1

00:00:01,460 --> 00:00:04,767

Ancient Rome, one of the greatest
superpowers in history,

2
00:00:04,806 --> 00:00:08,670
whose far-reaching legacy continues
to shape our lives.

3
00:00:08,708 --> 00:00:14,088
For close on 1,000 years, the Romans
dominated the known world.

4
00:00:14,128 --> 00:00:18,469
Theirs was an extraordinary empire
that heralded an age of

5
00:00:18,510 --> 00:00:21,696
unprecedented prosperity
and stability,

6
00:00:21,735 --> 00:00:25,600
but that also ruled through violence
and oppression.

7
00:00:27,193 --> 00:00:30,300
Rome's rise to greatness wasn't
inevitable.

8
00:00:30,340 --> 00:00:35,279
Its epic history was often decided
by single, critical moments.

9
00:00:38,506 --> 00:00:44,123
In this series, I'm exploring eight
key days that I believe help to

10
00:00:44,163 --> 00:00:46,991
explain Rome's remarkable success.

11
00:00:48,664 --> 00:00:51,532
To understand the full significance
of these eight days,

12
00:00:51,572 --> 00:00:54,282
I'm travelling across
the Roman world.
13
00:00:54,321 --> 00:00:58,504
I am incredibly lucky to get access
to this archaeological site.

14
00:00:58,543 --> 00:01:00,654
Examining remarkable finds.

15
00:01:00,694 --> 00:01:06,073
These are the only Roman Imperial
insignia ever to have survived.

16
00:01:08,861 --> 00:01:12,684
And investigating the complexities
of what it was to be Roman.

17
00:01:16,548 --> 00:01:19,576
This is the day, in May 337 AD,

18
00:01:19,615 --> 00:01:23,957
when the dying Emperor Constantine
was baptised in a final commitment

19
00:01:23,998 --> 00:01:27,183
to a new religion that would shape
the next thousand years

20
00:01:27,223 --> 00:01:30,969
of Rome's story and human history.

21
00:01:31,009 --> 00:01:34,634
I shall, from this time, prescribe
to myself such a course of life

22
00:01:34,674 --> 00:01:36,545
as befits his service.

23
00:01:36,586 --> 00:01:39,572
Constantine the Great, as he'll come
to be called,

24
00:01:39,612 --> 00:01:44,114
is, for me, one of the most
fascinating and complex characters

25
00:01:44,153 --> 00:01:46,066
in Roman history.
26
00:01:46,106 --> 00:01:48,975
Constantine broke with the pagan
past of ancient Rome

27
00:01:49,015 --> 00:01:51,244
and founded a new capital
for the Empire.

28
00:01:52,241 --> 00:01:54,870
His decisions still live with
us today.

29
00:02:04,032 --> 00:02:07,815
The Roman Empire had first exploded
across the Mediterranean world as a

30
00:02:07,855 --> 00:02:11,521
republic, a limited form of people
power that ruled,

31
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,186
in theory at least, for the benefit
of all citizens.

32
00:02:16,301 --> 00:02:20,244
But it expanded to its greatest
extent under imperial rule,

33
00:02:20,283 --> 00:02:21,996
peaking in the second century AD.

34
00:02:24,984 --> 00:02:28,451
The great size of the Empire brought
with it great stresses

35
00:02:28,490 --> 00:02:31,237
to government, and it soon began
to struggle.

36
00:02:31,278 --> 00:02:33,748
Simply too big to be ruled
by one man.

37
00:02:36,974 --> 00:02:40,480
Weak leadership, civil wars and
barbarian invasions
38
00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,548
threw the Empire into a crisis.

39
00:02:43,587 --> 00:02:46,774
Emperors came and went at a
dizzying speed.

40
00:02:46,813 --> 00:02:50,041
No fewer than 50 in 50 years.

41
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,231
Many of them killed by their
own armies.

42
00:02:53,467 --> 00:02:55,817
So, in 293 AD,

43
00:02:55,857 --> 00:02:59,481
a radical reform was introduced in
an attempt to save the Empire

44
00:02:59,521 --> 00:03:01,314
from disaster.

45
00:03:01,354 --> 00:03:04,182
It was divided into four parts,

46
00:03:04,223 --> 00:03:08,006
with four capitals and a different
emperor based in each,

47
00:03:08,045 --> 00:03:10,276
all working together to keep
Rome strong.

48
00:03:12,069 --> 00:03:15,654
The system worked for a while, but
it had one major flaw.

49
00:03:17,566 --> 00:03:19,519
With four times as many emperors,

50
00:03:19,559 --> 00:03:22,268
there was four times the scope
for rivalry,
51
00:03:22,308 --> 00:03:26,609
four times as many succession
disputes, and by 312 AD,

52
00:03:26,648 --> 00:03:30,035
the system had completely
broken down.

53
00:03:30,075 --> 00:03:33,382
The Empire was racked, once again,
by civil war.

54
00:03:35,492 --> 00:03:40,431
But one man would restore order to
this disintegrating empire

55
00:03:40,471 --> 00:03:45,132
and set Rome on a new course with
Christianity at its heart.

56
00:03:47,562 --> 00:03:52,661
We're told that he was the
illegitimate son of a Greek barmaid,

57
00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:55,568
and his name was Constantine.

58
00:04:08,356 --> 00:04:12,897
The transformation of the Roman
Empire was secured by one emblematic

59
00:04:12,937 --> 00:04:17,398
day that came at the end of
Constantine's remarkable life.

60
00:04:17,437 --> 00:04:21,341
The elderly emperor was travelling
east on a military campaign

61
00:04:21,381 --> 00:04:23,253
when he became seriously ill.

62
00:04:24,928 --> 00:04:27,915
The events of this day were recorded
by his biographer,
63
00:04:27,955 --> 00:04:31,261
Eusebius of Caesarea,
from eyewitness accounts.

64
00:04:36,241 --> 00:04:37,236
SCREAMING

65
00:04:39,586 --> 00:04:41,816
How far have we come?

66
00:04:41,857 --> 00:04:43,728
That didn't feel very far at all.

67
00:04:43,768 --> 00:04:45,840
Over 50 miles.

68
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,788
We could set off back to
Constantinople in the morning.

69
00:04:48,828 --> 00:04:49,823
Retreating.

70
00:04:50,859 --> 00:04:51,856
Resting.

71
00:04:53,369 --> 00:04:56,675
It's nothing more than weakness,
indecision, cowardliness.

72
00:04:57,790 --> 00:05:02,014
You go back one time, and you will
go back every time after that.

73
00:05:03,568 --> 00:05:06,436
I just meant because you are a
little bit ill.

74
00:05:06,475 --> 00:05:07,470
We're not going back.

75
00:05:10,138 --> 00:05:11,972
As he lay dying that day,

76
00:05:12,012 --> 00:05:16,233
Eusebius tells us that Constantine
reflected on his life,

77
00:05:16,273 --> 00:05:18,983
looking back at his
extraordinary achievements

78
00:05:19,023 --> 00:05:21,571
and his deepest regrets.

79
00:05:21,611 --> 00:05:23,125
THUNDER

80
00:05:25,675 --> 00:05:30,096
Constantine had been born 65 years
earlier in the city of Naissus,

81
00:05:30,136 --> 00:05:31,849
in what is today, Serbia.

82
00:05:33,761 --> 00:05:36,788
Although his mother was a humble
barmaid, we're told,

83
00:05:36,828 --> 00:05:40,334
Constantine's father was a Roman
general who became one of the four

84
00:05:40,374 --> 00:05:42,166
emperors of the divided Empire.

85
00:05:45,313 --> 00:05:48,699
When his father died on campaign
in York, Constantine,

86
00:05:48,739 --> 00:05:53,479
who was now a general himself, was
acclaimed successor by his troops.

