HIS 216 & REL 216 Church History I: Ancient & Middle Ages

The fourth century began and ended with a miracle. Traditionally, in the year 312, the Roman emperor Constantine I experienced a Vision of the Cross that led him to convert to Christianity. Other stories heralded the discovery of the True Cross by Constantine's mother, Helena, and the rise of a new kind of miracle-maker in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. In this book, historian H. A. Drake explores the role miracle stories played in helping Christians, pagans, and Jews think about themselves and each other. These stories, he concludes, bolstered Christian belief that their god wanted the empire to be Christian.

The wives, mistresses, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the Caesars have been popularly characterized as heartless murderers, shameless adulteresses, and conniving politicians in the high dramas of the Roman court. Yet little has been known about who they really were. This book pulls back the veil on these fascinating women in Rome's power circles, giving them the chance to speak for themselves for the first time. With impeccable scholarship and arresting storytelling, Freisenbruch brings their personalities vividly to life, from notorious Livia and scandalous Julia to Christian Helena.

Contents: The tree of life: a brief history of the cross -- Queen Helena and the birth of Christian Europe -- The discovery of the true cross -- A kiss of life-Jerusalem and Rome, or: how a piece of walnut wood made history -- Jews and Romans in Jerusalem: the Titulus, God, the Lord and the Saviour -- The earliest Christian symbol: believers under the cross -- The lasting quest.

Includes chapters on: Seeking the True Cross, Seeking the True Helena, and The Crypt of St. Helena Mother of Constantine.

This volume makes available three works attributed to Constantine. The Oration to the Saints is an intellectual defence of Christianity, and finally declares Constantine's personal adherence to the Saviour. The legend of the discovery of the True Cross by the empress Helena, mother of Constantine, following her conversion to Christianity is presented in translations of two variant accounts. The third text, the Edict of Constantine, presents Constantine's supposed edict to Pope Silvester transferring lands to the papacy.