A radical and powerful reappraisal of the impact of
Constantine’s adoption of Christianity on the later Roman world,
and on the subsequent development both of Christianity and of
Western civilization.
When the Emperor Contstantine converted to Christianity in 368
AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue
to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of
the religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a course
from the relatively open, tolerant and pluralistic civilization of
the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule
of fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of
Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine. Only
a thousand years later, with the advent of the Renaissance and the
emergence of modern science, did Europe begin to free itself from
the effects of Constantine's decision, yet the effects of his
establishment of Christianity as a state religion remain with us,
in many respects, today. Brilliantly wide-ranging and ambitious,
this is a major work of history.