he, as a Christian, not distance himself more clearly from paganism? His triumphal arch in Rome and the minted coins were decorated with pagan images. Christian morals also seem to have little effect on Constantine. The emperor had his wife and son put to death, continued to bear the title "pontifex maximus" - highest priest - and left certain pagan cults untouched. Only on his deathbed did Constantine allow himself to be baptised.

Many historians see Constantine's conversion as a slow process during which the emperor exercised the necessary political caution: Christians rarely formed most of the population in Roman cities.

Fall

Be that as it may, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 marks a turning point in history. Constantine felt protected by God and called to reunite the entire empire under His leadership. Not much later, Christians were allowed to practice their religion openly. And the population was given one day of rest per week: Sunday.

The care for the poor, encouraged by Constantine, caused an influx of new Christians. His preference for Christians in official appointments also makes the church attractive. By the middle of the fourth century, most of the population was Christian. Emperor Theodosius I declares Christianity the state religion in 391.

During Constantine's reign, the face of Roman Christianity changes permanently. The most far-reaching change is the connection between Christianity and state power, which significantly increases the wealth and political influence of the church.

Doorkeeper

When Constantine feels the end of his life approaching, he first wants to be baptised, according to his biographer Eusebius of Caesarea. Then his soul will be cleansed "from the errors he committed as a mortal man." The emperor decides to travel to the Holy Land to be baptised in the Jordan, like Jesus. He never got further than Nicomedia, a city near Constantinople (today's Istanbul). There Constantine, as the first emperor ever, received baptism.

Caesar Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus dies on 22 May 337. His sarcophagus is placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Precisely in the middle of the twelve monuments to the apostles, as determined during his life.

Constantine's funeral shows that much has changed in the Christian Church within a few decades. "Emperors should be buried in a place that reflects their real position in the church", the church father Chrysostomus later complained. "Not as apostles, but as doorkeeper."

This article was translated by CNE.news and previously published in Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad on February 25th, 2022.