Emperor Constantine the Great: Christianity and the Roman Empire

24:01So as I said, he's kind of waiting in the wings and join his cause. So we've got civil war. We've got Roman empire back in civil war. And so Maxentius, he's raised his troops, as you say. He does well in Italy. If you remember, there's also this problem with this guy called Severus, who's not related particularly to our main people. He's in Italy, and so Max Centius and his troops do very well. They capture him. They kill him. Of course they do. And Constantine, for this point, just stays out of it. He's calling himself Senior Emperor of the West, but he stays out of Italy, so he doesn't control Italy, which you'd think is quite important.

24:35And he just stays on the Rhine. He's a very good soldier, seemingly. He's fighting the Frankish tribes there. So he's in Germany? Rhine, yeah. So the border of France and Germany. Right, OK. So Maxentius has taken power, got his dad out of retirement to back him up, killed Severus. Yes. And now we're waiting for the smackdown with Constantine. Something like, yes, yes. I don't know exactly that. Okay. But Ivo, Constantine then gained a surprising ally in his fight against Maxentius. Who do you think he was? So it's really just a case of which names are still on the table. I'm shocked.

25:14Is it the retired Diocletian? It's a good guess. Okay. It's even more surprising than that. Okay. Well, surely it's not Maximilian. It's Maximilian supporting his own son. Yeah. He gets, his enemy's dad joins his side. Wow. Which is very awkward at Christmas. Yes, so Maximilian has been building an alliance with Constantine and history also repeats itself because at this point, So his first wife, Minovina, we don't know much about her. Maybe that's because she was Diocletian's daughter and the pro-Constantinian sources are trying to disassociate them. But he gets a new wife who is Maximian's daughter, Fausta.

25:53So he's had a son with his first wife. Yes. The son's called Crispus. Yes. But he's ditched that wife and he's on to the new wife. Yes. And she is Fausta. And that's in 307 they get married. Okay, so it's all going quite well. He cemented the relationship with his new ally who was his enemy's dad. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. How old is he by this point? 34? Yeah, yeah, something like that. Something like that. Not quite ready for a midlife crisis, you would think. I don't know when you say that, but I mean he's... Yeah, I'm 35 and I'm on the fast train. So if Constantius had been married to Maximian's daughter Theodora, does that mean that Fauster, his new wife, his second wife, is Constantine's new step-aunt as well as his new wife.

26:39I mean, who even knows at this point? Are we going to be hearing any more about Crispus? Not loads. That's a shame. I mean, you'll hear one thing about him and it's not nice. So, yes, Crispus will get his comeuppance. Okay, so after the wedding, this lovely, beautiful wedding where the two families are united, presumably Max Hancher's not invited to the wedding. You would think not. He's at war with him. Yes. Yes, so Maximian quarrels with his son, Maxentius, obviously, but doesn't manage to quite get rid of him. And this is where, okay, imagine we've got Diocletian back with his cabbages. He comes out of retirement for an emergency conference.

27:21This is great. Yeah, in 308 in Carnot, which is near Vienna. But he says he won't come back to rule. They try and sort out the situation. Maximian is forced to abdicate for the second time, second or even third time, for second time, but it becomes clear that he doesn't really want to go. So when it comes to Maximian, he's forced in what is very much traditional Roman style to die by suicide. So that's Constantine's sort of succession moment. That's where he really, like the claws come out. So up to this point, he's divorcing, he's dumping, but now he's killing his enemies. And then not even enemy, a former ally.

27:55Is he back in Rome by this point? Not yet. Okay. He's doing all of this from York. No, he's more in sort of... Oh, sorry, the Rhine. The Rhine, yeah, sort of France, Germany, that sort of area, fighting the Franks. At this point, Diocletian's vegetable garden sounds quite appealing, right? It's just sort of sit there with the cabbages and the carrots. So did Maxentius take maximum revenge on Constantine for killing his papa? Doesn't quite go that way. Right, okay. So, yes, we've had Constantine on the Rhine. Then in 312, he decides to deal with Maxentius. So he marches to Italy. he defeats Maximian's, Maxentius's troops in the north of Italy.

