I've got several of the deified Constantine types, I find them interesting in light of Constantine's disputed conversion to Christianity on his deathbed and the in hoc signo vincere message that he had in his vision prior to the battle with Maxentius. Constantine was first known for some affinity to the god Mithras, followed by Soli Invicto (as portrayed on the coinage), and finally Christianity according to the historian Eusebius. This coin shown here doesn't really answer the question as to whether the Christian god is being represented. Obverse, veiled head of Constantine facing right, Reverse, Constantine driving quadriga, hand of god reaching down. Please share your posthumous coins of Constantine (RIP) if you wish. Thanks! Condition isn't great (came from a hoard of Constantinian bronze pieces)
The other common type shows Constantine veiled standing on the reverse flanked with VN MR (Venerated Memory). This one is Alexandria SMALA. Whichever kind of these you get, look for coins with the obverse legend. It begins with DV or Divus as used by pagan ruler who have died and become gods. Not appropriate for a Christian by some standards. After the name we see PT AVGG for father (pater) of the Augusti.
not just Eusebius, but also directly according to letters written by Constantine and indirectly by many of his actions...for example, compare the number of churches he built to the number of temples.
How uncommon is it to revert to Christianity on ones death bed? I'm sure it wasn't a common occurance in those days as it is now.
The theology of that day made it very desirable to be baptized as close to the time you died as possible. If Baptism washed away all sins before that sacrament, you would only be called to account for what you did in the last couple hours if you played it right. In the case of someone who had killed his son, wife and probably quite a few other people, this would seem a really good deal. I'm sure many clerics would shake their heads and point out that God might not be happy with people who did their sin returns like many people now do their taxes. Christian theology had been a subject of major 'discussion' for all 300 years since Christ died. Constantine arranged major meetings like the Council of Nicaea in 326 AD in the hope that all Christians could agree on one game plan. It did not go quite as well as he might have hoped but in 336 it would not be at all hard to find a Bishop quite willing to assure the Emperor that all was well with his soul. Some of the things they argued about then strike us as strange today. Would God forgive those who denied Him under torture? What happens to people baptized by priests who later turned out to be heretics? The big one was whether Christ was the similar to God or identical to him. The two words in Greek were only spelled differently by one letter i: ὁμοιούσιος or ὁμοούσιος. That is where we get the phrase 'Doesn't make an iota of difference.' People died over that one. People today still fight over some things that mystify me but the i had to be a 'highpoint' of theology. I do not know if anyone had questioned the use of last minute baptism when Constantine used it or not. Anyone?
I agree that last minute baptism was very common at the time, washing away sin as close to the time of one's departure from this world as possible. Christological controversies also were the order of the day, occupying the time of bishops and emperors up through the time of the Council of Chalcedon (451) and beyond into the Byzantine era, with the iconoclasts vs. the iconodules.
Very interesting, as usual with your posts! Thanks for spelling out the origin of the "not one iota" saying
there is another hypothesis that it came from the Bible- "until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot" Matthew 5:18
Yes, the word "iota" appears in that gospel because, like the entirety of the New Testament, it was written in Greek. The relevant verse reads: ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται. I translate as: For truly I tell you, until the heaven and the earth pass away, not one iota or serif will pass away from the law until all is accomplished.
