1

Epitome historiarum (lib. 1318) 1 In this way, then, as has been said, the great Constantine became successor to his father's empire, he who is renowned among emperors and most notable among the orthodox. He was born to his father by the blessed Helen, concerning whom historians disagree, and the facts concerning her are not agreed upon among them. For some say that she was lawfully wedded to Constantius, but was sent away when Maximian Herculius, as has been said before, betrothed his own child Theodora to him and appointed him Caesar; while others have recorded that she was not the lawful wife of Constantius, but a byproduct of erotic desires, and that from him she conceived this Constantine. 2 And having succeeded to his father's empire, he ruled Britain and the Alps and in addition to these the Gauls, still adhering to the religion of the Greeks and opposing the Christians, being incited by his wife Fausta to zeal for the worship of idols. Fausta was the daughter of Maximian; for he and his father had married two sisters. There being three emperors, Constantine himself and Licinius and Maxentius, who ruled in Rome and in Italy, this Maxentius conducted himself not as an emperor, but manifestly as a tyrant, inflicting very many terrible and strange things on those tyrannized by him, as has already been recorded by me. Unable to bear these things, the people in Rome sent to Constantine, begging him to deliver them from the tyranny of Maxentius. Thereupon he rose up for his overthrow and marched and proceeded toward Rome; but Maxentius for a long time sat within the walls, not sallying forth against those besieging him, 3 so that even jests were made against him by some. But at last he drew up his forces in opposition, using sorceries and divining through the dissection of infants and doing other lawless things, which instilled fear in Constantine. And so, as he was in distress because of these things, a figure of a cross appeared to him in the sky at midday made of a star, and an inscription around the cross in Roman letters, also formed by stars, saying "in this, conquer." Therefore, having immediately fashioned a cross of gold according to the figure that had appeared to him and having ordered this to go before his army, he engaged with the forces of Maxentius and prevailed, so that most of those fighting under him were slain, and the rest looked to flight. With them Maxentius himself also fled, and being on the bridge of the Tiber called the Mulvian, he slipped with his horse into the river and perished. And so he was destroyed in this manner; and the Romans, having been delivered from his tyranny, opened the gates of 4 Rome and received Constantine splendidly, and they praised and revered him as the liberator of the city, and they voted in common to erect a statue to him in the forum of Rome. But he ordered that his statue be fashioned holding the sign of the cross; and he issued decrees that those who worship Christ as God should not be punished on account of their religion. And so, with Italy and Rome itself having been added to his empire, both he and Licinius his brother-in-law were left as emperors. For Licinius killed both the son and the daughter of Maximinus, and for the rest, each of these men regarded the other with suspicion; for each supposed that with the other gone, he alone would be monarch, there being no one to dispute the rule. Some, then, say that Licinius thus became master of Galerius' portion, having been taken on as a partner by him, as has been said; but others say that since Constantine's sister was married to him by Constantine, the soldiers, to gratify Constantine, proclaimed him Caesar, and that he was sent by him to fight against Maximinus, and having conquered and routed him