28:36Yeah, the names are too much. And then finally, when is it the 28th of October 312, they're in Rome and we get the end game for Maxentius. They have a battle at the Milvian Bridge, which is just north of Rome. Although the sort of pro-Constantine source is trying to pick it up as like a great victory, it's probably a foregone conclusion. It's awful, Maxentius's troops, they've cut the bridges, lots of them drown, including Maxentius himself. And Constantine is then, yeah, he's the winner. He's been acclaimed liberator by the Senate. So he's now definitely the senior emperor for the west of the empire.

29:14But even though Galerius has died in the east, there's a new eastern Augustus called Licinius, who has been busy killing off all his rivals as well. Just, I mean, they're all at it. So Maximian is dead. Maxentius is dead. His head's on a pike. and there's a new senior emperor in the east, Licinius, and a new senior emperor in the west, our chap, Constantine. Not yet the great. Still married to Fauster. Still married to Fauster. Okay.

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30:41So Constantine and Licinius now have to cement an alliance, the Eastern and Western emperors, and so they do so through marriage and that is the marriage of Constantia. Yes. Who's that? Constantine's half-sister. Not even just normal sister, just half-sister. I think. Okay, sure. Okay, so Constantia marries Lacinius. Great. Yeah. Thank you. Brothers-in-law, brothers-in-law. Okay. So it's been water-wall politics, family confusion, murder, intrigue, battles and wars and all sorts of things. But the Battle of the Milvian Bridge is in 312 and this is supposedly the beginning of the Christian story.

31:25This is where we start to introduce the religious journey or conversion. So can you talk us through that sort of conversion or that moment? Yeah, and this is one of the most debated, really, arguments in ancient history. So there is a story, versions of the story put together that the night before this battle, so in October in 312, Constantine has a vision, or maybe not the night before, in which he sees a heavenly sign in the sky with two letters, a chi in a row, which are the first letters of the Greek word Christus, and another sort of slogan almost saying, conquer by this. And then the story goes, having seen this sign, he puts Christian symbols on the shields of all of his soldiers, and then they go off and defeat Maxentius.

32:12but even that version is slightly contradicted even by pro-Christian authors and awkward fact there is a speech from two years earlier 310 an official speech of praise about Constantine which says that he had seen a vision of a pagan god Apollo and had a victory so how many visions did he have trying to put these together is is tricky um I mean there's a lot of debate around his conversion. I mean, did he see anything? Was he sincere? But I mean, it is pretty clear that he does an awful lot very quickly to support the Christian church, regardless. So he issues pro-Christian legislation, he builds churches at Rome, and he and Licinius, remember his co-emperor in the East, they get together and agree a kind of package to extend measures in support of Christianity, including across the East, where the Christians have been persecuted.

33:07And this sort of package of measures that they agree. There's a kind of historical myth that this is then called the Edict of Milan. But as I tell my students, there was no edict and there was nothing at Milan. So we don't call it that, but there we go. Okay, the not so edict of Milan. The not so edict of Milan, that's it. Okay, great. Okay, so he converts to Christianity possibly, has visions possibly, puts the Cairo on his soldier's shields. So they're fighting for Christ. Do they know who he is, Christ? These soldiers, have they heard of Christianity? you know are ordinary soldiers in the army in you know are they christians too or is this just i mean to me it seems pretty unlikely at this date right um but yeah no one asks them just paint this on the shield lads and off we go yeah i've got the chiro there you go okay so edict of milan didn't happen but the council of nicaea did ivo do you know what happened at the council of Nicaea in 325.

34:01It's a very important and famous, one of the best councils, gatherings of bishops. They decide on a very important Christian doctrine. Do you want to have a guess what that would be? The Bible. Okay, so you think it's them getting together to compile the Bible? Well. No, maybe that's a bit ambitious. Well, what do you think, Lucy? I mean, I think it is quite ambitious and it is a sign again that Constantine is really getting in on the game. He fancies himself clearly as a bit of a theologian. All those studies are coming in handy. And so the church, it's not really just one church. It's actually quite a lot of controversy and division.

