October 27 312 CE – Constantine the Great Sees His Vision of the Cross

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*Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Resting with his army near Milvian Bridge in Rome, Constantine the Great fell asleep wondering what the morning would bring on October 27, 312. Facing combat the following day against Maxentius, his brother-in-law and a fellow claimant to the throne of the republic, Constantine reported seeing a vision of the cross in a dream. When he managed to attain victory the next morning, the future unifier of the Roman Empire endorsed Christianity — the faith of his mother — as something more than a cult worthy of persecution, soon granting an early form of religious freedom to the populace as a whole. When the two opposing forces gathered near the Ponte Milvio late that October, the conflict promised to be yet another in a string of fights to see who would control the Roman Empire. After Diocletian stepped down in 305, the Tetrarchy he had created — a four-person group responsible for for ruling separate pieces of Rome’s vast territories — crumbled in the vacuum. Both Maxentius and Constantine were to ascend to the role of Caesar, with the eastern tetrarch Galerius and Constantine’s father Constantius elevated to senior positions as Augusti, but a power grab resulted. The Romans favored Maxentius, while Galerius at first backed Constantine before attempting to capture the capital for himself. By early 312, Constantine resolved to take the fight to Maxentius, crushing resistance in Turin and Verona as the spring fighting season began. Gathered on the northern edge of Rome, the enemies — related via Constantine’s marriage to Maxentius’ sister Fausta — would decide things once and for all. On the night of October 27, 312, Constantine attempted to get some rest before the battle the next morning. Summoned in a dream to “delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers,” he awakened believing the Christian God would grant him victory over Maxentius, according to the account of Lactantius, Constantine’s advisor. Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea, wrote something slightly different: leading his army towards Rome, Constantine witnessed a cross of light above the sun accompanied by the phrase “In this sign, you conquer.” In either case, he managed to defeat Maxentius’ army on the 28th and march triumphantly through Rome the following day. Believing himself a conquering hero, Constantine headed to the Senate and promised reforms, his first act in what would become a campaign to unite the Roman Empire under his reign. Though he would issue the Edict of Milan with co-ruler Licinius in 313, effectively giving citizens the ability to practice whichever system of religious beliefs they chose, he would eventually conquer his fellow leader in 324. Though rightfully claimed as the first Roman ruler to accept Christianity, scholars debate the extent to which Constantine engaged the religion. Shortly before his death in 337, he received baptism, but there are minimal records discussing how the belief affected him personally. To this day, however, he is celebrated as a saint and the first Christian king by the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Also On This Day: 710 – The Saracens invade Sardinia 1275 – Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is founded 1553 – Michaell Servetus, discoverer of pulmonary circulation and scientific phenomena, is burned at the stake for heresy 1858 – R.H. Macy opens his first store, located on Sixth Avenue in New York, making just over $1,100 in sales 1904 – The New York City Subway opens its first underground line