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The Conversion Of Augustine

The Conversion of Constantine and the impact on early Christianity
This paper will focus on one of the biggest events in the history of not only Rome, but also in the history of Christianity—Constantine's conversion. Constantine's conversion to Christianity allowed the church to emerge from early persecution and later become the official religion of Rome. The rapid spread of Christianity because of this made a definite impact on western civilization. This essay will attempt to show that while Constantine may not have immediately made a full conversion to Christianity like it may seem, his efforts in establishing Christianity in the Roman Empire helped to further the church's cause greatly.
Constantine's father, Constantius, came from Lllyria and had served as governor of Dalmatia before being made one of the empire's two Caesars by Diocletian and given control in the west. (Pohlsander 23) Constantine was release to join his father in the west after serving in one of Diocletian's tribunals but arrived just before his father's death in 306. Constantius' troops embraced Constantine as the new Augustus, which led him to write Galerius for his approval to the newly vacated position. Galerius would not accept such a dramatic promotion and appointed him to the post of Caesar instead. (Pohlsander 24) Constantine proved himself to be a great organizer and military strategist whose main goal was stability. He was in the process of gaining control of the
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area around the Rhine River when he was forced to address Maximian's rebellion. Constantine was in the process of preparing for the Battle of the Milvian bridge when the event occurred that changed the Roman world forever.
In the night before the battle, Constantine was said to have been commanded in a dream to place the symbol of the cross on the shields of his soldiers. Twenty five years later, however, Pope Eusebius gave a far different description of the vision, one in which Constantine saw a cross of...