male announcer: The
world, forever changed.
00:00:01.26\00:00:04.70
His legacy, an empire
reaching across centuries.
00:00:04.73\00:00:08.34
His name...
00:00:08.37\00:00:11.14
Constantine.
00:00:11.17\00:00:15.78
"Shadow Empire."
00:00:15.81\00:00:18.91
Shawn Boonstra:
This is the city of Nis
00:00:31.63\00:00:33.36
in the heart of Serbia.
00:00:33.40\00:00:34.93
It's a very old town,
one of the oldest in Europe.
00:00:34.96\00:00:38.17
In ancient times the
Romans called it Naissus
00:00:38.20\00:00:40.94
and it was here
some 1700 years ago that
00:00:40.97\00:00:43.74
a baby was born under
a cloud of illegitimacy
00:00:43.77\00:00:47.18
to a very humble and
insignificant village girl.
00:00:47.21\00:00:50.35
That baby would grow
up to completely transform
00:00:50.38\00:00:53.65
the whole planet.
00:00:53.68\00:00:55.48
In fact, you and are
still living under the shadow
00:00:55.52\00:00:58.29
of his life.
00:00:58.32\00:00:59.62
He has altered the way
you think, the way you live,
00:00:59.65\00:01:02.26
and probably
the way you believe.
00:01:02.29\00:01:06.63
And this is the ancient
land of Israel where another
00:01:07.50\00:01:10.27
even better known baby
was born some 2,000 years ago
00:01:10.30\00:01:14.17
to another humble village girl.
00:01:14.20\00:01:18.61
And that baby completely
changed the planet undeniably
00:01:18.64\00:01:23.08
to an extent unmatched by
any other child in history.
00:01:23.11\00:01:27.88
And the paths of these
two incredible children
00:01:27.92\00:01:30.32
were destined to
cross in ways that history
00:01:30.35\00:01:32.55
has clearly recorded but
most of us have forgotten
00:01:32.59\00:01:36.69
and believe me, our amnesia
hasn't done us any favors.
00:01:36.73\00:01:42.53
¤¤¤
00:01:43.57\00:01:50.64
Shawn: It was 271 A.D.
00:01:55.18\00:01:56.88
and a tired
Roman military tribune
00:01:56.91\00:01:58.85
by the name of
Flavius Constantius
00:01:58.88\00:02:01.45
was leading his men back from
a battle with the Sarmatians,
00:02:01.48\00:02:04.99
a large confederation of
ancient Persians that had
00:02:05.02\00:02:08.22
slowly been making their
way westward for centuries.
00:02:08.26\00:02:12.13
Eventually with the
help of Germanic barbarians
00:02:12.16\00:02:14.36
like the Goths, they
started pushing their way
00:02:14.40\00:02:17.00
into Roman territory, something
the empire could not allow.
00:02:17.03\00:02:21.87
Shawn: And on his way back
from fighting the Sarmatians,
00:02:31.11\00:02:33.65
Flavius Constantius
stopped here in what is now
00:02:33.68\00:02:36.35
the modern day city of Nis
in a village much like this
00:02:36.38\00:02:39.69
to get some rest.
00:02:39.72\00:02:41.49
His men spent the night out
in the fields but because he was
00:02:41.52\00:02:44.46
a commanding officer, he
got to stay in a village inn
00:02:44.49\00:02:48.16
where he could get a
great meal, a good night sleep,
00:02:48.20\00:02:51.50
and unfortunately
something else that soldiers
00:02:51.53\00:02:54.14
sometimes go looking
for when they come to town.
00:02:54.17\00:02:57.01
He wanted a little
company for the evening.
00:02:57.04\00:03:01.98
According to the story told by
an ancient great monk, Flavius
00:03:02.64\00:03:05.91
asked the local innkeeper
to find him a companion.
00:03:05.95\00:03:09.45
What usually happened in
those days is someone would go
00:03:09.48\00:03:11.45
and fetch a village widow
but that night, the innkeeper
00:03:11.49\00:03:15.22
dispensed with the tradition
because he was deeply impressed
00:03:15.26\00:03:18.39
by the stature and
bearing of this Roman soldier
00:03:18.43\00:03:21.33
and he did the unthinkable.
00:03:21.36\00:03:23.87
He sent for his
16-year-old daughter.
00:03:23.90\00:03:27.00
Her name, Helena, and
she would go on to become
00:03:27.04\00:03:29.87
one of the most
famous women in history.
00:03:29.90\00:03:36.51
The next morning, when the sun
came through the bedroom window,
00:03:37.51\00:03:41.08
Flavius suddenly worried
that maybe he had offended
00:03:41.12\00:03:43.39
Apollo the sun god so he
quickly packed up and went out
00:03:43.42\00:03:46.89
to the fields to his
men, but just before he left,
00:03:46.92\00:03:51.16
he gave money to the
innkeeper and then he handed him
00:03:51.19\00:03:55.13
something else, an
object that would later prove
00:03:55.16\00:03:58.27
to be very important.
