The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine: From AD 306 to AD 337

Pamphilus Eusebius Pamphilus · Eusebius (of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea)

Jan 2009 · Christian Roman Empire Series Book 8 · Arx Publishing, LLC

About this ebook

Constantine the Great is one of those rare historical figures who is nearly as controversial today as he was in his own time. Lauded, both then and now, as a military hero who ended the brutal persecutions of Christians and as the first Roman emperor to himself embrace Christianity, Constantine is just as often vilified as a destructive innovator, a coddler of heretics, and a tyrannical hypocrite with the blood of his own family on his hands. The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine was penned shortly after the emperor's death in AD 337 by the great Church historian Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea. Though criticized as mere panegyric lionizing Constantine's virtues while ignoring his flaws, Eusebius's Life is nonetheless the most substantial and detailed biography of the first Christian emperor to come down to us from antiquity. The work is also the sole source for several key episodes in Constantine's life--including the emperor's famous vision of a cross in the sky accompanied by the words, "Conquer by this.""

About the author

Eusebius is best remembered for his celebrated Ecclesiastical History, which provides a history of Christianity from the apostolic age down to the early fourth century. It is primarily this work that earned Eusebius the title of Father of Church History. Eusebius was born in Palestine about A. D. 264. Beginning about 315, he was made bishop of Caesarea. His Praeparatio Evanglica contains valuable extracts from the ancient philosophers. His Chronica is likewise valuable to students of ancient history. Theologically, Eusebius is remembered for his retelling of Christian history to include a positive role for the admired Roman emperors as instruments of God's will. Eusebius died about 340.