male announcer: The
world, forever changed.
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His legacy, an empire
reaching across centuries.
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His name...
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Constantine.
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"Shadow Empire."
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¤¤¤
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Shawn Boonstra: The life
of Constantine is something
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of a miracle story.
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He was born to a
peasant girl out of wedlock
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and for the first
9 years of his life,
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nobody knew that
his real father was
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the governor of Dalmatia, that
was a position usually assigned
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to people of great influence.
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Not only did Constantine
eventually come to know
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his real father, because of
an altercation with some guests
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at the stables at
his grandfather's inn,
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he actually ended
up living in the palace
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of the Roman emperor himself.
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Shawn: For 11 years,
Constantine worked directly
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for the Emperor
Diocletian and he witnessed
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all kinds of big
events firsthand.
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For example, he watched
the emperor successfully squash
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a rebellion in north
Africa and he was there
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when the official
persecution against Christians
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began in the year 303.
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It was a time when there
were actually four rulers
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in the Roman Empire.
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Diocletian was eager to keep
his massive empire stable and he
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achieved that by creating
what is called a tetrarchy
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or ruled by four people.
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There were two
rulers in the east
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and two rulers in the west.
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On each side of the empire,
you had a senior emperor,
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they called him the Augustus
and a junior emperor under him
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who was known as the Caesar.
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In the east, you had
Diocletian as the Augustus
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and Galerius as his Caesar.
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And if you
remember, Galerius was the guy
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who really hated Christians.
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In the west, you had
Maximian as the Augustus
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and Flavius
Constantius as the Caesar.
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And, of course, Constantius
was Constantine's father.
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Shortly after the great
10-year persecution began,
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Diocletian did something no
other emperor had ever done.
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He decided he was too
old to rule so for the good
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of the empire, he would retire.
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He contacted Maximian
in the west and suggested
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that both of
them should step aside
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and promote
their second in command
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to the top position.
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Of course, this meant
that Diocletian could abdicate
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the throne while he was
still at the top of his game,
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something you see a lot
of today in the 21st century
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but back in the 4th century
in Rome, that never happened.
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Shawn: So, in September of 303,
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everybody went
to the city of Rome.
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Now remember, Rome hasn't really
been the capital of the empire
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in a long time but 303
is the 20th anniversary
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of Diocletian's reign.
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It had been 20 years since
he took the empire by force
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and the eternal city seemed
like the ideal place to hand
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the reigns of
power to the two Caesars.
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So, in October, everybody
arrived right here in the city
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and thousands of people
poured into the streets to see
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the four rulers of the empire,
something nobody had ever seen
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and it was here in Rome that
Constantine met his father again
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for the first time in 10
years and the reunion happens
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just in time
because 33 months later,
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Constantius was dying and on his
death bed, he asked his legions
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to promote his son
Constantine to become
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one of the four tetrarchs.
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¤¤¤
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Shawn: The festivities
in Rome began to spiral
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out of control.
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What started as the 20-year
anniversary party for Diocletian
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and a retirement party quickly
became a long string of drunken
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parties and wild orgies
and it got so out of hand
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that Diocletian became
disgusted with what he saw
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and he picked up and left town.
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He went north of here to
Ravenna, a city that would
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eventually become the capital
of the western Roman Empire
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about a hundred years later.
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And up there in Ravenna during
a cold and miserable winter,
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Diocletian got really sick.
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Galerius went and
visited him, the man who started
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all the trouble
against the Christian church.
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"Sir," he says to Diocletian,
"the Christians are busy making
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trouble for us again."
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Now, we don't know that
that's true but don't forget,
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Galerius really hated
the Christians because they
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wouldn't participate in
his mother's pagan rituals.
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¤¤¤
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Shawn: Galerius makes a
suggestion, the restrictions
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they put on Christianity,
he said, weren't enough.
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The religion should be outlawed
the same way the Manichaeans
00:05:17.48\00:05:20.98
in Egypt had been
outlawed a few years earlier.
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So, in April of
304, Diocletian agrees
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and the
persecution gets even worse.
00:05:27.09\00:05:29.26
Now, it's a capital
offense just to be a Christian
00:05:29.29\00:05:32.39
and the bloodshed ramps
up to a much higher level.
00:05:32.43\00:05:35.53
Now honestly, if Diocletian had
been a good student of history,
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he should have
known what would happen.