00:03:58.30\00:04:02.60
He gave the innkeeper his
tribunal cape which had a buckle
00:04:02.64\00:04:07.84
with his initials
and his military rank.
00:04:07.88\00:04:11.85
"Keep the girl pure,"
he said, "and if by chance
00:04:11.88\00:04:13.72
she gives birth to a child,
00:04:13.75\00:04:15.18
protect the child as
the apple of your eye."
00:04:15.22\00:04:19.09
And then he left town and,
of course, the girl was pregnant
00:04:19.12\00:04:23.02
and she gave birth to a
child and named him Constantine
00:04:23.06\00:04:27.00
which means little Constantius.
00:04:27.03\00:04:30.23
He was named after his father,
00:04:30.27\00:04:32.07
but his father had
no idea he existed.
00:04:32.10\00:04:36.94
In fact, his father went to live
where modern day Budapest now is
00:04:40.18\00:04:43.85
and from there at the age of
33, he was suddenly summoned by
00:04:43.88\00:04:47.88
the Roman emperor to
become the governor of Dalmatia,
00:04:47.92\00:04:51.69
a region in modern day Croatia.
00:04:51.72\00:04:54.39
Now that appointment was
a huge deal because Dalmatia
00:04:54.42\00:04:57.59
was a key Roman territory
where the empire controlled
00:04:57.63\00:05:00.46
the flow of trade
between east and west.
00:05:00.50\00:05:04.07
If you became the
governor of Dalmatia,
00:05:04.10\00:05:07.10
it meant you
were on your way up.
00:05:07.14\00:05:09.77
Now that appointment
also sealed the fate of Helena
00:05:09.80\00:05:12.31
and little
Constantine because, of course,
00:05:12.34\00:05:14.78
she was nothing
but a humble peasant
00:05:14.81\00:05:17.61
and the father of the
boy was now at the top
00:05:17.65\00:05:20.38
of Roman society.
00:05:20.42\00:05:22.55
He was now famous enough that
she probably knew exactly where
00:05:22.58\00:05:26.15
he was but
ancient Roman civilization
00:05:26.19\00:05:29.29
was not exactly egalitarian.
00:05:29.32\00:05:32.26
She had no way to
contact the father
00:05:32.29\00:05:35.16
because that
would never be allowed.
00:05:35.20\00:05:38.43
That should have been the end
of the story, just another baby
00:05:40.80\00:05:44.34
born to another peasant girl
and nobody cares except that
00:05:44.37\00:05:48.81
almost a decade later,
something remarkable happens.
00:05:48.84\00:05:52.61
Another group of Roman soldiers
stops at the village inn in Nis
00:05:52.65\00:05:56.28
for the night and they
found little Constantine,
00:05:56.32\00:05:58.89
now 9 years old,
00:05:58.92\00:06:00.59
teasing their horses
and that made them angry,
00:06:00.62\00:06:04.83
so they started to hit the boy.
00:06:04.86\00:06:07.30
And his mom heard the commotion
and came running into the barn.
00:06:07.36\00:06:09.60
"Stop," she said.
00:06:09.63\00:06:11.00
"Don't you know who that is?
00:06:11.03\00:06:12.40
You're hitting
the governor's son."
00:06:12.43\00:06:14.54
"Do you take us
for fools?" they said.
00:06:14.57\00:06:19.67
"I swear to the gods, I'm
telling the truth," she said.
00:06:19.71\00:06:22.24
"When Flavius
Constantius was just a tribune,
00:06:22.28\00:06:24.78
he slept here and
I became pregnant."
00:06:24.81\00:06:28.02
male: What proof do
you have of such a thing?
00:06:28.05\00:06:29.92
Shawn: "If you want
proof, I can give it to you."
00:06:29.95\00:06:33.56
That's when she
pulled out the cape.
00:06:33.59\00:06:35.69
male: F.C., Flavius Constantius.
00:06:35.72\00:06:39.29
Shawn: Imagine the
panic those men must have felt
00:06:39.33\00:06:40.93
when they saw the
initials, Flavius Constantius,
00:06:40.96\00:06:44.93
governor of Dalmatia.
00:06:44.97\00:06:48.40
The good news is they did
the right thing, they went
00:06:48.44\00:06:51.27
and told the governor he
had a son living in Naissus.
00:06:51.31\00:06:55.31
The governor was delighted.
00:06:55.34\00:06:57.68
He sent for the boy immediately.
