The Emperor Constantine Converts to Christianity Beginning with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

10/28/312 CE to 315 CE

Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, as painted by Giulio Romano 1520-1524.

Center portion, with both left and right ends of the painting cropped, showing Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, as painted by Giulio Romano
1520-1524. Vatican City, Apostolic Palace. The angels above Constantine dramatize what Constantine might have imagined during his conversion to Christianity. The crosses being carried by troops in the background were anachronistic since Constantine had not converted before the battle began.

According to chroniclers such as Eusebius, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on October 28, 312 marked the beginning of Contantine's conversion to Christianity. Eusebius recounted that Constantine and his soldiers had a vision that God promised victory if they daubed the labarum (the chi-rho symbol) on their standards. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The Arch of Constantine, erected in Rome in 315 in celebration of the victory, attributed Constantine's success to divine intervention, but whether it was specifically at the hands of the Christian God was left ambiguous in an effort to please both pagan and Christian readers.

Timeline Themes

Social / Political

Religious Texts / Religion

Military / Warfare / Cyberwarfare