87
00:05:54,634 --> 00:05:57,543
He took control of the north-western
section of the Empire,

88
00:05:57,583 --> 00:05:59,096
basing himself in Trier.

89
00:06:00,768 --> 00:06:04,753
Meanwhile, there was turmoil
elsewhere in the Empire

90
00:06:04,792 --> 00:06:08,337
when a general seized power in Rome
for himself.

91
00:06:08,378 --> 00:06:10,211
His name was Maxentius.

92
00:06:11,365 --> 00:06:12,838
From his base in Trier,

93
00:06:12,878 --> 00:06:16,863
Constantine saw this instability as
an opportunity to claim control of

94
00:06:16,902 --> 00:06:19,172
more of the fractured imperial
territories.

95
00:06:20,329 --> 00:06:23,874
With the support of his troops, he
marched south

96
00:06:23,913 --> 00:06:26,661
to confront the usurper, Maxentius.

97
00:06:28,533 --> 00:06:31,442
The decisive showdown took place
here, at a crossing of the

98
00:06:31,481 --> 00:06:34,629
River Tiber, called Milvian Bridge,
just outside the city.

99
00:06:35,903 --> 00:06:41,081
It was a confrontation critical to
Constantine's rise to power.

100
00:06:41,121 --> 00:06:45,264
And a key chapter in the story of
his spiritual transformation.

101
00:06:45,304 --> 00:06:49,766
A story which would end in the
rebirth of the Empire of Rome.

102
00:06:58,450 --> 00:07:04,942
In 337 AD, as Emperor Constantine
lay dying, his biographer, Eusebius,

103
00:07:04,982 --> 00:07:09,245
tells us he used this time to
reflect on the sins it had been

104
00:07:09,285 --> 00:07:12,950
his lot to commit during his bloody
rise to power.

105
00:07:15,181 --> 00:07:21,872
It's not good. I fear the odds are
quite seriously stacked against him.

106
00:07:24,462 --> 00:07:26,215
The odds are always against me.

107
00:07:30,836 --> 00:07:32,627
25 years earlier,

108
00:07:32,667 --> 00:07:36,612
Constantine had taken on Emperor
Maxentius in a vicious battle at the

109
00:07:36,652 --> 00:07:39,560
Milvian Bridge on the outskirts
of Rome.

110
00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,826
The first steps to unify the
broken Empire.

111
00:07:44,339 --> 00:07:46,729
Maxentius had 150,000 men.

112
00:07:48,204 --> 00:07:49,836
How many did we have, Quintus?

113
00:07:49,876 --> 00:07:50,872
Less than 40,000.

114
00:07:52,506 --> 00:07:53,622
Less than 40,000.

115
00:07:54,776 --> 00:07:56,608
Who could prevail against
those odds?

116
00:08:06,448 --> 00:08:10,710
I remember taking my sword from a
man's chest and chopping the top of

117
00:08:10,750 --> 00:08:11,944
another man's head off.

118
00:08:14,295 --> 00:08:15,449
How, I wonder?

119
00:08:15,490 --> 00:08:18,199
What God let him down in his
moment of need?

120
00:08:19,554 --> 00:08:23,855
My cavalry swept along the flanks
of his soldiers,

121
00:08:23,895 --> 00:08:26,803
trampling and slaying all that stood
in their way.

122
00:08:26,843 --> 00:08:29,790
Maxentius and his men became
confused and started to flee in all

123
00:08:29,831 --> 00:08:34,014
directions. I had my eyes set
on Maxentius,

124
00:08:34,053 --> 00:08:35,885
but he fled back towards the city.

125
00:08:37,837 --> 00:08:40,307
He tried to cross the bridge,

126
00:08:40,347 --> 00:08:43,812
but it collapsed with the weight of
so many fleeing soldiers.

127
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,030
When I saw Maxentius floating
in the water...

128
00:08:50,504 --> 00:08:51,700
..I felt no triumph.

129
00:08:53,453 --> 00:08:56,799
Maybe it was because so many
soldiers drowned with him,

130
00:08:56,838 --> 00:09:00,704
so many families lost fathers,

131
00:09:00,743 --> 00:09:03,252
and brothers and sons.

132
00:09:05,005 --> 00:09:08,391
Constantine had been merciless, and
in the aftermath of his

133
00:09:08,431 --> 00:09:12,453
great victory, he rode into Rome
with Maxentius's head

134
00:09:12,493 --> 00:09:14,287
displayed on a spear before him.

135
00:09:16,995 --> 00:09:20,660
His devastating victory at the
Milvian Bridge meant he became

136
00:09:20,700 --> 00:09:23,568
the sole ruler of the western half
of the Empire.

137
00:09:24,603 --> 00:09:28,189
The grand prize, Rome, was his.

138
00:09:29,543 --> 00:09:31,734
In Rome's Civil Wars at this time,

139
00:09:31,774 --> 00:09:35,120
it was common for the victors to
create monuments to their success.

140
00:09:36,792 --> 00:09:40,219
Well, now Constantine was going to
prove that he was in charge.

141
00:09:41,334 --> 00:09:43,684
And just look at how he did it.

142
00:09:55,196 --> 00:09:56,909
Isn't it brilliant?

143
00:09:56,949 --> 00:10:01,212
So, what you're looking at here are
the colossal remains of a statue

144
00:10:01,251 --> 00:10:06,630
that originally stood 12 metres high
and dominated a basilica,

145
00:10:06,669 --> 00:10:11,489
a kind of swanky town hall that
Maxentius had had built.

146
00:10:11,529 --> 00:10:13,878
All this is pretty impressive now,

147
00:10:13,919 --> 00:10:19,257
but just imagine what it was like
when it was first made.

148
00:10:19,296 --> 00:10:24,714
I just love all of this, because it
is such a serious bit of 3D PR.

149
00:10:25,869 --> 00:10:29,415
"Move over," Constantine is saying,

150
00:10:29,455 --> 00:10:32,721
"I am the ruler of Rome now."

151
00:10:37,062 --> 00:10:41,326
Constantine attempted to eradicate
all traces of Maxentius's brief time

152
00:10:41,365 --> 00:10:46,543
in power, but one thing escaped him,
and it was only rediscovered
153
00:10:46,583 --> 00:10:52,160
in 2006, at the base of the
Palatine Hill in the heart of Rome.

154
00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,148
We've been giving privileged access
here in the vaults

155
00:10:55,188 --> 00:10:56,941
of the National Museum of Italy.

156
00:10:58,773 --> 00:11:02,278
Now, it is genuinely exciting
to see these,

157
00:11:02,318 --> 00:11:06,222
because these are the only Roman
imperial insignia

158
00:11:06,262 --> 00:11:08,891
ever to have survived.

159
00:11:08,930 --> 00:11:12,635
The whole thing was buried in a
wooden box and wrapped in the silk

160
00:11:12,675 --> 00:11:14,268
of imperial banners.

161
00:11:14,308 --> 00:11:15,424
These are sceptres,

162
00:11:15,463 --> 00:11:20,443
so these had been held by the
Emperor to prove his power.

163
00:11:20,483 --> 00:11:23,112
This beautiful one would have been
covered in gold leaf,

164
00:11:23,152 --> 00:11:27,214
and it's topped with a blue orb,
representing the globe, which,

165
00:11:27,255 --> 00:11:30,202
by the way, reminds us that the
Romans didn't believe

166
00:11:30,242 --> 00:11:32,632
that the Earth was flat.

