Abstract
While Constantine’s conversion to Christianity changed the deity, it did not change the ideology of the Roman empire. Before Constantine’s relationship with Christianity, there was no religious body in the empire capable of providing a sanction for imperial rule similar to what a vote in the Roman Senate had been able to do. Roman religion was conducted by the same civic authorities who performed “secular duties”; the emperor as pontifex maximus could not credibly ratify himself. But over the centuries, Christians had developed an empire-wide organization completely independent of government control. As the new legitimators of imperial power, bishops demanded and got the right to pass judgment on emperors. The division was neatly framed with give and take on both sides; but from this perspective, the Christian turn to coercion is better analyzed as an outgrowth of power relationships than as the product of an inherent intolerance.
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