00:05:39.53\00:05:41.74
In the 12th chapter of
the Book of Revelation,
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the Bible speaks about
Christians who resist the dragon
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and do not love their lives
unto the death, the century
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since Jesus had proven
that biblical Christianity
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actually thrives
under persecution.
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People whose God had sacrificed
his own life on a cross
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didn't consider
death to be punishment.
00:06:01.26\00:06:04.63
They weren't afraid.
00:06:04.66\00:06:06.13
They considered dying
for Christ a privilege.
00:06:06.16\00:06:10.57
Now, here's what's really
interesting, the persecution was
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much worse in the eastern part
of the empire where Galerius
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was rising to the
position of senior emperor.
00:06:21.64\00:06:24.45
In the west, it
wasn't quite so bad.
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In fact, some historians
estimate that the very best
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place to be a Christian during
those years was northern Europe
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where my own
ancestors come from.
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Now, why was the persecution
lighter in northern Europe?
00:06:36.86\00:06:40.30
Well, here's something
to consider, Constantius,
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now remember, that's
Constantine's father,
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he had a daughter
named Anastasia which is
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a pretty remarkable
name for a pagan, why?
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Well, it's a Greek word.
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It comes from Anastasi which
literally means resurrection
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and it's a Christian name,
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a name that honors the
resurrection of Christ.
00:07:02.15\00:07:05.45
Is it possible there
were Christians living
00:07:05.49\00:07:08.82
right in the
house of Constantine?
00:07:08.86\00:07:11.03
Well, the answer to that is yes.
00:07:11.06\00:07:13.16
Remember, when Constantine's
father divorced Helena,
00:07:13.19\00:07:17.20
Constantine reacted with
bitterness but historians
00:07:17.23\00:07:21.44
believe that Helena found
consolation in the Christian
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message which has always spoken
powerfully to people whose lives
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are full of disappointment.
00:07:28.78\00:07:30.71
Helena probably became
a Christian very early on
00:07:30.75\00:07:33.88
and somebody convinced
the Caesar to name their
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daughter after the
resurrection of Christ.
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Now, that's all we really know
but what happens next has me
00:07:39.79\00:07:43.43
utterly convinced that
Constantine was exposed to
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Christianity very early on and
not just because he was there
00:07:45.93\00:07:49.20
for the Diocletian persecutions.
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He was exposed through his
own family and I'm convinced
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he started to become
sympathetic very early on.
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¤¤¤
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Shawn: But at this
point, things get messy.
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Diocletian and Maximian retire,
they step aside and Galerius
00:08:21.06\00:08:25.20
decides he's going to decide who
the new junior emperors will be
00:08:25.23\00:08:29.60
so he picks
Severus, a legion commander
00:08:29.64\00:08:32.47
with a drinking problem and
his own nephew, Daia Maximinus,
00:08:32.51\00:08:36.78
a kid who was
actually half barbarian
00:08:36.81\00:08:39.68
and Daia was bad
news for the Christians.
00:08:39.71\00:08:43.75
Now, Diocletian actually
doesn't like either of these
00:08:43.79\00:08:46.96
two new
appointees but he figures,
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"Hey, I've already retired.
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Nobody's going to blame me
if the empire falls apart."
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So, he does nothing about it.
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And by doing nothing,
he unwittingly creates
00:08:56.00\00:08:59.33
a big problem in the west.
00:08:59.37\00:09:04.01
You see, Maximian, the now
retired Augustus of the west,
00:09:04.04\00:09:07.48
the one that Diocletian
convinced to retire with him,
00:09:07.51\00:09:10.71
he has a son Maxentius
and Maxentius has just been
00:09:10.75\00:09:14.75
completely passed over
for the position of Caesar,
00:09:14.78\00:09:17.89
of course, Constantine
has also been passed over.
00:09:17.92\00:09:22.16
And Galerius must have realized
the potential for hard feelings
00:09:22.19\00:09:25.66
because at this point, he
actually forbids Constantine
00:09:25.69\00:09:28.16
from leaving his palace.
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"You can't go home," he says.
00:09:30.80\00:09:32.40
Because he knows if Constantine
goes home and joins his father
00:09:32.43\00:09:36.07
and his father wants
Constantine to be Caesar,
00:09:36.10\00:09:38.54
there's going to be trouble.