167
00:11:32,673 --> 00:11:36,378
Now, we think this whole thing would
have been buried by Maxentius's

168
00:11:36,417 --> 00:11:41,515
followers to preserve his memory,
and the fantastic thing is that it's

169
00:11:41,556 --> 00:11:46,932
worked, because for 1,700 years,
all of this was kept safe,

170
00:11:46,973 --> 00:11:50,000
and now we can share it
with the world.

171
00:11:51,553 --> 00:11:53,186
In stark contrast,

172
00:11:53,226 --> 00:11:57,807
Constantine as the victor was able
to flaunt his triumph.

173
00:11:57,848 --> 00:12:02,070
This magnificent arch in the heart
of Rome celebrates his victory

174
00:12:02,110 --> 00:12:03,822
against Maxentius.

175
00:12:03,861 --> 00:12:07,128
But it also hints at a surprising
new influence guiding

176
00:12:07,169 --> 00:12:09,678
Constantine to victory at
Milvian Bridge.

177
00:12:11,033 --> 00:12:15,017
You've got Constantine defeating the
barbarians and giving hand-outs to
178
00:12:15,056 --> 00:12:18,682
the masses and being crowned by the
goddess of victory,

179
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,465
as well as a few bespoke images like
Maxentius's men

180
00:12:22,505 --> 00:12:24,855
drowning in the Tiber.

181
00:12:24,895 --> 00:12:29,237
But then, up there at the top,
there's a cryptic,

182
00:12:29,278 --> 00:12:31,827
potentially game-changing
inscription.

183
00:12:33,620 --> 00:12:37,961
Constantine, inspired by
the divinity,

184
00:12:38,001 --> 00:12:41,029
delivered the state from the tyrant.

185
00:12:43,935 --> 00:12:45,809
This mention of divinity

186
00:12:45,849 --> 00:12:48,278
hints at an event that
later Christian authors

187
00:12:48,318 --> 00:12:50,190
were eager to commemorate,

188
00:12:50,230 --> 00:12:52,580
and that quickly became a
significant feature

189
00:12:52,620 --> 00:12:54,413
of Constantine's life story.

190
00:12:55,568 --> 00:12:58,674
That, on the eve of battle
with Maxentius,
191
00:12:58,714 --> 00:13:02,300
the Emperor was confronted with
a luminous vision in the sky.

192
00:13:03,615 --> 00:13:06,643
Christ then came to him
in a dream, declaring,

193
00:13:06,683 --> 00:13:09,868
"With this sign, you shall conquer."

194
00:13:09,908 --> 00:13:12,657
Constantine shared what he'd seen
with his troops.

195
00:13:14,490 --> 00:13:17,079
Some said that sign was a
kind of cross

196
00:13:17,119 --> 00:13:20,067
made out of the two Greek letters,

197
00:13:20,107 --> 00:13:21,144
chi...

198
00:13:23,293 --> 00:13:24,766
..rho,

199
00:13:24,806 --> 00:13:29,308
which are the first two
letters of the name Christ.

200
00:13:29,348 --> 00:13:30,504
Some sources tell us

201
00:13:30,543 --> 00:13:32,575
that Constantine ordered
his soldiers

202
00:13:32,615 --> 00:13:35,283
to paint this sign on their
shields and,

203
00:13:35,323 --> 00:13:39,306
emblazoned thus, the vision's
prophecy was fulfilled

204
00:13:39,347 --> 00:13:42,454
and Constantine could claim
a victory

205
00:13:42,494 --> 00:13:44,286
thanks to Christ.

206
00:13:47,711 --> 00:13:50,340
Whether or not Constantine was
really motivated

207
00:13:50,380 --> 00:13:53,208
by a Christian vision around
this time,

208
00:13:53,249 --> 00:13:55,997
it seems he did help the rulers of
the Empire

209
00:13:56,037 --> 00:13:59,145
come to terms with their
Christian minority.

210
00:14:00,659 --> 00:14:02,290
Within just a few months,

211
00:14:02,331 --> 00:14:07,311
Constantine does seem to pin his
colours firmly to the Christian mast

212
00:14:07,352 --> 00:14:12,210
by backing an edict that stops the
persecution of Christians

213
00:14:12,250 --> 00:14:14,440
right across the Roman Empire.

214
00:14:16,630 --> 00:14:18,225
Until this point,

215
00:14:18,265 --> 00:14:21,969
the overriding belief system of Rome
was paganism,

216
00:14:22,009 --> 00:14:24,320
a diverse religion of many gods

217
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,303
which rewarded offerings,
such as animal sacrifice.

218
00:14:28,342 --> 00:14:32,606
But Christianity was a new cult
on the rise.

219
00:14:32,645 --> 00:14:35,594
As many as one in ten citizens
were Christians,

220
00:14:35,633 --> 00:14:37,585
and it made great political sense

221
00:14:37,625 --> 00:14:41,051
for a man who was determined
to unify the Empire

222
00:14:41,090 --> 00:14:44,078
to embrace this curious
new religion,

223
00:14:44,118 --> 00:14:46,389
with its radical philosophies.

224
00:14:46,428 --> 00:14:50,651
Alexander Evers is an expert in
early Roman Christianity.

225
00:14:50,691 --> 00:14:55,390
In this period, Christianity is very
much on the fringes of society.

226
00:14:55,430 --> 00:14:58,019
It's an odd element within

227
00:14:58,059 --> 00:15:00,291
the traditional Roman world

228
00:15:00,330 --> 00:15:02,839
where those traditional values of

229
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,510
strength and courage are very,
very important.

230
00:15:05,549 --> 00:15:09,293
And all of a sudden you get a group
that comes in

231
00:15:09,332 --> 00:15:12,401
and preaches to the humble and meek,

232
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,353
and promises them paradise.

233
00:15:14,392 --> 00:15:15,867
So, it's really interesting, then,

234
00:15:15,907 --> 00:15:19,133
that Constantine seems to be
attracted to this fledgling faith.

235
00:15:19,173 --> 00:15:22,080
Mm. It's almost as if
Constantine thinks,

236
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,948
"Heck, let's give this a go and
see what happens."

237
00:15:24,989 --> 00:15:29,969
After his conversion, his troops
will follow him.

238
00:15:30,008 --> 00:15:34,031
Gradually over time he begins to
build churches everywhere.

239
00:15:34,070 --> 00:15:37,456
Christians are allowed to practise
their faith in the open.

240
00:15:37,496 --> 00:15:39,967
But he does still keep his options
open, doesn't he?

241
00:15:40,006 --> 00:15:44,508
He cannot just cut all the ties with
the old traditional Roman religion.

242
00:15:44,548 --> 00:15:46,020
He doesn't want to.

243
00:15:46,060 --> 00:15:47,814
That would have been
political suicide,

244
00:15:47,853 --> 00:15:50,403
and perhaps there's this
little voice

245
00:15:50,442 --> 00:15:53,310
in the back of his mind saying,
"You never know."

246
00:15:54,984 --> 00:15:58,967
I think, Constantine's interest in
Christianity was genuine,

247
00:15:59,007 --> 00:16:03,468
and he soon fed Christian ideas into
the ethos of the Empire.

248
00:16:03,508 --> 00:16:07,173
The first steps in a revolutionary
new direction for Rome.

249
00:16:08,329 --> 00:16:10,321
He abolished crucifixion

250
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,148
and outlawed gladiator fights.

251
00:16:13,188 --> 00:16:16,415
Social justice was now on his
imperial agenda.

252
00:16:17,492 --> 00:16:20,000
But while these Christian ideals
were coming into play

253
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,829
in some quarters of the Empire,

254
00:16:22,868 --> 00:16:25,975
there was trouble and turmoil
at its heart.

255
00:16:28,007 --> 00:16:33,903
By 314 AD, the Roman world was now
consolidated into two halves,

256
00:16:33,942 --> 00:16:35,935
east and west.

