Directory

312 CE

A year that altered the course of Western civilization as Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, an event intertwined with his embrace of Christianity.

Conflict & Security

  • Constantine led his army across the Alps and into Italy, winning a series of engagements against the forces of Maxentius before arriving at the gates of Rome.
  • The Battle of the Milvian Bridge was fought on October 28, and Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River as his forces were routed, leaving Constantine as the undisputed ruler of the western Roman Empire.
  • According to later Christian tradition, Constantine received a vision before the battle, either of a cross of light in the sky or in a dream, and ordered his soldiers to mark their shields with the Chi-Rho symbol, a Christian monogram.

Geopolitics & Governance

  • Constantine entered Rome in triumph following his victory and dissolved the Praetorian Guard, which had supported Maxentius, permanently ending the power of this elite unit that had made and unmade emperors for centuries.
  • The Roman Senate honored Constantine with the construction of a triumphal arch near the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, which still stands in Rome today.
  • Constantine's victory at the Milvian Bridge made him the sole ruler of the western half of the Roman Empire, while Licinius controlled the eastern provinces.

Culture & Society

  • Constantine's association of his military victory with the Christian God marked a dramatic shift in imperial religious policy and began the process of transforming Christianity from a persecuted minority faith into the dominant religion of the empire.
  • The world population was approximately 237 million.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 278 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.