00:09:38.57\00:09:43.45
And, of course, sure
enough, Flavius Constantius
00:09:43.48\00:09:45.85
asks for his son.
00:09:45.88\00:09:48.25
Now, what in the world
is Galerius going to do?
00:09:48.28\00:09:50.52
He can't deny the request
of another Augustus so he tells
00:09:50.55\00:09:54.56
Constantine, "Look, you can
leave but not until tomorrow."
00:09:54.59\00:09:59.09
What he planned to do was
figure out a way to have the boy
00:09:59.13\00:10:01.13
arrested but
Constantine smelled a rat.
00:10:01.16\00:10:04.57
That night after supper,
he snuck out of the palace
00:10:04.60\00:10:07.44
and made a run for it
and on his way westward,
00:10:07.47\00:10:10.31
he cleverly killed every
horse at every post making it
00:10:10.34\00:10:15.11
impossible to follow him.
00:10:15.14\00:10:22.92
The next day at noon, Galerius
wakes up and he discovers
00:10:23.79\00:10:26.35
Constantine's gone and then
he discovers every horse along
00:10:26.39\00:10:31.26
Constantine's route is dead and
he's never going to catch up.
00:10:31.29\00:10:35.53
It reduces him to tears.
00:10:35.56\00:10:38.07
Now, Constantine made his way
all the way to western Europe
00:10:38.10\00:10:41.17
where he joined his
father in a region called Gaul
00:10:41.20\00:10:43.74
or modern day France
and together, father and son
00:10:43.77\00:10:47.88
went to war and
defeated the Picts,
00:10:47.91\00:10:50.35
a fierce pagan tribe
from the British aisles.
00:10:50.38\00:10:53.55
Constantine was so magnificent
in battle that his men wanted
00:10:53.58\00:10:58.62
him as the king and they honored
the request of his dying father.
00:10:58.65\00:11:03.39
Constantine becomes
ruler by popular acclamation.
00:11:03.43\00:11:07.60
Constantine: And
the glory of our gods,
00:11:07.66\00:11:09.00
I except this responsibility.
00:11:09.03\00:11:10.50
Shawn: And they
didn't just make him Caesar
00:11:10.53\00:11:12.10
or second in command, they
took his father's purple cape,
00:11:12.13\00:11:15.84
put it on
Constantine's shoulders
00:11:15.87\00:11:17.64
and called him Augustus.
00:11:17.67\00:11:20.78
They gave him the top job.
00:11:20.81\00:11:22.94
He became his
father's replacement.
00:11:22.98\00:11:28.15
Now, you have Galerius with
Daia in the east and Constantine
00:11:28.18\00:11:32.42
with Severus in the west.
00:11:32.45\00:11:36.12
¤¤¤
00:11:36.62\00:11:40.16
Shawn: Of course, when
Galerius found out what
00:11:40.26\00:11:41.83
happened, he was very
unhappy, but what exactly is he
00:11:41.86\00:11:45.40
supposed to do?
00:11:45.43\00:11:47.30
History tells us Constantine
actually sent him a gift,
00:11:47.34\00:11:50.14
a bust of himself
and in a fit of rage,
00:11:50.17\00:11:53.31
Galerius smashed
it against the wall.
00:11:53.34\00:11:55.91
He wants Constantine gone.
00:11:55.94\00:11:58.91
But then Diocletian,
the old retired emperor,
00:11:58.95\00:12:01.35
comes up with a suggestion.
00:12:01.38\00:12:02.92
"I don't think you
can fight this," he said.
00:12:02.95\00:12:05.29
"So, for the good of the empire,
just recognize Constantine
00:12:05.32\00:12:08.46
as a junior emperor,
recognize him as Caesar."
00:12:08.49\00:12:12.99
Now, that kind of made
sense so that's exactly what
00:12:13.03\00:12:15.60
Galerius did.
00:12:15.63\00:12:17.13
He sent an imperial mantle
to Constantine, along with
00:12:17.17\00:12:20.07
a friendly letter congratulating
him, not as Augustus,
00:12:20.10\00:12:23.44
but Caesar of the west.
00:12:23.47\00:12:25.91
And because Constantine was
a patient man willing to buy
00:12:25.94\00:12:29.18
this time and
because he was a smart man,
00:12:29.21\00:12:32.61
he accepted the
demotion graciously.
00:12:32.65\00:12:35.72
Now, the tetrarchy is restored.