1

Epitome historiarum (lib. 1318) 1 Οὕτω μὲν οὖν, ὡς εἴρηται, τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς βασιλείας ὁ μέγας Κωνσταντῖνος διάδοχος γέγονεν, ὁ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἀοίδιμος καὶ ἐν ὀρθοδόξοις ἐπισημότατος. ὃς ἐκ τῆς μακαρίας Ἐλένης γεγέννητο τῷ πατρί, περὶ ἧς διαφωνοῦσιν οἱ συγγραφεῖς καὶ παρ' αὐτοῖς τὰ περὶ ταύτης οὐχ ὡμολόγηται. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τῷ Κώνσταντι νόμῳ γάμου φασὶν αὐτὴν συνοικεῖν, ἀποπεμφθῆναι δέ, τοῦ Μαξιμιανοῦ Ἑρκουλίου, ὡς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται, τὴν οἰκείαν παῖδα τὴν Θεοδώραν τούτῳ κατεγγυήσαντος καὶ ἀναδείξαντος Καίσαρα· οἱ δὲ οὐ γαμετὴν αὐτὴν γενέσθαι νόμιμον τοῦ Κώνσταντος ἱστόρησαν, ἀλλὰ πάρεργον ἐρωτικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦτον δὴ συλλαβέσθαι τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον. 2 ∆ιαδεξάμενος δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν πατρικὴν ἦρχε τῆς Βρεττανίας τε καὶ τῶν Ἄλπεων καὶ ἐπὶ ταύταις τῶν Γαλλιῶν, ἔτι τῇ τῶν Ἑλλήνων θρησκείᾳ προσκείμενος καὶ τοῖς χριστιανοῖς ἀντικείμενος, παρὰ Φαύστας τῆς γαμετῆς εἰς ζῆλον τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων τιμῆς ἐκκαλούμενος. θυγάτηρ δ' ἦν ἡ Φαῦστα τοῦ Μαξιμιανοῦ· αὐτὸς γὰρ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἀδελφαῖς συνῴκουν δυσί. Τριῶν δ' ὄντων τῶν βασιλέων, αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντίνου καὶ Λικιννίου καὶ Μαξεντίου, ὃς ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰταλίᾳἐκράτει, ὁ Μαξέντιος οὗτος οὐχ ὡς βασιλεύς, ἀλλ' ὡς τύραννος ἄντικρυς διῆγε, πλεῖστα δεινὰ καὶ ἄτοπα τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τυραννουμένοις ἐπάγων, ὡς ἤδη μοι ἀναγέγραπται. ἃ μὴ φέροντες οἱ ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ διαπέμπονται πρὸς τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον, ἀπαλλάξαι σφᾶς τῆς τυραννίδος τοῦ Μαξεντίου δεόμενοι. ἐντεῦθεν πρὸς καθαίρεσιν αὐτοῦ διανίσταται καὶ στρατεύει καὶ πρὸς τὴν Ῥώμην χωρεῖ· ὁ δέ γε Μαξέντιος ἐπὶ πολὺ μὲν ἐντὸς καθῆστο τειχῶν, μὴ ἀντεπεξιὼν τοῖς πολιορκοῦσιν αὐτόν, 3 ὥστε καὶ σκώμματα κατ' αὐτοῦ πεποιῆσθαι ὑπό τινων. ὀψὲ δέ ποτε ἀντιπαρετάξατο, γοητείαις κεχρημένος καὶ δι' ἀνατομῆς βρεφῶν μαντευόμενος καὶ ἄλλα πράττων ἀθέμιτα, ἃ δέος ἐνεποίει τῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ. ἀγωνιῶντι γοῦν διὰ ταῦτα τύπος αὐτῷ σταυρικὸς μεσούσης ἡμέρας δι' ἀστέρος ἐφάνη κατ' οὐρανὸν καὶ γραφὴ περὶ τὸν σταυρὸν Ῥωμαϊκοῖς στοιχείοις, δι' ἀστέρων καὶ αὐτοῖς τυπουμένοις καὶ φράζουσιν "ἐν τούτῳ νίκα." ἐκ χρυσοῦ τοίνυν αὐτίκα σχεδιάσας σταυρὸν κατὰ τὸν φανέντα τύπον αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦτον κελεύσας τῆς στρατιᾶς αὐτοῦ προπορεύεσθαι, τοῖς τοῦ Μαξεντίου συρρήγνυται καὶ ὑπερτερεῖ, ὡς τοὺς πλείους τῶν ὑπ' ἐκείνῳ στρατευομένων ἀναιρεθῆναι, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς εἰς φυγὴν ἀπιδεῖν. οἷς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Μαξέντιος συναποδιδράσκων καὶ ἐν τῇ γεφύρᾳ γενόμενος τοῦ Τιβέριδος τῇ καλουμένῃ Βουλβίᾳ, σὺν τῷ ἵππῳ κατὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐξωλίσθησε καὶ ἀπώλετο. καὶ ὁ μὲν οὕτω διέφθαρτο· οἱ δέ γε Ῥωμαῖοι τῆς ἐκείνου τυραννίδος ἀπαλλαγέντες τὰς πύλας τῆς 4 Ῥώμης ἀναπετάσαντες εἰσεδέξαντο τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον λαμπρῶς καὶ ὡς ἐλευθερωτὴν αὐτὸν τῆς πόλεως εὐφήμουν καὶ ἀπεσέμνυνον, καὶ στήλην αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ τῆς Ῥώμης ἀγορᾷ στῆσαι κοινῶς ἐψηφίσαντο. ὁ δὲ τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημεῖον ἐγκεχειρισμένην τὴν στήλην αὐτοῦ πλασθήσεσθαι διετάξατο· καὶ δόγματα δὲ μὴ κολάζεσθαι διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν τοὺς τὸν Χριστὸν σεβομένους ὡς θεὸν ἐκπεφώνηκεν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ τῆς Ῥώμης αὐτῆς προστεθείσης τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ, αὐτός τε καὶ Λικίννιος ὁ ἐπ' ἀδελφῇ γαμβρὸς αὐτοῦ κατελείφθησαν βασιλεῖς. ὁ γὰρ Λικίννιος τόν τε τοῦ Μαξιμίνου υἱὸν καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα ἀπέκτεινε καὶ λοιπὸν ἑκάτερος τούτων τὸν ἕτερον ὑπεβλέπετο· ᾤετο γὰρ ἕκαστος τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐπιλείποντος αὐτὸς μόνος ἔσεσθαι μόναρχος, μὴ ὄντος τοῦ ἀμφισβητήσοντος περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς. Οἱ μὲν οὖν οὕτω τὸν Λικίννιόν φασιν ἐγκρατῆ γενέσθαι τῆς Γαλλερίου μερίδος, κοινωνὸν παρ' ἐκείνου προσληφθέντα, ὡς εἴρηται· οἱ δὲ τῆς τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου ἀδελφῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ συζυγείσης αὐτῷ, λέγουσι τοὺς στρατιώτας τῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ χαριζομένους Καίσαρα αὐτὸν ἀνειπεῖν, καὶ παρ' ἐκείνου σταλῆναι αὐτὸν τῷ Μαξιμίνῳ ἀντιπαραταξόμενον, νενικηκότι δ' ἐκεῖνον καὶ κατατροπωσαμένῳ