CERCADO, GERAN KEARN L.

RE 114 7:30 – 9:30AM

BSA-2

Constantine's accession was a major turning point in early Christianity. Following his
triumph, Constantine assumed the position of patron saint of Christianity. He provided
financial help to the Church, had many basilicas constructed, granted clergy privileges
(such as exemption from certain taxes), promoted Christians to high-ranking positions,
returned property confiscated during Diocletian's Great Persecution, and endowed the
church with land and other wealth. Constantine founded a new settlement, New Rome,
at Byzantium on the Bosporos between 324 and 330, which he called Constantinople.
Unlike "old" Rome, the city started to use overtly Christian architecture, had churches
within its walls, and no pre-existing temples from other religions.
Constantine, on the other hand, made those who had not converted to Christianity pay
for the new city. According to Christian chroniclers, Constantine felt compelled to "teach
his people to give up their rituals... and to accustom them to hate their temples and the
images found within." This resulted in temples becoming closed due to a lack of
patronage, with the riches flowing to the imperial treasure; Constantine did not need to
use force to accomplish this. Temples "were annihilated" centuries later, according to
the chronicler Theophanes, but this was deemed "untrue" by contemporary historians.