257
00:16:35,974 --> 00:16:38,881
The Western Empire was unified
under Constantine.

258
00:16:38,921 --> 00:16:43,344
The East had been brought together
by an emperor called Licinius.

259
00:16:43,384 --> 00:16:46,848
But Constantine's ambition couldn't
allow for a rival,

260
00:16:46,888 --> 00:16:50,991
so he'd need a pretext to go to war
with another Roman co-ruler.

261
00:16:54,735 --> 00:16:56,887
According to the historian Zosimus,

262
00:16:56,927 --> 00:16:58,799
it was Licinius who provided it.

263
00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:05,570
Rather than attack on
the battlefield,

264
00:17:05,610 --> 00:17:08,957
Licinius attempted a regime change
by stealth,

265
00:17:08,997 --> 00:17:11,945
and one night in 316 AD,

266
00:17:11,985 --> 00:17:16,405
he sent his cousin to Rome with
orders to assassinate Constantine
267
00:17:16,445 --> 00:17:18,596
and his eldest son, Crispus.

268
00:17:19,792 --> 00:17:23,138
But Constantine had word of the plot
and was ready.

269
00:17:34,810 --> 00:17:36,363
It is never good when
someone attempts

270
00:17:36,402 --> 00:17:39,471
to take the life of an emperor,
dear Crispus.

271
00:17:39,510 --> 00:17:42,856
But that does not mean the Emperor
cannot use it for gain.

272
00:17:45,644 --> 00:17:47,397
HE GRUNTS

273
00:17:55,245 --> 00:17:57,316
End this now. Kill me.

274
00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:02,414
I could kill you...

275
00:18:04,209 --> 00:18:05,562
..but that wouldn't end this.

276
00:18:09,864 --> 00:18:11,257
Continue to lie...

277
00:18:12,493 --> 00:18:15,839
..and when Quintus has run out of
parts to cut off you,

278
00:18:15,879 --> 00:18:18,310
he will bring in your children
one by one

279
00:18:18,350 --> 00:18:19,824
and cut parts off them.
280
00:18:24,604 --> 00:18:27,711
Confess that it was Licinius who
sent you to kill me,

281
00:18:27,749 --> 00:18:29,185
and I will spare your children.

282
00:18:30,340 --> 00:18:32,969
I confess, Licinius wants you dead.

283
00:18:33,008 --> 00:18:34,004
He sent me.

284
00:18:35,956 --> 00:18:37,230
Constantine...

285
00:18:38,664 --> 00:18:40,856
..promise me
my children will be spared.

286
00:18:44,879 --> 00:18:46,752
HE GASPS

287
00:18:48,464 --> 00:18:50,297
Thank you, Bassianus.

288
00:18:51,650 --> 00:18:52,646
Thank you.

289
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,312
Constantine's new Christian ideals

290
00:18:56,352 --> 00:18:59,340
didn't hinder his relentless drive.

291
00:18:59,380 --> 00:19:01,331
With this justification for war...

292
00:19:03,481 --> 00:19:06,948
..one half of the Empire was now
pitted against the other.

293
00:19:08,461 --> 00:19:10,652
They fought for eight years,
294
00:19:10,692 --> 00:19:15,192
Constantine pushing deep into
Licinius's territory in the east.

295
00:19:15,232 --> 00:19:18,937
The decisive battle came
in the year 324 AD.

296
00:19:20,730 --> 00:19:22,204
This is the Bosporus Straits,

297
00:19:22,244 --> 00:19:25,432
with Asia on one side and Europe
on the other.

298
00:19:25,471 --> 00:19:29,294
And these waters, as well as a
battleground on the Asian side,

299
00:19:29,334 --> 00:19:34,075
saw ferocious fighting between
Constantine and Licinius.

300
00:19:34,115 --> 00:19:35,589
We're told that, once again,

301
00:19:35,628 --> 00:19:38,456
Constantine raised his Christian
standard

302
00:19:38,496 --> 00:19:39,890
to rally his troops,

303
00:19:39,930 --> 00:19:42,997
and Christian authors at the time
described the conflict

304
00:19:43,036 --> 00:19:45,228
not as a battle between emperors,

305
00:19:45,269 --> 00:19:47,898
but a battle between good and evil.

306
00:19:49,850 --> 00:19:52,557
After pinning his new Christian
colours to the mast,
307
00:19:52,597 --> 00:19:55,944
Constantine launched a final massive
assault on Licinius,

308
00:19:55,984 --> 00:19:57,657
destroying his forces.

309
00:20:01,043 --> 00:20:02,318
With his victory,

310
00:20:02,358 --> 00:20:04,309
the broken pieces of the Empire

311
00:20:04,349 --> 00:20:08,810
had finally reunited under
Constantine's sole rule.

312
00:20:08,850 --> 00:20:12,315
He founded a city just across the
straits from his triumph.

313
00:20:12,355 --> 00:20:14,308
Built on what had been Byzantium,

314
00:20:14,349 --> 00:20:17,376
he would call his city
Constantinople.

315
00:20:19,566 --> 00:20:22,474
The idea of Rome seemed to be
back on track.

316
00:20:22,514 --> 00:20:24,425
One Empire, one emperor,

317
00:20:24,465 --> 00:20:28,012
and a leader who was blessed
with fortune in war.

318
00:20:28,051 --> 00:20:30,441
But Constantine had a challenge.

319
00:20:30,481 --> 00:20:34,464
He had to achieve something that no
emperor had managed in a century,
320
00:20:34,505 --> 00:20:37,612
to give peace and stability
to his people

321
00:20:37,652 --> 00:20:39,244
while holding on to power.

322
00:20:42,272 --> 00:20:45,936
To preserve his newly restored
Empire for future generations,

323
00:20:45,976 --> 00:20:49,283
Constantine planned to consolidate
power through his family,

324
00:20:49,323 --> 00:20:52,509
headed by his eldest son Crispus.

325
00:20:52,549 --> 00:20:55,497
But the dream of a new
imperial dynasty

326
00:20:55,536 --> 00:20:58,046
would soon turn into a nightmare

327
00:20:58,086 --> 00:21:01,112
that would haunt him to
his dying day.

328
00:21:02,427 --> 00:21:03,464
SHE SCREAMS

329
00:21:03,504 --> 00:21:05,017
Can I really be forgiven?

330
00:21:12,944 --> 00:21:16,489
Emperor Constantine had won control
of the Roman world,

331
00:21:16,529 --> 00:21:19,159
bringing the Empire back under the
rule of one man.

332
00:21:20,195 --> 00:21:23,541
He then looked to secure his legacy
through his descendants.

333
00:21:26,449 --> 00:21:29,755
Here in the Netherlands, in the
Leiden Museum of Antiquities,

334
00:21:29,795 --> 00:21:31,349
is an artefact that shows us

335
00:21:31,389 --> 00:21:33,978
how the Emperor attempted
to reinstate

336
00:21:34,018 --> 00:21:37,283
the old Roman system of hereditary
succession.

337
00:21:37,323 --> 00:21:41,466
He put his family full front and
centre of political life.

338
00:21:43,060 --> 00:21:45,091
This gorgeously carved cameo

339
00:21:45,131 --> 00:21:48,397
seems to be signalling the
importance of four key members

340
00:21:48,437 --> 00:21:50,150
of Constantine's family.

341
00:21:50,188 --> 00:21:52,978
So, that's Constantine there
in the middle,

342
00:21:53,018 --> 00:21:55,848
and that's Helena, his mother,
at the back.

343
00:21:55,888 --> 00:21:57,679
Fausta, his wife, here,

344
00:21:57,718 --> 00:22:01,504
and his eldest son, Crispus,
by his first wife.

345
00:22:01,544 --> 00:22:05,406
It's absolutely packed with clues
and interest.

