Title: Two of Constantine's "official lies"
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2020, vol. 25, iss. 2, pp. 61-71
Extent
61-71
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2020-2-5
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/143315
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
The article deals with the twin lie, devised by the Emperor Constantine the Great in 310: his fake ancestry (his relationship to the Emperor Claudius Gothicus) and his alleged "pagan vision" of Apollo (which was either a lie or, perhaps less probably, a product of hallucination). Both lies served to buttress his shaken political position in that year and to provide him with a hereditary claim to rule. This claim was presented as superior to the tetrarchic principles of succession which were already flouted by Constantine in 306 by his usurpation, and to his elevation to the position of augustus by Maximian in 307. In contrast, the story of the famous "Christian vision" was most probably fabricated by Eusebius after Constantine's death and bears no relation (not even a resemblance) to the "pagan vision" of Constantine.
References
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[36] Teeple, R. C., Caplan, J. P., & Stern, T. A. (2009). Visual hallucinations: differential diagnosis and treatment. Primary care companion to the Journal of clinical psychiatry, 11(1), 26–32 [retrieved 02.10.2020 from https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.4088/pcc.08r00673]. | DOI 10.4088/PCC.08r00673
[37] Van Dam, R. (2008). The Roman Revolution of Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[38] Weiss, P. (2003). The Vision of Constantine. The Journal of Roman Archaeology, 16, 237‒259. | DOI 10.1017/S1047759400013088
[39] Wienand, J. (2012). Der Kaiser als Sieger. Metamorphosen triumphaler Herrschaft unter Constantin I. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
[2] Barnes, T. D. (1982). The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine. Cambridge, Mass. – London: Harvard University Press.
[3] Barnes, T. D. (2014). Constantine. Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
[4] Bird, H. W. (Transl.). (1993). Eutropius: Breviarium. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
[5] Bleckmann, B. (2007). Sources for the History of Constantine. In N. Lenski (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (pp. 14–34). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6] Bruun, P. M. (1966). The Roman Imperial Coinage, VII: Constantine and Licinius A.D. 313‒337. London: Spink and Son Ltd.
[7] Burgess, R. (1997). The Dates and Editions of Eusebius' Chronici Canones and Historia Ecclesiastica. The Journal of Theological Studies, 48(2), new series, 471‒504. | DOI 10.1093/jts/48.2.471
[8] Cameron, A., & Hall, S. G. (Transl.). (1999). Eusebius: Life of Constantine. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[9] Clauss, M. (1996). Konstantin der Große und seine Zeit. München: C. H. Beck.
[10] Češka, J. (2000). Zánik antického světa. Praha: Vyšehrad.
[11] Doležal, S. (2019). The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great. Graeco-Latina Brunensia, 24(2), 19‒32.
[12] Doležal, S. (forthcoming). Kdy se narodil Konstantin Veliký? Auriga (ZJKF), 62(1).
[13] Drake, H. A. (2000). Constantine and the Bishops. The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore – London: The John Hopkins University Press.
[14] Girardet, K. M. (2010). Der Kaiser und sein Gott. Das Christentum im Denken und in der Religionspolitik Konstantins des Großen. Berlin – New York: De Gruyter.
[15] Humphries, M. (2008). From Usurper to Emperor: The Politics of Legitimation in the Age of Constantine. Journal of Late Antiquity, 1, 82–100. | DOI 10.1353/jla.0.0009
[16] Jones, A. H. M. (1948). Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
[17] Jones, A. H. M., Martindale, J. R., & Morris, J. (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, I: A.D. 260‒395. Cambridge (= PLRE I).
[18] Leadbetter, B. (2009). Galerius and the Will of Diocletian. London – New York: Routledge.
[19] Lee, A. D. (2007). Traditional Religions. In N. Lenski (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (pp. 159–182). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[20] Lenski, N. (2007). The Reign of Constantine. In N. Lenski (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (pp. 59–90). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[21] Lenski, N. (2008). Evoking the Pagan Past: Instinctu Divinitatis and Constantine's Capture of Rome. Journal of Late Antiquity, 1(2), 204‒257. | DOI 10.1353/jla.0.0021
[22] Lenski, N. (2016). Constantine and the Cities. Imperial Authority and Civic Politics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[23] Levick, B. (1999). Vespasian. London ‒ New York: Routledge.
[24] Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. (1979). Continuity and Change in Roman Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[25] Louth, A. (1990). The Date of Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica. The Journal of Theological Studies, 41(1), 111‒123. | DOI 10.1093/jts/41.1.111
[26] Mitchell, S. (2015). A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284‒641. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
[27] Nicholson, O. (2000). Constantine's Vision of the Cross. Vigiliae Christianae, 54(3), 309‒323.
[28] Nixon, C. E. V., & Rodgers, B. S. (2015). In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini. Berkeley – Los Angeles – Oxford: University of California Press.
[29] Odahl, Ch. M. (2013). Constantine and the Christian Empire. London – New York: Routledge.
[30] Pohlsander, H. A. (2004). The Emperor Constantine. New York: Taylor and Francis e-Library.
[31] Potter, D. S. (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180–395. London – New York: Routledge.
[32] Potter, D. S. (2013). Constantine the Emperor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[33] Southern, P. (2004). The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine. New York: Taylor and Francis e-Library.
[34] Stephenson, P. (2010). Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor. New York: The Overlook Press.
[35] Sutherland, C. H. V. (1967). The Roman Imperial Coinage, VI: From Diocletian's reform (A. D. 294) to the death of Maximinus (A. D. 313). London: Spink and Son Ltd.
[36] Teeple, R. C., Caplan, J. P., & Stern, T. A. (2009). Visual hallucinations: differential diagnosis and treatment. Primary care companion to the Journal of clinical psychiatry, 11(1), 26–32 [retrieved 02.10.2020 from https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.4088/pcc.08r00673]. | DOI 10.4088/PCC.08r00673
[37] Van Dam, R. (2008). The Roman Revolution of Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[38] Weiss, P. (2003). The Vision of Constantine. The Journal of Roman Archaeology, 16, 237‒259. | DOI 10.1017/S1047759400013088
[39] Wienand, J. (2012). Der Kaiser als Sieger. Metamorphosen triumphaler Herrschaft unter Constantin I. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.