#emperor constantine

Another epic Hitchslap from the archives. Gone too soon.

The libraries of Rome underwent a transformation as the state shifted from pagan to Christian, with academics becoming the bailiwick of the clergy rather than the layperson. As the Western Empire crumbled, the libraries and centers of information flowed to the Eastern Roman Empire, where there were four types of libraries: imperial, patriarchal, monastic, and private. During this time, the scrolls that had dominated the Classical period began to be preserved into codices, the progenitor of our books. In the Western Empire, those that became codices, they focused on Latin texts as they were loosing the ability to understand Greek, but the Eastern Roman Empire preserved both Greek and Roman. The paper and parchment used in a codex were exceedingly valuable, so every scrap was used and often reused. Monastic libraries became a center of text preservation as monks were often employed in copying texts in both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, which also made them a center for larger libraries, though the texts were typically focused on Christian texts and Greek classics as 'many monastic leaders saw common virtues' in them. The Imperial Library of Constantinople became a 'depository of ancient knowledge' and a 'centerpiece of the new intellectual capital of Constantinople', founded by Constantine I's son Constantius II to fulfill Constantine's wish. Subsequent emperors ensured that the imperial library would have both pagan and Christian texts as well as scribes that were competent in Greek and Latin to copy and repair the manuscripts held in the library. Patriarchal libraries were theological libraries that had specific classification systems. They held the records of the various ecumenical councils and may have begun as the Christian Patriarch's personal library that expanded, though 'many of its contents were subject to destruction as religious in-fighting ultimately resulted in book burnings'. Private libraries were often held by the aristocracy, church members, and teachers as well as 'wealthy bibliophiles who could afford the highly ornate books of the period'.

The events of 326 leading up to both Crispus' and Fausta's deaths are unclear. By some accounts, Fausta and Crispus were set against each other, with Fausta pushing Constantine to execute his son. After this, Helena, Constantine's mother, 'blamed him out of excessive grief for her grandson', so he locked Fausta in 'overheated baths and killed her'. In other accounts, adultery between mother and son-in-law was the cause of the two deaths, though with Crispus being executed for the crime of rape and the Fausta's death following the same narrative as the other version. Some writers think that Constantine killed Fausta for bearing false witness about the rape, but most think if this were the case, then the order of damnatio memoriae, the scrubbing of the historical record of any mention of a person, would have been reversed for Crispus instead of being allowed to stand. Julian, a later emperor, did praise Fausta in a pangyric, or a 'formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person' to Constantius II, her son. Beyond that, 'there is no other evidence of her memory being rehabilitated'.

Constantine at York

"We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life and our resurrection: through him we are saved and made free."

The latest episode of The Ancients history podcast does The Council of Nicaea. That Emperor Constantine had to pull it all together to try to make things less confusing for the Roman Empire. Did it work? Some of us are still confused about all that.