00:06:57.71\00:07:00.25
Helena was now 26 years
old and the reunion went
00:07:00.28\00:07:03.35
as well as you might imagine.
00:07:03.39\00:07:05.19
She was welcomed into the
governor's house with open arms.
00:07:05.22\00:07:09.06
There was only one
problem, there was no way
00:07:09.09\00:07:12.49
Flavius Constantius could marry
her because she was a peasant.
00:07:12.53\00:07:16.53
And it wasn't because
Flavius thought he was too good
00:07:16.56\00:07:18.47
for Helena.
00:07:18.50\00:07:19.90
In fact, he himself had been
raised by shepherds in a village
00:07:19.93\00:07:22.94
just a few miles
north of this location.
00:07:22.97\00:07:25.91
The problem was that
society didn't allow it.
00:07:25.94\00:07:30.21
She could go and
live in his house,
00:07:30.25\00:07:31.95
but she could not be his wife.
00:07:31.98\00:07:34.05
It turns out that young
Constantine and his mother
00:07:34.08\00:07:36.52
were not a fit for
high Roman society.
00:07:36.55\00:07:41.42
Neither was that other
baby, born 300 years earlier in
00:07:44.49\00:07:47.50
Bethlehem to another young
mother who didn't have a husband
00:07:47.56\00:07:51.20
when she found herself pregnant.
00:07:51.23\00:07:53.70
Her name, of course, was
Mary, and the child was Jesus.
00:07:53.74\00:07:58.11
And as the whole world knows,
he was cruelly put to death
00:07:58.14\00:08:01.51
on an instrument of
torture actually concocted by
00:08:01.54\00:08:04.68
earlier pagan societies
but perfected into a grizzly
00:08:04.71\00:08:08.48
sadistic science by none
other than the Roman Empire.
00:08:08.52\00:08:13.19
The followers of Jesus
were not particularly welcome
00:08:13.22\00:08:15.99
in the city of Jerusalem
because they were perceived
00:08:16.02\00:08:18.96
to be a threat to the
traditional religion of Moses,
00:08:18.99\00:08:21.90
and in time, the burgeoning
movement of Christians
00:08:21.93\00:08:25.00
also found themselves at odds
with the entire Roman Empire.
00:08:25.03\00:08:31.17
¤¤¤
00:08:33.84\00:08:37.51
Shawn: This is a bridge built
some 60 years before the birth
00:08:37.55\00:08:37.88
of Christ and
wouldn't you know it,
00:08:41.25\00:08:43.18
the bridge is
still in service today.
00:08:43.22\00:08:45.95
Now, you want to pay attention
to bridges as we unfold the rest
00:08:45.99\00:08:49.16
of our story because they'll
prove to be very important.
00:08:49.19\00:08:53.33
This bridge is a remarkable
example of just how skilled
00:08:53.36\00:08:56.56
the Romans were.
00:08:56.60\00:08:58.53
They managed to build an
international infrastructure,
00:08:58.57\00:09:01.50
one that held
together an empire made of up
00:09:01.54\00:09:03.71
of hundreds of different
cultures and nationalities.
00:09:03.74\00:09:07.41
You had the Jews to the east,
the Barbarians to the north,
00:09:07.44\00:09:11.18
and the ancient
civilizations of Greece, Persia,
00:09:11.21\00:09:14.05
and north Africa, all
in one empire that somehow
00:09:14.08\00:09:18.02
was remarkably
stable and peaceful.
00:09:18.05\00:09:23.19
After Augustus Caesar's
victory at the battle of Actium
00:09:23.59\00:09:26.03
in 27 B.C., the Roman Empire
00:09:26.06\00:09:28.43
became very
stable and predictable.
00:09:28.46\00:09:31.53
It was a good place to
live to the point where people
00:09:31.57\00:09:34.30
spoke of Pax Romana.
00:09:34.34\00:09:36.44
You've probably
heard that expression,
00:09:36.47\00:09:38.41
it means the peace of Rome.
00:09:38.44\00:09:41.08
From northern
Europe to north Africa,
00:09:41.11\00:09:43.01
from Spain to the Middle East,
00:09:43.04\00:09:45.11
you could count on
Roman water, Roman highways,
00:09:45.15\00:09:48.28
Roman courts, and Roman law.
00:09:48.32\00:09:51.62
Even though the people were
conquered subjects, most of them
00:09:51.65\00:09:54.69
still liked living in
the world of the Romans
00:09:54.72\00:09:57.36
because it was a
great place to live.
00:09:57.39\00:10:01.40
Shawn: It was the person
of the emperor that served
00:10:05.57\00:10:08.04
as a focal point for unity.
00:10:08.07\00:10:10.54
Conquered people had almost
absolute freedom of conscience.
00:10:10.57\00:10:14.34
They could go on worshiping
whatever god they wanted.
