The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, 312 AD

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge was fought on 27^th October 312 AD. Although the result of the battle was significant in itself, it was what the victor thought he had seen prior to that battle that was to have to profound consequences for the future of Europe.

The Roman Empire was in turmoil, for neither the first nor the last time, as a plethora of claimants fought for the title of Emperor. The situation eventually boiled down to two brothers-in-law fighting for domination, namely Constantine and Maxentius. After winning a series of battles, Constantine had made his way nearly to Rome with some 50,000 men as against the 70,000 with which Maxentius was defending the city.

On the day preceding the battle, Constantine believed that he saw a flaming cross in the sky, close to the Sun, inscribed with the words “By this sign you shall conquer”.  Constantine was a devotee of Sol Invictus, the sun god, and he took this as evidence that the god of the Christians was endorsed by Sol Invictus. He therefore decreed that his troops should paint the “chi rho” sign on their shields (this being shorthand for “Christ”) and stated that, should he win, he would convert to Christianity.

During the battle on 27^th October, Maxentius tried to lure Constantine’s forces on to a bridge of boats that was designed to collapse under their weight. However, the plan failed and it was Maxentius, together with many of his troops, who ended up drowned in the River Tiber.

Constantine kept to his promise and declared that Christianity would henceforth be tolerated in the Roman Empire and all persecutions would cease. However, he still retained a measure of devotion to Sol Invictus, apparently believing that the Christian God and Sol Invictus were closely linked. This is the reason why the Christian day of rest was declared as Sunday.

Constantine was to exercise a huge influence on the Church, the different factions of which appeared to celebrate their freedom from persecution by persecuting those of their number who expressed differing views. Constantine used his power as Emperor to knock heads together, such as at the Council of Nicaea in 325 that established theological principles that are still observed today.

On the other hand, Constantine was hardly an ideal Christian in terms of his own behaviour, which appears to have included the executions of both his son and his wife, and decrees that included capital punishment by the swallowing of molten lead.

It has been suggested that what Constantine saw in the sky was an unusual but completely natural meteorological phenomenon known as a “solar halo”. Whatever the cause, the effect was certainly dramatic and very long-lasting.

The picture is of the River Tiber viewed from the modern Milvian Bridge.

© John Welford