00:12:35.75\00:12:37.59
You've got Galerius
and Daia in the east,
00:12:37.62\00:12:39.95
Severus with
Constantine in the west.
00:12:39.99\00:12:43.69
There's just one problem,
do you remember Maxentius,
00:12:43.73\00:12:46.96
the other son of the
retired western emperor,
00:12:47.00\00:12:49.33
the other guy
who got passed over?
00:12:49.36\00:12:51.60
He's not happy.
00:12:51.63\00:12:54.84
Shawn: But Maxentius
was kind of powerless.
00:12:59.37\00:13:02.41
I mean, what
exactly was he going to do?
00:13:02.44\00:13:04.81
Then, an opportunity
miraculously presents itself.
00:13:04.85\00:13:09.25
For years, the city of Rome had
been exempt from paying taxes
00:13:09.28\00:13:12.65
because she was the mother
city but Galerius decides to tax
00:13:12.69\00:13:17.79
the Romans and, of course,
that made everybody angry.
00:13:17.83\00:13:21.86
This was an opportunity
that Maxentius could not resist.
00:13:21.90\00:13:26.10
He knew that over the centuries,
the senate had been stripped
00:13:26.13\00:13:29.37
of its power.
00:13:29.40\00:13:30.97
In the distant past, the senate
had actually chosen emperors,
00:13:31.01\00:13:34.81
but now it was
usually the army who did that.
00:13:34.84\00:13:38.05
I mean, Diocletian came to power
by acclamation of his troops
00:13:38.08\00:13:41.42
and the same thing
happened with Constantine.
00:13:41.45\00:13:44.69
Maxentius traveled here to Rome
and he told the senate here in
00:13:44.72\00:13:49.39
this building that
they could have a revival,
00:13:49.42\00:13:52.63
he could make them powerful.
00:13:52.66\00:13:55.00
"Make me the emperor," he said,
00:13:55.03\00:13:56.93
"and I'll restore
Rome's former glory."
00:13:56.97\00:14:00.27
Of course, that was an offer
the senate couldn't resist.
00:14:00.30\00:14:03.77
The only problem was that
Maxentius was really young
00:14:03.81\00:14:07.64
and inexperienced.
00:14:07.68\00:14:09.58
"Well, no problem,"
he said to the senate,
00:14:09.61\00:14:11.11
"I'll just be an
assistant emperor then.
00:14:11.15\00:14:13.15
You see, what you don't know is
that my dad is willing to come
00:14:13.18\00:14:16.25
out of retirement and he could
be the senior ruler in Rome.
00:14:16.28\00:14:20.56
You make him the emperor
and I'll just be his assistant."
00:14:20.59\00:14:28.53
Well, the senate jumped
on it and after a series of
00:14:29.66\00:14:32.47
political maneuvers, Maxentius
became the emperor in Rome.
00:14:32.50\00:14:37.24
Now, we don't have
time for the whole story.
00:14:37.27\00:14:39.01
There's a lot that
happens over the next few months
00:14:39.04\00:14:40.94
but when the dust settled,
there were actually four agusti,
00:14:40.98\00:14:45.98
four senior emperors and here
in the city of Rome, there was
00:14:46.01\00:14:50.42
a problem with Maxentius, he was
quickly losing people's respect
00:14:50.45\00:14:54.49
because the power went to
his head and he began to fancy
00:14:54.52\00:14:58.23
himself the ruler
of the whole world.
00:14:58.26\00:15:01.30
He began to party, sleep around,
and he began selling favors
00:15:01.33\00:15:05.13
to some of his favorite men.
00:15:05.17\00:15:07.27
So, Maxentius ended up
with lots of purchased friends
00:15:07.30\00:15:10.91
but very few real ones.
00:15:10.94\00:15:14.84
Now, all this was happening at
a time when there was suddenly
00:15:14.88\00:15:17.15
lots of Christian influence
in Constantine's house.
00:15:17.18\00:15:20.58
When Maximian, the old Augustus
finally died, Constantine buried
00:15:20.62\00:15:25.62
him in a coffin,
which was a Christian custom
00:15:25.65\00:15:29.62
and, of course, his mother
Helena was also a Christian
00:15:29.66\00:15:33.13
and his stepmother had
also quietly become a Christian
00:15:33.16\00:15:37.23
and she was keeping
the Christian minister
00:15:37.27\00:15:39.33
right on the premises.