00:10:14.38\00:10:16.58
They could stick with the
religion of their ancestors
00:10:16.61\00:10:19.35
just as long as they
also acknowledged the deity
00:10:19.38\00:10:22.75
of the Roman emperor.
00:10:22.78\00:10:24.42
He was considered the embodiment
of Roma, the goddess of Rome.
00:10:24.45\00:10:29.32
Now, in reality, nobody
actually thought the emperor was
00:10:29.36\00:10:32.86
a divine being, especially
if you happened to grow up
00:10:32.89\00:10:35.40
with the guy but during
the reign of Augustus Caesar,
00:10:35.43\00:10:38.93
the unity, the hard
won peace of the empire
00:10:38.97\00:10:42.17
became so important
that emperor worship
00:10:42.20\00:10:44.87
became a symbol
of national unity.
00:10:44.91\00:10:48.01
Everybody knew he wasn't really
a god, but you offered him
00:10:48.04\00:10:51.05
a little worship anyway
to prove your allegiance
00:10:51.08\00:10:53.58
to the gods of Rome
and to the whole empire.
00:10:53.62\00:10:59.15
All you really had to do,
especially in later years,
00:11:01.19\00:11:04.26
was offer this tiny,
little pinch of incense
00:11:04.29\00:11:06.70
to the emperor
just once in a while,
00:11:06.73\00:11:09.66
then you could go
back to life as normal.
00:11:09.70\00:11:12.00
Essentially, you
barely had to acknowledge
00:11:12.03\00:11:14.84
the deity of the emperor.
00:11:14.87\00:11:17.04
Now, that was required for
everybody except the Jews who
00:11:17.07\00:11:20.84
had a national exemption, and
how did they get that exemption?
00:11:20.88\00:11:24.51
Well, they had proven so helpful
to Julius Caesar during this
00:11:24.55\00:11:27.92
conquest that they
got a formal legal excuse
00:11:27.95\00:11:32.05
from those kinds of regulations.
00:11:32.09\00:11:33.99
They didn't have to acknowledge
the emperor as a god,
00:11:34.02\00:11:36.46
they just had to
promise to pray for him
00:11:36.49\00:11:39.49
and for the
health of the empire.
00:11:39.53\00:11:41.36
And, of course,
given all the options,
00:11:41.40\00:11:43.53
that was something
they were quite happy to do.
00:11:43.57\00:11:46.50
Now, the Romans had a
word for the Jewish faith,
00:11:46.53\00:11:48.87
they called it a religio.
00:11:48.90\00:11:50.87
It's where we get the
word "religion" and a religio
00:11:50.91\00:11:53.54
was a national faith, a
religion that actually defined
00:11:53.58\00:11:57.25
the whole nation itself.
00:11:57.28\00:12:01.48
In the very beginning, the
followers of Jesus were also
00:12:01.52\00:12:05.35
considered a religio because
as far as the average Roman
00:12:05.39\00:12:08.92
could tell, there was
really no difference between
00:12:08.96\00:12:11.23
Jews and Christians.
00:12:11.26\00:12:13.40
Christians were just
one more sect of Jews.
00:12:13.43\00:12:16.43
But then a few years went
by and a radical separation
00:12:16.46\00:12:19.90
started taking place
between the two groups.
00:12:19.93\00:12:22.60
As time went by, Christians
were no longer called a religio,
00:12:22.64\00:12:27.44
a national religion, now
they were called superstitio.
00:12:27.48\00:12:31.81
It's where we get
the word "superstition."
00:12:31.85\00:12:34.35
Suddenly, Christians had no more
legal exemption and they too
00:12:34.38\00:12:38.65
were required to acknowledge
the deity of the Roman emperor.
00:12:38.69\00:12:43.93
¤¤¤
00:12:47.83\00:12:57.81
Shawn: A little more
than 200 years after Christ,
00:13:04.48\00:13:07.38
right here in the city of Rome,
there was this great example
00:13:07.42\00:13:10.79
of the problem that
early Christians faced.
00:13:10.82\00:13:13.79
There were probably about 30,000
of them living in the city
00:13:13.82\00:13:17.43
at the time and the emperor
Trajan Decius passed a law
00:13:17.46\00:13:21.56
saying that every male citizen
had to buy a sacrificial animal,
00:13:21.60\00:13:25.80
bring it to the temple for
ritual cooking, publicly consume
00:13:25.83\00:13:29.60
some of the meat, and then
offer some wine to the genius,
00:13:29.64\00:13:33.98
or the guiding
spirit of the emperor.
00:13:34.01\00:13:36.81
In other words, they had to
recognize the emperor as a god.
