Comments | reading_gibbon: Chapter XIV: The Rise of Constantine

nwhyte in reading_gibbon

Chapter XIV: The Rise of Constantine

Dec 26, 2009 13:52

Read it here, here or here.

1) Good quotes

Actually not that many in this chapter, which is full of incident rather than rhetoric. But here is Gibbon on the idea that Constantine's mother was a British princess: This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of Constantine, was invented in the darkness of monasteries, was embellished by Jeffrey of ( Read more... )

sex, astrology, constantine, balkans, diocletian

Comments 2

saare_snowqueen December 27 2009, 12:41:15 UTC

An fascinating chapter and one I was particularly interested in as my long-time passion is the history of the early Christian church.

One of the most interesting of the 13th century stone churches on Saaremaa (and a regular stop for many of the groups that I guide) is St. Catherine & St. Nicholas in Karla Village. There is a remarkable carving showing Maxentius under the saint's foot while a leering devil waits to collect his soul.

It is fortunate I think that next week is still a holiday of sorts here so I expect to find time to 'do my homework' and give the next chapter a close read.

Thank you again for getting me into this.

strange_complex January 2 2010, 23:52:51 UTC

I was struck most of all when reading this chapter by the way that the wars between Constantine and first Maxentius and then Licinius were obviously constructed by the panegyricists of the day in terms reminiscent of the wars between Caesar and Pompey (first in Italy and then in Greece). Gibbon makes the comparison explicit at one point when he says that the speed of Constantine's march down through Italy has been compared with Caesar's, but other similarities include Constantine as a merciful saver of cities (like Caesar) vs. Maxentius in particular as a city sacker, and Constantine's troops as war-hardened and experienced (like Caesar's) vs. Maxentius' as indulgent and Licinius' as green (both like Pompey's). We've already reached the stage where I'm no longer terribly familiar with the sources Gibbon is using, but I presume the panegyricists of the day put all this in deliberately in order to present Constantine's victories in epic and flattering terms ( ... )