346
00:22:05,446 --> 00:22:07,996
First of all, just the fact that
there are two women there at all

347
00:22:08,036 --> 00:22:11,461
is very unusual, as is the fact that
Constantine and Fausta

348
00:22:11,502 --> 00:22:14,370
are gazing adoringly at one another.

349
00:22:14,409 --> 00:22:16,799
Believe you me, this does not
often happen

350
00:22:16,839 --> 00:22:19,228
on official imperial portraits.

351
00:22:19,268 --> 00:22:21,660
Both the women are pointing
at Crispus,

352
00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:24,329
who's wearing a helmet and
carrying a sword,

353
00:22:24,369 --> 00:22:27,516
as if he's destined for
imperial greatness.

354
00:22:27,556 --> 00:22:31,418
And it does seem at this point that
he was being groomed for succession.

355
00:22:31,458 --> 00:22:35,682
So it looks as though Crispus is
indeed Constantine's favourite.

356
00:22:38,470 --> 00:22:42,851
But Constantine's desire for his
tight-knit family to help him rule

357
00:22:42,890 --> 00:22:44,485
would never be realised.

358
00:22:46,038 --> 00:22:47,831
I was dreaming of my son, Crispus.

359
00:22:50,181 --> 00:22:51,416
He should be here now.

360
00:22:52,650 --> 00:22:55,160
And everything I have built
should be his.

361
00:22:57,670 --> 00:23:00,577
You have done very well
this day, Crispus.

362
00:23:00,617 --> 00:23:02,649
This is as much your victory as it
is mine.

363
00:23:04,682 --> 00:23:05,796
So much death.

364
00:23:07,390 --> 00:23:08,863
I loved him,

365
00:23:08,902 --> 00:23:10,577
I nursed him,

366
00:23:10,616 --> 00:23:12,210
I schooled him,

367
00:23:12,250 --> 00:23:13,286
I trained him.

368
00:23:15,118 --> 00:23:17,268
Constantine's eldest son, Crispus,

369
00:23:17,308 --> 00:23:20,773
was born to his first wife,
Minervina.

370
00:23:20,813 --> 00:23:23,921
But we know that the Emperor chose
a woman better connected.
371
00:23:25,195 --> 00:23:26,948
In 307 AD,

372
00:23:26,989 --> 00:23:30,335
the Emperor had taken a
second wife, Fausta.

373
00:23:31,530 --> 00:23:34,636
I chose Fausta to replace
my first wife.

374
00:23:36,310 --> 00:23:38,221
I thought that was reward enough.

375
00:23:39,776 --> 00:23:43,399
I didn't agree to replace
my first boy.

376
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,746
Help me. Help me, Constantine.

377
00:23:46,785 --> 00:23:49,375
Help me! Guide me. Help me.

378
00:23:49,414 --> 00:23:51,367
What's wrong? What's happened?

379
00:23:52,761 --> 00:23:54,435
Crispus.

380
00:23:54,474 --> 00:23:56,786
He... He came to my room.

381
00:23:56,825 --> 00:23:57,860
I ran from him,

382
00:23:57,900 --> 00:23:59,136
I hid from him, but...

383
00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:03,000
..he caught me and he beat me.

384
00:24:04,393 --> 00:24:05,389
Crispus?
385
00:24:06,943 --> 00:24:08,058
He lay with me.

386
00:24:09,372 --> 00:24:11,843
When Constantine heard the alleged
crimes of Crispus

387
00:24:11,884 --> 00:24:13,754
against his stepmother, Fausta,

388
00:24:13,793 --> 00:24:17,459
he ordered the arrest, trial
and execution

389
00:24:17,499 --> 00:24:19,292
of his beloved son and heir.

390
00:24:23,076 --> 00:24:24,749
I was angry.

391
00:24:24,788 --> 00:24:26,063
I didn't hesitate.

392
00:24:27,218 --> 00:24:29,052
Why didn't I hesitate?

393
00:24:33,950 --> 00:24:34,947
HE WHISPERS:It is done.

394
00:24:50,163 --> 00:24:52,712
I have done many terrible things...

395
00:24:52,752 --> 00:24:54,784
..but none more terrible than that.

396
00:24:56,577 --> 00:24:57,612
My mother came to me...

397
00:24:58,807 --> 00:25:00,242
..day after day,

398
00:25:00,282 --> 00:25:01,635
night after night.

399
00:25:01,675 --> 00:25:06,853
She told me Fausta had accused
Crispus of forcing himself upon her

400
00:25:06,893 --> 00:25:10,837
so that I would get rid of Crispus
and replace him with her son.

401
00:25:12,591 --> 00:25:13,585
You see...

402
00:25:15,179 --> 00:25:16,454
..I am not great.

403
00:25:16,495 --> 00:25:18,048
SHE SCREAMS

404
00:25:18,087 --> 00:25:19,600
No, please!

405
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,632
SHE SCREAMS

406
00:25:23,545 --> 00:25:24,540
I'm a fool.

407
00:25:26,055 --> 00:25:27,288
A pawn to a woman.

408
00:25:29,202 --> 00:25:30,993
All fall short.

409
00:25:31,033 --> 00:25:34,459
Now, Constantine's anger turned
against the woman

410
00:25:34,500 --> 00:25:36,212
who'd apparently deceived him.

411
00:25:36,252 --> 00:25:38,443
SHE SCREAMS

412
00:25:44,537 --> 00:25:46,689
WATER SPLASHES

413
00:25:54,776 --> 00:25:55,891
Pray with me.

414
00:25:58,799 --> 00:26:00,710
Can I really be forgiven?

415
00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:04,336
You are Constantine.

416
00:26:05,770 --> 00:26:08,956
You are a great warrior and servant
of the one true God.

417
00:26:11,426 --> 00:26:12,781
Should I be forgiven?

418
00:26:27,559 --> 00:26:31,463
Now, we're told this story by the
Roman historian Zosimus,

419
00:26:31,503 --> 00:26:34,372
who was writing 200 years
after the event,

420
00:26:34,411 --> 00:26:36,760
but had access to earlier texts.

421
00:26:37,876 --> 00:26:39,508
Even at this distance

422
00:26:39,548 --> 00:26:42,696
it is horrifically chilling.

423
00:26:42,735 --> 00:26:47,677
It seems that Constantine had
annihilated all that he held dear,

424
00:26:47,716 --> 00:26:51,618
and tellingly, and really unusually
for an emperor,

425
00:26:51,658 --> 00:26:54,288
we know that he never married again.

426
00:26:58,431 --> 00:27:00,582
With the death of his wife and son,
427
00:27:00,623 --> 00:27:04,167
Constantine's plans for a dynasty
were over.

428
00:27:04,207 --> 00:27:06,637
Instead, he threw himself
into the project

429
00:27:06,677 --> 00:27:10,142
that would shape the dynamics of the
known world from here on in.

430
00:27:11,376 --> 00:27:14,604
His new city of Constantinople.

431
00:27:16,316 --> 00:27:18,587
It's now Istanbul in Turkey,

432
00:27:18,628 --> 00:27:21,575
where East meets West,
North meets South,

433
00:27:21,615 --> 00:27:22,889
and where Asia meets Europe.

434
00:27:24,443 --> 00:27:27,152
It's here the great trade
routes connect,

435
00:27:27,192 --> 00:27:29,741
leading to a wonderfully
cosmopolitan sharing

436
00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:32,570
of goods and ideas.

437
00:27:32,609 --> 00:27:36,992
In many ways this is what ancient
Constantinople would have been like,

438
00:27:37,031 --> 00:27:39,023
really buzzing with people.