00:13:36.85\00:13:41.42
And if you did that, if
you performed the rituals,
00:13:41.45\00:13:44.22
you got a signed
certificate but if you didn't,
00:13:44.25\00:13:47.22
you were considered a
traitor to the empire.
00:13:47.26\00:13:52.56
At other times and with other
emperors, all you really had
00:13:57.33\00:14:00.37
to do is just offer
that tiny pinch of incense,
00:14:00.40\00:14:03.10
a token ritual that
proved you were loyal.
00:14:03.14\00:14:06.47
Now, for the most part,
Christians didn't have a problem
00:14:06.51\00:14:09.24
with being loyal to government
because their Scriptures
00:14:09.28\00:14:12.28
actually taught them to be good
citizens but they could not,
00:14:12.31\00:14:16.79
they would not participate
in a Roman religious ritual
00:14:16.82\00:14:20.16
because they were monotheistic
just like their Jewish cousins.
00:14:20.19\00:14:23.73
They acknowledged the existence
of just one God and that God
00:14:23.76\00:14:27.86
they said had come
to earth in human form.
00:14:27.86\00:14:30.70
He'd been put to
death on a Roman cross
00:14:30.73\00:14:33.64
and then he rose from the dead.
00:14:33.67\00:14:35.97
That same God in human
flesh would come again to judge
00:14:36.00\00:14:39.17
the living and the dead
and then he would set up
00:14:39.21\00:14:42.61
a kingdom of his own.
00:14:42.64\00:14:46.95
So, now the Christians
were perceived as a clear threat
00:14:49.28\00:14:51.85
to Pax Romano.
00:14:51.89\00:14:53.49
They were an unstable element.
00:14:53.52\00:14:56.29
They clearly served a different
king which might have been fine
00:14:56.32\00:14:59.66
as long as Caesar was
still at the top of the heap.
00:14:59.69\00:15:02.63
The problem was Christians
only had one king and they spoke
00:15:02.66\00:15:06.63
about the day when
their king would overthrow
00:15:06.67\00:15:09.67
every other empire.
00:15:09.70\00:15:11.87
These people were conversant in
the ancient prophecies of Daniel
00:15:11.91\00:15:15.11
which spoke of a time when
Messiah's king would destroy
00:15:15.14\00:15:17.45
every single human kingdom
and replace them for all time.
00:15:17.48\00:15:22.68
Their Jesus was not
just Messiah, he was not just
00:15:22.72\00:15:26.32
the Son of God, he was the
King of kings and Lord of lords.
00:15:26.35\00:15:31.43
Here's how the
prophet Daniel described him,
00:15:31.46\00:15:35.00
"Then to Him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
00:15:35.03\00:15:39.60
that all people's nations
and languages should serve Him.
00:15:39.63\00:15:42.64
His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass
00:15:42.67\00:15:46.14
away, and His kingdom the one
which shall not be destroyed."
00:15:46.17\00:15:51.11
Shawn: It's not hard to
see why the Romans weren't keen
00:15:58.95\00:16:01.62
on this brand-new set.
00:16:01.66\00:16:03.43
It didn't help that Christians
were distancing themselves
00:16:03.46\00:16:06.36
from some of the
day-to-day activities
00:16:06.39\00:16:08.16
the average Roman enjoyed.
00:16:08.20\00:16:10.20
For example, Christians weren't
keen on Roman entertainment
00:16:10.23\00:16:14.10
because it was so violent.
00:16:14.14\00:16:16.64
From what I understand,
historically speaking, sometimes
00:16:16.67\00:16:19.07
when a Roman play called for a
death scene, condemned prisoners
00:16:19.11\00:16:23.38
were fully murdered right
on stage to make it seem more
00:16:23.41\00:16:27.02
realistic and, of course,
Christians weren't interested
00:16:27.05\00:16:30.25
in watching that kind of stuff.
00:16:30.29\00:16:32.05
They served a Creator God,
a God of love and redemption.
00:16:32.09\00:16:36.73
Then there was the
issue of healthcare,
00:16:36.76\00:16:38.76
a lot of the
hospitals were dedicated to
00:16:38.79\00:16:40.96
the pagan gods of healing,
which wouldn't have been
00:16:40.96\00:16:43.83
a huge problem except
that sometimes the priest
00:16:43.87\00:16:47.50
of the serpent god
would actually come right into
00:16:47.54\00:16:50.41
your hospital room and involve
you in his pagan rituals.
00:16:50.44\00:16:54.38
Public education also
posed a bit of a problem because
00:16:54.41\00:16:57.18
the value system taught by
Roman educators was essentially
00:16:57.21\00:17:01.15
at odds with Christian
belief and if you sent your kids
00:17:01.18\00:17:04.65
to a Roman school, they would
be subjected to pagan religion.