00:15:39.37\00:15:41.50
And, of course, there was
also Constantine's stepsister
00:15:41.54\00:15:44.71
Anastasia named in
honor of the resurrection.
00:15:44.74\00:15:48.84
There was lots of Christian
influence in Constantine's life
00:15:48.88\00:15:52.08
but he's still a
pagan, a sun worshiper
00:15:52.11\00:15:55.12
who goes to give
sacrifices to Apollo
00:15:55.15\00:15:57.52
just before every
significant battle.
00:15:57.55\00:16:02.19
Shawn: Now, I'm
really condensing the story
00:16:08.43\00:16:11.33
because I want to
focus on what's important.
00:16:11.37\00:16:14.04
Maxentius has declared himself
emperor of Rome and Constantine
00:16:14.07\00:16:18.77
is determined to do
something about that.
00:16:18.81\00:16:21.71
He begins fighting his
way toward the mother city
00:16:21.74\00:16:24.95
and inside the city, people
are understandably getting
00:16:24.98\00:16:28.15
very nervous because Constantine
is not just a great leader,
00:16:28.18\00:16:32.35
he's also a great fighter.
00:16:32.39\00:16:35.19
He wasn't one to sit on
the sidelines and watch his men
00:16:35.22\00:16:37.59
fight, he actually
joined them down on the field
00:16:37.63\00:16:40.83
and that really
inspired his troops.
00:16:40.86\00:16:44.50
Constantine's men
were almost undefeatable.
00:16:44.53\00:16:49.37
Shawn: Inside the city walls,
00:16:53.01\00:16:54.74
people were
starting to get nervous.
00:16:54.78\00:16:57.25
They knew Constantine was coming
so to put their minds at ease,
00:16:57.28\00:17:01.25
Maxentius threw a party,
now that's the same thing
00:17:01.28\00:17:04.55
Nebuchadnezzar's son
did in Daniel chapter 5.
00:17:04.59\00:17:07.76
When the
Babylonian King Belshazzar
00:17:07.79\00:17:09.56
knew the Persians were
coming to take Babylon,
00:17:09.59\00:17:12.59
he threw a massive feast
to put people's minds at ease
00:17:12.63\00:17:16.03
because there can't be real
trouble if the king feels like
00:17:16.06\00:17:19.40
having a party.
00:17:19.43\00:17:21.60
Maxentius probably should
have learned from that example.
00:17:21.64\00:17:24.87
On the 26th of October
312, the festivities in Rome
00:17:24.91\00:17:28.68
were really gearing up.
00:17:28.71\00:17:31.08
Maxentius was celebrating
5 years on his throne
00:17:31.11\00:17:34.52
and he was determined to
make everybody understand
00:17:34.55\00:17:38.19
that he would never fall.
00:17:38.22\00:17:40.99
The citizens of Rome actually
began to feel a little better
00:17:41.02\00:17:44.69
because if Maxentius was willing
to party, he must be confident,
00:17:44.73\00:17:49.60
maybe the city walls would
be enough to stop Constantine.
00:17:49.63\00:17:54.57
Now, that was something
Maxentius was actually counting
00:17:54.60\00:17:56.74
on because he knew that
Constantine's men would feel
00:17:56.77\00:18:00.61
hesitant to attack
Rome, it's the mother city.
00:18:00.64\00:18:04.01
Roman armies had attacked the
city in the past and they'd lost
00:18:04.05\00:18:07.42
their courage because it
felt like you were attacking
00:18:07.45\00:18:10.42
your own mother.
00:18:10.45\00:18:12.45
But if Maxentius had
to go outside the city
00:18:12.49\00:18:14.86
and face Constantine,
he would probably lose.
00:18:14.89\00:18:19.26
If he could stay inside,
he stood a much better chance.
00:18:19.29\00:18:24.17
¤¤¤
00:18:25.77\00:18:30.51
Shawn: That October,
the people inside the city
00:18:32.04\00:18:33.88
celebrated Maxentius' reign and
they went to the chariot races
00:18:33.91\00:18:37.11
in a place just like
this, the old Circus Maximus.
00:18:37.15\00:18:42.42
And right after the first race
ended, a voice suddenly shouts
00:18:42.45\00:18:46.02
from the stands, "Maxentius, are
you afraid to fight Constantine
00:18:46.05\00:18:50.36
out in the open?"