439
00:27:39,063 --> 00:27:40,616
We know that in the markets there
440
00:27:40,655 --> 00:27:43,245
as many as 40 languages
were recorded,

441
00:27:43,284 --> 00:27:46,870
and they were selling everything
from silks and sesame seeds,

442
00:27:46,909 --> 00:27:50,137
to spices from the Far East,
so it is a little bit like

443
00:27:50,176 --> 00:27:52,089
travelling back in time,
coming here.

444
00:27:54,439 --> 00:27:57,584
Just four years after the death of
his wife and son,

445
00:27:57,624 --> 00:28:00,612
Constantine moved full-time to the
city that bore his name.

446
00:28:02,326 --> 00:28:04,994
He celebrated its role as the heart
of his empire

447
00:28:05,035 --> 00:28:07,743
with construction projects
that combined

448
00:28:07,783 --> 00:28:10,173
both pagan and Christian imagery,

449
00:28:10,212 --> 00:28:11,887
traces of which still survive.

450
00:28:14,276 --> 00:28:16,068
I'm really fond of this monument,

451
00:28:16,109 --> 00:28:18,500
even though it is a bit
beaten-up today,

452
00:28:18,539 --> 00:28:21,167
because it is just such a
dogged survivor

453
00:28:21,207 --> 00:28:23,200
through 1,700 years of history,

454
00:28:23,239 --> 00:28:26,944
and, boy, it must have been
impressive in its heyday.

455
00:28:26,984 --> 00:28:31,924
So, originally that purple column
rose over 50 metres high,

456
00:28:31,964 --> 00:28:34,711
and it was topped with an image
of Constantine

457
00:28:34,752 --> 00:28:37,580
as the great sun god Apollo,

458
00:28:37,620 --> 00:28:39,851
complete with golden crown.

459
00:28:41,045 --> 00:28:43,078
Now, it's really interesting,
all of this,

460
00:28:43,118 --> 00:28:45,148
because as well as all the
pagan imagery

461
00:28:45,189 --> 00:28:46,980
there was loads of Christian stuff.

462
00:28:47,020 --> 00:28:50,326
So, in the crown were set the nails

463
00:28:50,366 --> 00:28:52,557
that nailed Christ to the cross,

464
00:28:52,597 --> 00:28:54,190
and if that weren't enough,

465
00:28:54,230 --> 00:28:57,736
we're told that buried underneath
there was the very axe

466
00:28:57,777 --> 00:29:00,524
that Noah used to build the ark,

467
00:29:00,564 --> 00:29:06,062
as well as the breadbaskets that
Christ used to feed the 5,000.

468
00:29:06,102 --> 00:29:08,132
So it's all kinds of power,

469
00:29:08,173 --> 00:29:11,639
Christian and pagan, eastern
and western,

470
00:29:11,679 --> 00:29:14,426
Greek and Roman, jumbled
up together.

471
00:29:16,817 --> 00:29:20,003
And now it's become the city's
favourite hang-out for pigeons.

472
00:29:25,939 --> 00:29:29,723
Constantinople came to boast the
very best of Rome.

473
00:29:29,763 --> 00:29:33,149
So, where I'm walking now was
originally a chariot racing track

474
00:29:33,189 --> 00:29:36,456
to rival the Circus Maximus
back in Rome.

475
00:29:36,495 --> 00:29:40,319
There was a senate packed with
senators in togas,

476
00:29:40,359 --> 00:29:43,466
imperial palace, and Roman movers
and shakers,

477
00:29:43,506 --> 00:29:46,254
including the nouveau riche and
young bloods,

478
00:29:46,294 --> 00:29:51,034
were enticed to move here with the
promise of villas and free food.

479
00:29:51,073 --> 00:29:56,929
In fact, this place would come to be
called the second or new Rome.

480
00:29:58,444 --> 00:30:00,715
Hidden beneath the modern city of
Istanbul,

481
00:30:00,755 --> 00:30:02,508
on the banks of the Bosporus,

482
00:30:02,547 --> 00:30:05,175
secrets of the new Rome's
transformation

483
00:30:05,216 --> 00:30:09,079
following Constantine's rule,
are still being revealed.

484
00:30:10,236 --> 00:30:14,777
And under a local restaurant
is a site only recently discovered,

485
00:30:14,817 --> 00:30:17,484
which would become the beating heart

486
00:30:17,524 --> 00:30:20,751
of Constantinople's imperial
command.

487
00:30:20,791 --> 00:30:24,257
Istanbul is built up like a kind of
historical layer cake,

488
00:30:24,298 --> 00:30:27,882
so there's still a lot of the Roman
city left buried underground,

489
00:30:27,921 --> 00:30:30,591
and it is an enormous treat
to be here.
490
00:30:30,630 --> 00:30:32,741
I've never managed to get
down here before.

491
00:30:32,782 --> 00:30:37,163
We know that Constantine the Great
built a beautiful imperial palace

492
00:30:37,203 --> 00:30:38,678
that he called the Sacred Palace,

493
00:30:38,717 --> 00:30:40,789
and it's where the emperors lived
for centuries,

494
00:30:40,829 --> 00:30:43,856
and this is what's left of it.

495
00:30:43,896 --> 00:30:46,006
We think that where I'm standing
right now

496
00:30:46,046 --> 00:30:49,233
was the audience chamber, where the
great and the good

497
00:30:49,273 --> 00:30:52,898
from across the Empire would come to
pay their respects

498
00:30:52,939 --> 00:30:54,212
to the new Rome.

499
00:30:56,085 --> 00:30:59,431
Emboldened by the burgeoning numbers
of Christian subjects,

500
00:30:59,472 --> 00:31:03,215
Constantine became increasingly
confident in his choice of faith.

501
00:31:04,451 --> 00:31:08,474
Constantine moved Christianity to
the centre of Roman life.

502
00:31:09,548 --> 00:31:13,971
In Rome, churches were typically
built on the fringes of the city,

503
00:31:14,011 --> 00:31:18,432
but in Constantinople they were
right in its heart.

504
00:31:18,472 --> 00:31:19,907
Churches like this,

505
00:31:19,946 --> 00:31:23,650
the Church of Hagia Eirene,
the Church of Holy Peace,

506
00:31:23,690 --> 00:31:28,232
were set up slap bang on the top of
pagan temples and sanctuaries.

507
00:31:29,346 --> 00:31:33,849
Constantine wasn't just establishing
the capital of an empire,

508
00:31:33,888 --> 00:31:37,035
he was setting up the
earthly headquarters

509
00:31:37,075 --> 00:31:38,429
of the kingdom of God.

510
00:31:42,373 --> 00:31:44,843
The message disseminated
from this city

511
00:31:44,883 --> 00:31:46,276
would become the legacy

512
00:31:46,317 --> 00:31:49,383
of one of the greatest emperors in
Roman history.

513
00:31:58,985 --> 00:32:00,538
Everyone else, out.

514
00:32:02,131 --> 00:32:05,159
The commitment Constantine made on
his deathbed
515
00:32:05,199 --> 00:32:08,783
was an act that would catalyse the
rebirth of the Roman Empire.

516
00:32:09,899 --> 00:32:10,935
I'm running out of time.

517
00:32:11,931 --> 00:32:12,926
I can feel it.

518
00:32:16,152 --> 00:32:19,618
Constantine rose from his deathbed
on the outskirts of Nicomedia

519
00:32:19,658 --> 00:32:21,171
to be baptised.

520
00:32:22,207 --> 00:32:26,589
This final act would send a message
to all citizens of Rome.

521
00:32:26,629 --> 00:32:30,334
Constantine, who'd given the Empire
a new capital,

522
00:32:30,373 --> 00:32:32,206
now gave it a new kind of life.