00:17:04.69\00:17:09.79
They would learn
different theories about
00:17:09.82\00:17:11.26
philosophical truth or
the origins of the human race
00:17:11.29\00:17:14.86
and the meaning of life.
00:17:14.93\00:17:16.46
And while Christians have never
really shied away from other
00:17:16.50\00:17:20.07
people's ideas, they
didn't want to expose their kids
00:17:20.10\00:17:22.90
to that stuff at a young age.
00:17:22.94\00:17:27.81
¤¤¤
00:17:28.24\00:17:38.25
In the 2nd
century, the Emperor Trajan,
00:17:42.42\00:17:44.86
the one who actually
built this famous marketplace,
00:17:44.89\00:17:47.66
he sent a new
governor to Asia Minor
00:17:47.73\00:17:50.50
to rule a region called
Bithynia and in one town
00:17:50.53\00:17:54.10
in that region, there
were people complaining
00:17:54.14\00:17:56.04
about the Christians.
00:17:56.07\00:17:57.91
What was the complaint?
00:17:57.94\00:17:59.57
Well, the local butchers
weren't selling enough meat,
00:17:59.61\00:18:02.38
so how could that be
the Christians' fault?
00:18:02.41\00:18:05.01
Well, a lot of the meat
was earmarked for sacrifices
00:18:05.05\00:18:08.38
to the pagan gods and
the influence of Christianity
00:18:08.42\00:18:11.29
had supposedly put a massive
dent in sales so the butchers
00:18:11.32\00:18:16.09
blamed the
Christians for their woes.
00:18:16.12\00:18:20.50
Now, at first, the new
governor, a guy by the name
00:18:22.03\00:18:24.77
of the Pliny the Younger,
he didn't see a problem.
00:18:24.80\00:18:28.20
He wrote back to
the emperor and said,
00:18:28.24\00:18:30.07
"I don't know what
all the fuss is about.
00:18:30.11\00:18:31.97
I still see all kinds of
meat for sale in the market.
00:18:32.01\00:18:34.78
I think those
butchers are exaggerating."
00:18:34.81\00:18:37.88
But, you know, facts seldom
matter in a world where people
00:18:37.91\00:18:41.15
want a scapegoat so even
though the accusation against
00:18:41.18\00:18:44.52
the Christians
had little substance,
00:18:44.55\00:18:46.55
Pliny executed a few of
them anyway just to keep
00:18:46.59\00:18:50.26
the merchants happy, and he
was actually happy to do that
00:18:50.29\00:18:54.13
because he found
Christians inflexible,
00:18:54.20\00:18:57.47
unwilling to compromise
on certain principles.
00:18:57.50\00:19:00.87
All across the empire, suddenly
there were these anti-Christian
00:19:00.90\00:19:04.41
pamphlets in circulation and the
rumor mill started to fill in
00:19:04.44\00:19:08.41
blanks wherever Romans struggled
to understand the new faith.
00:19:08.44\00:19:12.28
They heard about
Christians who met in secret
00:19:12.31\00:19:15.32
and that was actually true.
00:19:15.35\00:19:17.29
Some of them had to
meet in secret because Romans
00:19:17.32\00:19:20.02
were suspicious of any
gatherings that involved
00:19:20.06\00:19:22.72
more than a few people.
00:19:22.76\00:19:24.26
They always feared that bigger
groups, say more than a dozen,
00:19:24.29\00:19:27.66
might become a breeding
ground for political unrest.
00:19:27.66\00:19:31.00
And, of course, large group of
Christians did meet for worship
00:19:31.03\00:19:34.67
so they were
immediately suspect.
00:19:34.70\00:19:37.34
Many Christians were
forced to meet in secret.
00:19:37.37\00:19:42.18
Shawn: Then the general
public started to hear about
00:19:51.69\00:19:53.49
the communion service
where supposedly Christians
00:19:53.52\00:19:56.46
were eating human flesh
and drinking human blood.
00:19:56.49\00:19:59.43
What they were doing, of course,
was eating bread and drinking
00:19:59.46\00:20:01.40
wine, symbols of the body
and blood of Jesus but facts
00:20:01.43\00:20:05.43
seldom matter to people
who want to hear rumors.
00:20:05.47\00:20:08.10
They called those
communion services agape feasts,
00:20:08.14\00:20:11.24
love feasts, so
obviously they were wild orgies.
00:20:11.27\00:20:15.54
The Christians were people of
low morals who ate human flesh.
00:20:15.58\00:20:19.05
They were cannibals.
00:20:19.08\00:20:20.55
And then the story started to
go around, "Watch out for those
00:20:20.58\00:20:23.22
Christians, you never
know when they might come
00:20:23.25\00:20:26.52
after your kids."
00:20:26.55\00:20:30.66
This is that moment in history
when all those stories you heard
00:20:35.06\00:20:37.77
in school started to take place.