00:18:50.39\00:18:52.96
We don't know who did that
but he was probably a plant,
00:18:52.99\00:18:56.83
probably one of Constantine's
men who had snuck into the games
00:18:56.87\00:19:00.47
and if that's true, the
ploy was very effective.
00:19:00.50\00:19:05.27
A murmur quickly spread
all through the crowd and more
00:19:05.31\00:19:08.31
and more people started yelling,
"Maxentius, are you a coward?"
00:19:08.34\00:19:14.95
Eventually, this
whole place was shouting.
00:19:14.98\00:19:18.09
You know, if Constantine
planned that, orchestrated it,
00:19:18.12\00:19:21.66
it was brilliant because
he didn't really want to fight
00:19:21.69\00:19:24.86
inside the city either.
00:19:24.89\00:19:28.80
Maxentius, of course, was
furious and he stormed out
00:19:30.93\00:19:33.97
of the arena and went
over here to see the senate.
00:19:34.00\00:19:37.04
He asked them to consult an
ancient set of books known as
00:19:37.07\00:19:39.81
the Sibylline Books.
00:19:39.84\00:19:41.54
Now, that's not to be confused
with the Sibylline Oracles.
00:19:41.58\00:19:44.58
It's the Sibylline Books.
00:19:44.61\00:19:46.31
And he asked the senate,
"Is there a prophecy in there?
00:19:46.35\00:19:49.52
Is there something that will
indicate who's going to win?"
00:19:49.55\00:19:52.75
The next morning, the
senate came back with an answer,
00:19:52.79\00:19:55.99
"Tomorrow the enemy
of Rome will perish."
00:19:56.02\00:20:00.66
Maxentius, of course, was
delighted because he assumed
00:20:00.70\00:20:03.37
the enemy of Rome was
Constantine but you'll notice,
00:20:03.40\00:20:07.17
if the enemy of Rome is
supposed to die tomorrow,
00:20:07.20\00:20:10.21
then there has to
be a battle tomorrow.
00:20:10.24\00:20:14.34
Outside the city on this
side of the Tiber, someone gave
00:20:19.28\00:20:21.95
Constantine the bad
news, Maxentius had a prophecy,
00:20:21.98\00:20:26.99
a prophecy that
said he was would win.
00:20:27.02\00:20:29.66
Now, that made Constantine's
men really nervous.
00:20:29.69\00:20:32.59
I mean, here they were
about to attack the mother city
00:20:32.63\00:20:35.70
and the king on the
inside had a good omen,
00:20:35.73\00:20:39.03
he had a prophetic message.
00:20:39.07\00:20:41.37
Constantine saw his men's
spirits beginning to falling and
00:20:41.40\00:20:44.47
he knew that he needed an omen
too and that's when one of the
00:20:44.51\00:20:48.18
most famous episodes in world
history suddenly takes place.
00:20:48.21\00:20:54.02
¤¤¤
00:20:56.52\00:21:00.52
Shawn: Constantine
said, "I had a dream
00:21:00.89\00:21:02.92
and I saw this symbol.
00:21:02.96\00:21:05.66
All of you are going to
paint it on your shields
00:21:05.69\00:21:07.96
and that's how
we're going to win."
00:21:08.00\00:21:12.37
Even though it was a well-known
pagan symbol, apparently
00:21:12.40\00:21:17.21
Constantine was already
tying it to the Christian god
00:21:17.24\00:21:20.08
of his mother.
00:21:20.11\00:21:21.54
It was just too good to pass up.
00:21:21.58\00:21:23.51
The first letters in the
word for good luck also happened
00:21:23.55\00:21:26.85
to be the first
letters in the word for Christ.
00:21:26.88\00:21:29.72
All that exposure to
Christianity was now coming
00:21:29.75\00:21:32.72
to bear on Constantine's army.
00:21:32.75\00:21:38.79
Shawn: There's an
old story that the night
00:21:39.56\00:21:40.96
before the battle,
Constantine had a vision.
00:21:41.00\00:21:43.63
He looked up and saw the
Chi Rho superimposed on the sun.
00:21:43.67\00:21:46.80
Some versions say he
actually saw the Christian cross
00:21:46.84\00:21:49.37
superimposed on the
sun and he heard a voice,
00:21:49.40\00:21:52.14
a heavenly voice saying,
00:21:52.17\00:21:54.14
[speaking foreign language]
00:21:54.18\00:21:56.18
"Go conquer in this sign."