523
00:32:33,481 --> 00:32:35,472
In the words of Eusebius,

524
00:32:35,512 --> 00:32:39,735
Constantine was gifted with the
divine seal of baptism.

525
00:32:44,116 --> 00:32:45,312
The time has come...

526
00:32:46,468 --> 00:32:48,259
..for me to have the blessing
of the seal...

527
00:32:49,375 --> 00:32:50,889
..which confers immortality.
528
00:32:52,124 --> 00:32:53,796
I shall from this time...

529
00:32:55,230 --> 00:32:56,226
..prescribe...

530
00:32:57,501 --> 00:32:58,616
..to myself...

531
00:32:58,656 --> 00:33:00,568
Prescribe to myself such a
course of life...

532
00:33:01,804 --> 00:33:03,159
..as befits his service.

533
00:33:07,618 --> 00:33:11,045
After baptism, you're purified
of your sins,

534
00:33:11,085 --> 00:33:13,036
but just as importantly,

535
00:33:13,076 --> 00:33:15,109
you've committed not to sin again.

536
00:33:16,383 --> 00:33:19,688
Many early Christians left this act
until the very end of their lives.

537
00:33:20,844 --> 00:33:25,505
Constantine, who'd done so much that
his religion could regard as sinful,

538
00:33:25,544 --> 00:33:28,094
was washed of his sins,

539
00:33:28,134 --> 00:33:29,250
just in time.

540
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,747
I don't think that Constantine's
Christianity was cynical.

541
00:33:35,782 --> 00:33:38,133
This was the religion, after all,
that told you

542
00:33:38,172 --> 00:33:40,642
that the meek would inherit
the Earth,

543
00:33:40,682 --> 00:33:44,705
and here we have the illegitimate
son of a barmaid,

544
00:33:44,746 --> 00:33:49,088
who had ended up ruling over a
million square miles.

545
00:33:50,243 --> 00:33:52,513
Is it wrong to be proud of
one's achievements?

546
00:33:53,787 --> 00:33:56,218
I am proud of the magnificent
churches I've built.

547
00:33:57,452 --> 00:33:59,922
I've built a new Rome in
Constantinople.

548
00:34:01,437 --> 00:34:03,507
I know now

549
00:34:03,547 --> 00:34:05,379
that I am in the true
sense blessed.

550
00:34:06,614 --> 00:34:08,607
That now I have been shown worthy

551
00:34:08,646 --> 00:34:10,400
of immortal life.

552
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:11,434
That now...

553
00:34:12,589 --> 00:34:14,581
..I receive divine light.

554
00:34:16,334 --> 00:34:18,286
Constantine has lived very well.

555
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,788
Salvation is yours, Emperor.

556
00:34:28,164 --> 00:34:32,149
Constantine died hours
after his baptism,

557
00:34:32,188 --> 00:34:34,817
sealing his greatest legacy.

558
00:34:34,858 --> 00:34:37,326
Inspired by Constantine's example,

559
00:34:37,366 --> 00:34:42,665
at his death an estimated 40% of
the population were Christian,

560
00:34:42,705 --> 00:34:44,498
and all but one of his successors

561
00:34:44,538 --> 00:34:47,247
were baptised in the faith.

562
00:34:47,286 --> 00:34:49,159
By 380 AD,

563
00:34:49,198 --> 00:34:50,632
Christianity was declared

564
00:34:50,672 --> 00:34:53,460
the official religion of the
Roman Empire,

565
00:34:53,501 --> 00:34:56,009
an empire that would endure

566
00:34:56,049 --> 00:34:57,961
for another thousand years.

567
00:35:07,083 --> 00:35:10,708
200 years after the death of the
first Christian emperor of Rome,
568
00:35:10,748 --> 00:35:14,293
this great church was built in
Constantinople,

569
00:35:14,334 --> 00:35:15,768
the Hagia Sophia.

570
00:35:17,002 --> 00:35:18,954
Contained within its precinct

571
00:35:18,994 --> 00:35:21,942
is compelling new evidence
of just how deeply

572
00:35:21,982 --> 00:35:24,053
Constantine's project was embedded

573
00:35:24,094 --> 00:35:26,084
in the very foundations of the city.

574
00:35:35,764 --> 00:35:38,832
The Hagia Sophia was the wonder
of Empire,

575
00:35:38,872 --> 00:35:41,580
and for a thousand years this place

576
00:35:41,620 --> 00:35:44,647
was the largest religious building
in the world.

577
00:35:44,687 --> 00:35:46,480
And I have to say that, for me,

578
00:35:46,519 --> 00:35:50,025
I still think it is just one of the
most beautiful places on Earth.

579
00:35:54,089 --> 00:35:56,916
But incredibly impressive as all of
this is,

580
00:35:56,956 --> 00:35:58,191
there's something else.

581
00:36:02,096 --> 00:36:04,525
Now, the literary sources had
always told us

582
00:36:04,565 --> 00:36:07,194
that Constantine had built the first
church here,

583
00:36:07,235 --> 00:36:10,380
but there just didn't seem to be any
evidence whatsoever for that.

584
00:36:10,420 --> 00:36:12,731
But we now realise that actually,

585
00:36:12,771 --> 00:36:16,158
it's been sitting here quietly
all along.

586
00:36:16,197 --> 00:36:19,185
Have a look at that little layer of
brick just down there.

587
00:36:19,225 --> 00:36:22,451
Scholars from Reading University
have just been studying it,

588
00:36:22,491 --> 00:36:25,240
and it turns out that it almost
certainly dates

589
00:36:25,279 --> 00:36:27,350
from the fourth century AD,

590
00:36:27,389 --> 00:36:29,342
exactly when the literary sources

591
00:36:29,383 --> 00:36:32,529
say Constantine's first church was
built on this site.

592
00:36:34,003 --> 00:36:36,074
It's just a tiny little thing,

593
00:36:36,114 --> 00:36:38,982
but it incarnates a vital idea.
594
00:36:39,022 --> 00:36:42,328
Rome is now building churches here
in Constantinople,

595
00:36:42,368 --> 00:36:44,799
and right across the Empire.

596
00:36:44,838 --> 00:36:47,188
So the Romans are now
telling people

597
00:36:47,228 --> 00:36:49,737
not just how to live,

598
00:36:49,777 --> 00:36:51,331
but how to believe.

599
00:36:55,992 --> 00:36:58,860
Christ's message had the
might of Rome

600
00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:01,488
to disseminate it across
the known world.

601
00:37:03,321 --> 00:37:06,509
Here at the Chora Museum are
stunning illustrations

602
00:37:06,548 --> 00:37:08,699
depicting the kind of teachings

603
00:37:08,739 --> 00:37:11,249
that had the potential to
transform the lives

604
00:37:11,289 --> 00:37:12,882
of the ordinary man or woman.

605
00:37:16,306 --> 00:37:20,411
What you're looking at there is an
image of Christ healing a leper.

606
00:37:20,451 --> 00:37:23,717
Now, Christ's face has been
very damaged,
607
00:37:23,757 --> 00:37:27,699
but you can see the horrible sores
on that poor man's body.

608
00:37:28,775 --> 00:37:29,772
I can promise you

609
00:37:29,812 --> 00:37:31,563
that you would never have seen

610
00:37:31,603 --> 00:37:34,392
the weak and the needy immortalised
like this

611
00:37:34,433 --> 00:37:36,144
in an ancient Roman temple.

612
00:37:37,739 --> 00:37:41,404
But here, Christ's message really
seemed to make sense.

613
00:37:42,678 --> 00:37:46,662
Today, we are all brought up with
ideas like love thy neighbour,

614
00:37:46,702 --> 00:37:49,490
but to a Roman audience,
raised on stories

615
00:37:49,530 --> 00:37:51,561
celebrating their own
exceptionalism

616
00:37:51,601 --> 00:37:53,950
and often pitiless power,

617
00:37:53,991 --> 00:37:55,585
they were truly revolutionary.