00:20:37.80\00:20:40.10
Christians were put
to death in the arena.
00:20:40.14\00:20:42.60
Now, we don't actually know of
any Christians who died here in
00:20:42.64\00:20:45.11
the Colosseum but they were
put to death in other venues.
00:20:45.14\00:20:49.14
At one point, apparently Nero
had Christians dipped in tar,
00:20:49.18\00:20:52.95
nailed to crosses, and then
lit on fire so that he could use
00:20:52.98\00:20:57.02
them as
nightlights at his games.
00:20:57.05\00:21:00.12
He wrapped them in animal skins
and fed them to wild animals.
00:21:00.16\00:21:04.03
They became the
outcasts of Roman society.
00:21:04.06\00:21:07.10
They did not fit in.
00:21:07.13\00:21:10.00
And then they became
convenient scapegoats.
00:21:10.03\00:21:12.73
There was one occasion toward
the end of the 1st century when
00:21:12.77\00:21:15.47
the city of Rome actually burned
to the ground, or at least
00:21:15.50\00:21:18.61
a big part of it did.
00:21:18.64\00:21:21.08
And the day that happened,
apparently the Emperor Nero
00:21:21.11\00:21:24.01
was somewhere out of
town, yet people still suspected
00:21:24.05\00:21:27.65
that he might have started
the fire himself in order to
00:21:27.68\00:21:30.39
make room for his projects
and that's when the Christians
00:21:30.42\00:21:34.19
suddenly got the blame.
00:21:34.22\00:21:38.23
¤¤¤
00:21:38.63\00:21:48.60
Shawn: A rumor
spread all through the city.
00:21:54.71\00:21:57.58
"We've heard that Christians
believe the world will end in
00:21:57.61\00:22:00.22
fire and we think they
started the fire to make their
00:22:00.25\00:22:02.75
own prophecy come true."
00:22:02.78\00:22:04.95
Again, that was an absolute
distortion of what Christians
00:22:04.99\00:22:07.66
actually believed
but that didn't matter.
00:22:07.69\00:22:10.89
The Christians got the blame
and Nero, probably relieved
00:22:10.93\00:22:14.36
to be out of the
spotlight, went after them.
00:22:14.36\00:22:17.57
From that point on, Christian
leaders were persecuted
00:22:17.60\00:22:20.50
with some regularity.
00:22:20.54\00:22:24.04
Even then, the
Christians weren't really on
00:22:28.01\00:22:30.88
the emperor's radar, not yet.
00:22:30.91\00:22:33.18
Some historians suggest that
Nero actually blamed another
00:22:33.21\00:22:36.69
easy target, the
poor, because he knew nobody
00:22:36.72\00:22:39.69
would stand up for them.
00:22:39.72\00:22:41.92
And among the poor, there
were lots and lots of Christians
00:22:41.96\00:22:45.39
because from the very start,
Christianity was the religion
00:22:45.43\00:22:49.46
of a poor carpenter's son.
00:22:49.50\00:22:51.50
It was a religion of
outcasts, the downtrodden.
00:22:51.53\00:22:55.10
It was a movement started
by a man who spent his time
00:22:55.14\00:22:57.84
with tax collectors,
and lepers, and prostitutes.
00:22:57.87\00:23:01.58
In the very beginning,
Christianity was not a religion
00:23:01.61\00:23:05.48
of the rich.
00:23:05.51\00:23:06.88
To use the words of
the Book of Hebrews,
00:23:06.92\00:23:08.72
it was a faith for people of
whom the world was not worthy.
00:23:08.75\00:23:13.99
And when poor Christians faced
death, they did it so fearlessly
00:23:14.02\00:23:18.79
that people noticed.
00:23:18.83\00:23:20.40
They stood out from the other
poor people and after a while,
00:23:20.43\00:23:24.13
the Christians were so
notable that they became
00:23:24.17\00:23:27.07
the number-one scapegoat,
00:23:27.10\00:23:28.84
the very face of
the emperor's problems.
00:23:28.87\00:23:31.94
So, you can see, Christians did
not fit into the Roman Empire.
00:23:31.97\00:23:37.01
Jesus wasn't particularly
welcome in the highest levels
00:23:37.05\00:23:40.25
of Roman society.
00:23:40.28\00:23:42.25
Not only was there no room for
Jesus at the inn of Bethlehem,
00:23:42.28\00:23:46.42
apparently, there
wasn't much room for him in
00:23:46.45\00:23:49.09
the emperor's palace either.
00:23:49.12\00:23:54.36
There were also some
key philosophical objections
00:23:59.70\00:24:02.20
the Romans had to Christianity
and these are really important
00:24:02.24\00:24:05.17
because they prove
what Constantine was doing
00:24:05.21\00:24:07.54
and not doing in later years.