00:21:56.21\00:21:57.95
In other words, Jesus was
telling him, "Go take the city
00:21:57.98\00:22:00.65
of Rome under the
sign of the cross."
00:22:00.68\00:22:03.59
It's a great story
and Christians love it,
00:22:03.62\00:22:05.05
there's just one problem
with it, this arch was built
00:22:05.09\00:22:07.96
to commemorate his victory
shortly after it happened,
00:22:07.99\00:22:11.19
and it tells the whole story.
00:22:11.23\00:22:12.83
The problem is you can
search this from top to bottom
00:22:12.86\00:22:15.93
and there's no
mention of a Chi Rho.
00:22:15.96\00:22:17.60
There's no picture of
Jesus. There's no cross.
00:22:17.63\00:22:20.40
There's no indication on here
at all that that ever happened.
00:22:20.44\00:22:24.51
The only possible reference
you can find to Christianity
00:22:28.94\00:22:31.75
anywhere on the arch is this
vague inscription that gives
00:22:31.78\00:22:35.18
credit to the inspiration
of divinity, but that's it.
00:22:35.22\00:22:39.29
There is no cross.
00:22:39.32\00:22:41.22
If the story is true, if
Constantine really had a vision
00:22:41.26\00:22:45.03
from God, well, you'd expect
it to show up in an official
00:22:45.06\00:22:47.93
telling of the story which is
really why the arch was built.
00:22:47.96\00:22:51.23
But it's not up here and that's
because Constantine probably
00:22:51.27\00:22:55.64
made the story up about 10 years
later when he was telling it
00:22:55.67\00:22:58.94
to a church historian
by the name of Eusebius.
00:22:58.97\00:23:02.41
You see, when Constantine
attacked the city of Rome,
00:23:02.44\00:23:04.75
it wasn't really
a Christian cross,
00:23:04.78\00:23:06.78
a Latin cross on
his army's shields.
00:23:06.82\00:23:09.32
It was just a Chi
Rho, a good luck charm
00:23:09.35\00:23:12.75
he said he saw in a dream.
00:23:12.79\00:23:16.49
Now, what happened
next is absolutely stunning.
00:23:18.39\00:23:21.70
On October 28, Constantine
is camped on the north side
00:23:21.73\00:23:25.50
of the river and in the
wee hours of the morning,
00:23:25.53\00:23:27.90
one of Maxentius'
generals suddenly comes out
00:23:27.94\00:23:30.17
and crosses this
bridge, Milvian Bridge,
00:23:30.21\00:23:34.18
and he launches a surprise
attack on Constantine's men.
00:23:34.21\00:23:37.75
The plan was he would
hit quickly and then suddenly
00:23:37.78\00:23:40.98
retreat back to safety
on his side of the bridge.
00:23:41.02\00:23:46.29
So, why the sudden retreat?
00:23:46.32\00:23:48.92
Well, it's because
Maxentius had rigged the bridge.
00:23:48.96\00:23:52.13
As soon as Constantine followed
him back over, he would break it
00:23:52.16\00:23:55.16
in half, trapping Constantine's
men on the north bank
00:23:55.20\00:23:59.13
of the river.
00:23:59.17\00:24:00.67
It would make
them sitting ducks.
00:24:00.70\00:24:02.30
They'd be out in the open and
Roman archers would shower them
00:24:02.34\00:24:05.87
with arrows wiping them out.
00:24:05.91\00:24:09.18
It seemed like a
pretty good plan,
00:24:09.21\00:24:10.91
the only problem
was it backfired.
00:24:10.95\00:24:14.98
Constantine responded to the
surprise attack much faster than
00:24:15.02\00:24:18.05
anybody could have anticipated
so there was no time to retreat.
00:24:18.09\00:24:22.66
Instead, Constantine
caught up with Maxentius' men
00:24:22.69\00:24:26.26
right on the north
shore and started hitting them
00:24:26.29\00:24:29.13
with arrows instead.
00:24:29.16\00:24:34.90
Constantine:
Move your men forward.
00:24:35.77\00:24:38.41
[yelling]
00:24:38.64\00:24:41.14
Shawn: That's when
the panic really starts.
00:24:42.08\00:24:44.08
Maxentius realizes he's now
losing the battle and he orders
00:24:44.11\00:24:47.38
his men back over to
the other side of the river.
