Description
Book SynopsisThis volume closely examines patterns of rhetoric in surviving correspondence by the Roman emperor Constantine on conflicts among Christians that occurred during his reign, primarily the âDonatist schismâ and âArian controversyâ.
Commonly remembered as the âfirst Christian emperorâ of the Roman Empire, Constantineâs rule sealed a momentous alliance between church and state for more than a millennium. His well-known involvement with Christianity led him to engage with two major disputes that divided his Christian subjects: the âDonatist schismâ centred, from the emperor's perspective, on determining the rightful bishop of Carthage, and the so-called âArian controversyâ, a theological conflict about the proper understanding of the Son's divine nature in relation to that of the Father. This book examines a number of letters associated with Constantine that directly address both of these disagreements, exploring his point of view and motivations to better understand how and why th