00:24:07.58\00:24:09.81
Today, some people say that
Constantine invented the idea
00:24:09.84\00:24:13.42
of Christ's divinity.
00:24:13.45\00:24:14.98
I've heard people claim
that that idea didn't show up
00:24:15.02\00:24:17.22
for some 300 years after Jesus.
00:24:17.25\00:24:20.06
But if you go back and read
what the ancient Romans said
00:24:20.09\00:24:23.06
about Christians in
the first two centuries,
00:24:23.09\00:24:25.73
it's obvious that they
were worshiping Christ.
00:24:25.76\00:24:28.50
In fact, there was a harsh
Roman critic, a guy by the name
00:24:28.53\00:24:31.83
of Celsus who lived in the
last half of the 2nd century
00:24:31.87\00:24:35.17
and he detested the Christians.
00:24:35.20\00:24:37.54
He was a big deal.
00:24:37.57\00:24:39.27
He was very popular, so popular
that Christians felt obliged
00:24:39.31\00:24:43.55
to answer his accusations.
00:24:43.58\00:24:46.88
And what exactly did
Celsus hate about Christians?
00:24:46.92\00:24:50.05
Well, for starters, he hated
the idea of the incarnation,
00:24:50.09\00:24:53.49
this idea that Jesus
is God in human flesh.
00:24:53.52\00:24:56.66
According to Celsus, for
God to change from good to bad,
00:24:56.69\00:25:00.66
from beautiful to shameful,
from happiness to misfortune,
00:25:00.70\00:25:04.83
well, to him,
that was unthinkable.
00:25:04.87\00:25:07.34
He didn't see God's
condescension as an act of love,
00:25:07.37\00:25:10.37
he figured that the very act
of God being born in Bethlehem
00:25:10.41\00:25:14.11
as a human would be far beneath
the dignity of a supreme being.
00:25:14.14\00:25:18.45
Now, there was another
reason he didn't like the idea
00:25:18.48\00:25:21.12
that Jesus was God.
00:25:21.15\00:25:23.32
Some prominent Roman thinkers
were already moving toward
00:25:23.35\00:25:26.19
the idea of just one
God and Jesus seemed like
00:25:26.22\00:25:30.16
a second God so Celsus
considered worshiping Jesus
00:25:30.19\00:25:34.13
to be some kind of
relapse into polytheism.
00:25:34.20\00:25:37.93
And all that business about
Jesus coming back from the dead,
00:25:37.97\00:25:41.37
well it was obvious
to him that can't happen.
00:25:41.40\00:25:45.71
¤¤¤
00:25:46.11\00:25:56.12
Shawn: In later years,
another pagan philosopher by
00:26:11.03\00:26:13.80
the name of Porphyry told
the Roman world that Christians
00:26:13.84\00:26:17.14
were unsophisticated simpletons
that were holding back
00:26:17.17\00:26:20.61
the progress of civilization.
00:26:20.64\00:26:23.61
In Porphyry's opinion,
Christians were a huge detriment
00:26:23.65\00:26:27.62
to the advancement
of logic and science.
00:26:27.65\00:26:30.42
So, as you can see in the
Roman world, the worth of Jesus
00:26:30.45\00:26:34.72
would have to be proved.
00:26:34.76\00:26:38.86
Just like the worth of
Constantine, it wasn't until
00:26:44.53\00:26:48.40
that cape came out of
storage that Helena could prove
00:26:48.44\00:26:51.81
her boy was important.
00:26:51.84\00:26:54.34
And even when they finally
arrived in the governor's palace
00:26:54.38\00:26:57.35
almost 10 years after his birth,
she was still an uneasy fit,
00:26:57.38\00:27:02.12
low class, peasant,
unfit to be a governor's wife,
00:27:02.15\00:27:09.16
but she was good
enough to be a concubine.
00:27:09.19\00:27:12.73
You see, there was this
Roman law that could help make
00:27:12.76\00:27:15.40
Constantine legitimate.
00:27:15.43\00:27:17.47
They called it
concubine marriage.
00:27:17.50\00:27:19.13
Now, it wasn't
full-fledged Roman marriage.
00:27:19.17\00:27:22.34
This was something you
could end quite easily.
00:27:22.37\00:27:24.61
Divorce was simple but it
still gave the young Constantine
00:27:24.64\00:27:28.18
something, some kind of claim
to legitimacy, gave him a home,
00:27:28.21\00:27:33.88
and it gave him a
head start in an empire
00:27:33.92\00:27:36.62
he would eventually control.
00:27:36.65\00:27:40.59
¤¤¤
00:27:41.92\00:27:48.80
¤¤¤
00:27:55.57\00:28:01.01
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