00:24:47.42\00:24:49.82
They have to retreat.
00:24:49.85\00:24:51.79
The problem was this was a
very narrow bridge in those days
00:24:51.82\00:24:54.19
and it's the only route
of escape so hundreds of men
00:24:54.22\00:24:57.33
pour on to the bridge
and chaos begins to build.
00:24:57.36\00:25:00.83
When Maxentius sees the
chaos, he rides his horse
00:25:00.86\00:25:03.23
into the middle of his
men trying to take control
00:25:03.26\00:25:06.53
and somehow in all that pushing
and shoving, he gets knocked
00:25:06.57\00:25:09.64
off his horse and
thrown into the Tiber River.
00:25:09.67\00:25:12.77
His armor drags him to the
bottom and they find his body
00:25:12.81\00:25:15.48
in the reeds the next day.
00:25:15.51\00:25:17.75
The word quickly goes
through Rome, Maxentius is dead.
00:25:17.78\00:25:23.32
Shawn: The next morning,
October the 29th, Constantine
00:25:27.96\00:25:30.43
rode victorious into the city
but this was unlike any victory
00:25:30.46\00:25:34.46
procession the
citizens of Rome had ever seen.
00:25:34.46\00:25:37.03
Usually, the victor brought
in the spoils of war and led
00:25:37.07\00:25:40.27
a parade of captives but
Constantine came empty handed.
00:25:40.30\00:25:47.18
There was one other key
difference, the parade made
00:25:48.78\00:25:51.45
its way to the base
of the Capitoline Hill
00:25:51.48\00:25:54.22
where conquering heroes
almost always offered sacrifices
00:25:54.25\00:25:58.49
at the temple of Jupiter
but this time, no sacrifice
00:25:58.52\00:26:03.32
because Constantine wasn't
giving Jupiter the credit.
00:26:03.36\00:26:06.73
This time the honor all
went to the Christian God,
00:26:06.76\00:26:11.37
that's what
changed the whole world.
00:26:11.40\00:26:14.64
Even though Jesus said his
kingdom is not of this world,
00:26:14.67\00:26:18.37
Constantine believed his victory
came from the God of his mother,
00:26:18.41\00:26:21.78
from the Christian God.
00:26:21.81\00:26:23.75
He started to think of his
mother's God as a God of war,
00:26:23.78\00:26:27.45
as the key to
unifying his new empire.
00:26:27.48\00:26:30.82
When he rode into the city, when
he refused to offer sacrifice to
00:26:30.85\00:26:34.66
Jupiter, that was the precise
moment when the paths of Jesus
00:26:34.69\00:26:40.36
and Constantine finally met.
00:26:40.40\00:26:43.23
And what happened next is
so explosive that it changed
00:26:43.26\00:26:46.20
the face of the empire,
00:26:46.23\00:26:48.04
and it changed the
path of world politics,
00:26:48.07\00:26:50.61
and it changed the
nature of Christianity forever.
00:26:50.64\00:26:56.21
Shawn: The religion of Jesus
took on a new flavor because
00:26:59.18\00:27:02.52
the Prince of peace has
just become a Roman God of war.
00:27:02.55\00:27:06.69
In a single moment,
00:27:06.72\00:27:08.16
he moved from being
the God of the underdog,
00:27:08.19\00:27:10.23
the outcast and the downtrodden
to the God of the emperor.
00:27:10.26\00:27:14.56
Jesus is now made to say,
"Blessed is the man who sacks
00:27:14.56\00:27:18.10
the city of Rome."
00:27:18.13\00:27:20.07
Just a few weeks
after Constantine's big win,
00:27:20.10\00:27:22.67
the Chi Rho started
showing up all over this city.
00:27:22.70\00:27:25.87
It became Constantine's symbol
and it was clearly identified
00:27:25.91\00:27:30.25
with Christianity.
00:27:30.28\00:27:31.81
There's just no way to
underestimate how important this
00:27:31.85\00:27:35.25
moment was and to some extent,
that moment has changed the way
00:27:35.28\00:27:39.89
that you and I think.
00:27:39.92\00:27:41.69
It just might be that to some
measure, you and I are living
00:27:41.72\00:27:45.63
in a shadow empire.
00:27:45.66\00:27:48.56
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00:27:49.83\00:27:59.84
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