618
00:37:57,695 --> 00:38:00,962
Constantinople was peppered
with orphanages

619
00:38:01,002 --> 00:38:04,906
and asylums for refugees and
shelters for the homeless.

620
00:38:04,946 --> 00:38:07,296
Some of the first hospitals
were here,

621
00:38:07,335 --> 00:38:10,761
specialising in leprosy or
infectious diseases,

622
00:38:10,801 --> 00:38:12,952
and there were even maternity wards.

623
00:38:13,988 --> 00:38:17,932
All this was such a far cry from the
old Rome,

624
00:38:17,972 --> 00:38:21,915
where those at the bottom of the
pile were regarded with a disdain

625
00:38:21,956 --> 00:38:23,986
that verged on disgust.

626
00:38:28,607 --> 00:38:31,157
The Romans had told people
how to behave,

627
00:38:31,197 --> 00:38:33,746
how to fight and to fear,

628
00:38:33,785 --> 00:38:38,487
and now from this city, they told
them how to pray.

629
00:38:38,527 --> 00:38:42,789
For me, this place is the ultimate
expression of Rome.

630
00:38:42,829 --> 00:38:46,454
A civilisation that had conquered
men's bodies,

631
00:38:46,493 --> 00:38:49,002
but that now colonised their souls.

632
00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:53,824
In the years following that
critical day

633
00:38:53,864 --> 00:38:56,412
of Constantine's baptism and death,

634
00:38:56,453 --> 00:38:59,957
the city of Constantinople
flourished.

635
00:38:59,997 --> 00:39:03,303
But Rome, the old capital he'd
left behind,

636
00:39:03,343 --> 00:39:04,937
and the Empire in the West,

637
00:39:04,976 --> 00:39:06,371
continued to decline.

638
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,584
Shorn of Constantine's energy and
ability on the imperial throne,

639
00:39:12,624 --> 00:39:14,895
the Empire soon fragmented,

640
00:39:14,935 --> 00:39:17,603
split once more between
East and West,

641
00:39:17,643 --> 00:39:19,556
each half with its own emperor.

642
00:39:20,631 --> 00:39:25,012
Divided, each part was vulnerable to
civil war and invasion,

643
00:39:25,052 --> 00:39:27,403
and in the fifth century,
barbarian tribes

644
00:39:27,444 --> 00:39:29,435
swarmed across the Western Empire.

645
00:39:31,188 --> 00:39:34,335
Rome itself was sacked by the Goths
in 410 AD,

646
00:39:34,375 --> 00:39:36,725
by the Vandals in 455

647
00:39:36,764 --> 00:39:39,353
and finally fell in 476.

648
00:39:41,743 --> 00:39:44,293
"The city that had taken a
whole world

649
00:39:44,333 --> 00:39:46,484
"had now herself been taken",

650
00:39:46,523 --> 00:39:48,476
one contemporary said.

651
00:39:48,517 --> 00:39:51,424
Rome, for the first time
in 800 years,

652
00:39:51,463 --> 00:39:54,172
had fallen to a foreign army.

653
00:39:54,212 --> 00:39:58,554
But even though some authors wrote
that this was the end of the world,

654
00:39:58,593 --> 00:40:00,068
it wasn't.

655
00:40:00,108 --> 00:40:02,180
It wasn't even the end of
the Roman Empire.

656
00:40:05,246 --> 00:40:08,114
Constantinople, the new Rome
in the east,

657
00:40:08,154 --> 00:40:14,249
is the perfect manifestation of
Rome's ability to adapt and thrive.

658
00:40:14,289 --> 00:40:17,436
It gave the Empire a new
lease of life,

659
00:40:17,475 --> 00:40:21,459
allowing it to have a lasting
influence on all of us.

660
00:40:21,498 --> 00:40:23,451
Rome's codes of law and order,

661
00:40:23,491 --> 00:40:28,471
the genius of its technology and art
and architecture, survived here

662
00:40:28,511 --> 00:40:33,090
to inspire the Renaissance and
helped to shape the modern world.

663
00:40:33,130 --> 00:40:35,800
It is a remarkable legacy.

664
00:40:37,593 --> 00:40:39,823
The surviving Eastern Empire,

665
00:40:39,862 --> 00:40:43,128
called the Byzantine Empire
by later historians,

666
00:40:43,169 --> 00:40:45,639
still held out in the eastern
Mediterranean.

667
00:40:46,874 --> 00:40:49,741
The Eastern Empire did experience a
brilliant revival

668
00:40:49,781 --> 00:40:51,256
in the sixth century,

669
00:40:51,296 --> 00:40:54,323
even recapturing some of the lands
in the old West,

670
00:40:54,363 --> 00:40:56,593
including, briefly, Rome itself.
671
00:40:57,789 --> 00:41:00,218
But it couldn't last,

672
00:41:00,258 --> 00:41:01,731
and in the seventh century,

673
00:41:01,771 --> 00:41:06,034
this great Christian Empire was
rocked by a new threat -

674
00:41:06,074 --> 00:41:10,376
the Arab conquests, inspired by a
new religion, Islam.

675
00:41:12,328 --> 00:41:18,105
The last vestiges of the Eastern
Roman Empire finally fell in 1453,

676
00:41:18,144 --> 00:41:24,516
when Constantinople itself, for so
many years considered impregnable,

677
00:41:24,556 --> 00:41:26,948
was taken by the Ottoman Turks.

678
00:41:28,541 --> 00:41:32,406
The last people to call
themselves Romans

679
00:41:32,445 --> 00:41:34,157
were now without an empire.

680
00:41:36,428 --> 00:41:39,216
But even with the fall of
Constantinople,

681
00:41:39,256 --> 00:41:43,120
the ideas that Constantine embraced
and brought to the Roman Empire

682
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:44,635
didn't fall with it.

683
00:41:45,829 --> 00:41:49,493
Social reforms inspired by a
revolutionary new religious message
684
00:41:49,534 --> 00:41:51,685
are still part of our
experience today.

685
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:57,700
So, Constantine's baptism, on a day
in 337 AD,

686
00:41:57,740 --> 00:42:00,288
did not just help to change the
history of Rome...

687
00:42:01,643 --> 00:42:03,636
..it helped to change the world.

688
00:42:07,061 --> 00:42:11,483
For me, the story of Rome is above
all a story about power

689
00:42:11,523 --> 00:42:13,395
and how we choose to use it.

690
00:42:14,867 --> 00:42:16,580
Rome began as a republic,

691
00:42:16,620 --> 00:42:20,883
dedicated to the safety and
prosperity of its inhabitants,

692
00:42:20,923 --> 00:42:22,476
only to become a parable

693
00:42:22,517 --> 00:42:24,908
of the dangers of corruption
and dictatorship.

694
00:42:26,620 --> 00:42:29,049
There are warnings here for us,

695
00:42:29,089 --> 00:42:31,997
but also inspiration and wonder

696
00:42:32,037 --> 00:42:36,260
at the sheer audacity and
magnificence that was Rome.
697
00:42:38,491 --> 00:42:41,518
I've been investigating eight days
that made Rome.

698
00:42:43,390 --> 00:42:47,733
Eight days packed with ideas
and experiences...

699
00:42:47,773 --> 00:42:50,601
..with high drama and chance events,

700
00:42:50,641 --> 00:42:55,301
with struggles both great and
small...

701
00:42:55,340 --> 00:42:58,967
..days whose consequences
still play out

702
00:42:59,006 --> 00:43:01,475
in all of our lives today.

703
00:43:24,420 --> 00:43:27,209
Subtitles by Red Bee Media