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Constantine was not, contrary to popular belief and tradition, converted to Christianity prior to the Battle of Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312. Historical evidence indicates, instead, that Constantine was initiated into a cult of Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun, just prior to this battle. His vision was not of a Christian cross, but of the sun god Sol Invictus, according to a witness accompanying his army at the time. This vision occurred in the area of a pagan temple to Apollo. |
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Contrary to accepted historical fact, Constantine did not make Christianity the exclusive official religion of Rome. As emperor, he was the chief priest of the cult of Sol Invictus, and the state religion was sun worship. Sol Invictus figured on the coinage and even the imperial banners. The "chi rho" device, which is described as proof of Christian influence, actually predates the Christian era by several centuries. |
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The cult of Sol Invictus was politically expedient for Constantine, since it posited the sun god as the sum of the attributes of all other gods. In this position, it provided an umbrella structure under which to subsume the various warring religious factions, which suited Constantine's needs perfectly. Constantine constantly pressed the various cults to codify their beliefs and establish orthodoxy. |
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Next, it must be understand that the various cults had a great deal in common already. The cult of Mithra, for example, includes a baptismal rite, the eating of a sacred meal of wine and bread which identifies the devotee with the savior god, and the celebration of the birthday of Mithra on 25 December. The cult of Sol Invictus likewise celebrates the dies natalis soli invicti, the birth day of the unconquerable sun, on 25 December. The two cults are so similar that they are often confused as the same. Regarding the similarities between Christianity and Mithraism, Cumont, in his The Mysteries of Mithra, notes (p. 193) that, "The resemblances between the two hostile churches were so striking as to impress even the minds of antiquity." |
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Thus, Christianity was able to consolidate a political position under the auspices of the Sol Invictus cult. It did so by adopting a number of extensive changes to its belief system, which brought it more into line with the other mystery cults. An edict promulgated in A.D. 321, for example, established "the venerable day of the sun" as a day to close the courts of law, and decreed this day as a day of rest. Prior to this time, Christianity had held the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, as sacred. Note that this belief is not a trivial detail, but fundamental to both Judaism and Christianity, since the keeping of the Sabbath and its position as the seventh day are stated unequivocally in the form of the Fourth Commandment (Exodus, 20.811). Nonetheless, the change was embraced by the Christian authorities. This issue has surfaced repeatedly in the intervening centuries, with Seventh-Day Adventism being one of the latest manifestations. |
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Until this time, moreover, the birthday of Christ was celebrated on 6 January. This fundamental day, the oldest day of observance in the Christian calendar, was also altered, again with the purpose of bringing Christian belief into alignment with the other cults. |
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Ferdinand Lot, in summarizing the gains and losses to the State and Church under Constantine, notes that the losses were above all ethical (The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages, p. 50) and concludes that, "if the State |
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