Quote:
Originally Posted by Knalus
Fair enough. From an emperor's point of view, though, if Constantine took the Christian position as a unifying act, as opposed to an honest conversion, it must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Hence the previous emperor's not just mistrust, but active dislike of the early Christian church. The perfect sense you mention would be seen best in hindsight.
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Previous emperors blew hot and cold about the church though, the initial persecution was a fairly simple consequence of early christians refusing to make an offering for the emperor, by Constantines time the church was large enough that it was both courted by previous emperors and attacked, Constantines actions were not 'out of the blue' so much as an extension of previous acts of support from his rival and previous claiments to the throne.
All of this has to be seen in the light of an empire in semi constant civil war where gaining factional support was very important.