34:41He's already got involved with a dispute between rival Christian groups in North Africa. And the Council of Nicaea, as Greg says, is where they come up with this statement still known today as the Nicene Creed. And that's to deal with this debate over the nature of Christ and the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Trinity. And so there's been the so-called Arian heresy. So the way Christian heresies work is if you win, you name your opposing version a heresy and then you name it after a person. So it's named after a priest called Arius, A-R-I-A-N. But basically they come up with a compromise.

35:21What is the Nicene Creed? And just in case you want to know, the compromise is that the father and son are of the same substance. So he is a committed Christian at this point, we think, maybe, possibly. He's doing Christian things. He's definitely doing Christian things. So how do you think this newfound converted Christian treats his co-ruler, Lichinius, over in the Eastern Empire? Do you think he extends him his charitable hand, God's love, kindness? I think I can tell the answer from the way you phrased the question. I think... Am I leading too heavily? I think Constantine is a very hypocritical Christian already.

35:56I think he's very controlling and ill justify whatever he wants to do with whatever part of the Bible he's just made up. And this is all from a dream or from a like... Yeah, he's had visions, yeah. Yeah, I mean, and not to take anything away from Christianity, which I broadly respect, but it all feels quite opportunistic on Constantine's front. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue with Ivo's logic there because... No, lots of people have said this. So Constantine sends his brother-in-law, Bassanius, off to the court of Licinius and Bassanius is married to Anastasia. So that's the sort of family connection there.

36:33And Bassanius, it goes wrong for him quite quickly at the court of Licinius, doesn't it? Very much so, yes. He tries to convince Licinius to betray Constantine. Allegedly. So Constantine has Bersanius killed, and then Constantine and Lycanius go to war. Yes. In fact, for 12 years after Milvian Bridge, although they're co-emperors, brothers-in-law, they're periodically fighting each other. Finally, 324, Constantine and, oh, we get Crispus again, his oldest son Crispus. They get together. So there was a bit of a pretext. Lycanius, who had been doing Christian things, starts enacting anti-Christian measures in the East, And so Constantine uses this as a pretext to go and fight against him.

37:16And so he and Crispus defeat Licinius. First, he says he'll spare his wife. Licinius' wife is begging him, but in the end, surprise, surprise, ends up executing him. Oh, and of course, Licinius' son is also executed. Who would have been Licinius II? And so now Constantine, and this is a big deal, no one's been emperor of the whole Roman world for some time at this point. He's now in charge of East and West. he's got the whole Roman Empire, and he's got three sons of his own. So he's in full control. Yeah, yeah, so he's now the emperor of everything. What happened to the Tetrarchy? Well, he's Tetrarched it.

37:53Wow, fantastic. Yeah, so he's the emperor of everything, east and west. Constantine heading towards the Great, we'll see. Lucy has mentioned his children there. So Crispus is his son with his first wife, Minavina, but he's also had five kids with his second wife, Fauster. So three sons, two daughters. Ivo, I'd love you to guess their names, please. How many of them start with Constan? Three. Four, actually. The three boys, one girl. Right. So the girl is, but we've already had a Constantia, haven't we? His sister, who married like Aeneas. Good, yes. Okay. So Constantia must be off the table. Constant...

38:36Yeah, you're nearly there. Teller. Constantia Tina Constantina Well done Okay, Constantine We've got one Okay, give me the boys Constant

38:54Constantus Constant It's not my improv forte this I have to say Tell me the names Constantine Constantius Constans Okay So one is named after himself One is named after his dad in honor of the granddad, I suppose, and Constans. And then we have Constantine. So it's Constantine, Constantius, Constans. The daughter is Constantine. The other daughter is Helena. Great. Named after his mom. Great. Which is nice. It's nice, right? So he's got his kids. In some ways, you could think, oh, happy families. Dynasty building. It is very Kardashian. But it's not happy families because it's Constantine. Of course it is.

39:34So in 326, Constantine had Fausta and Crispus killed. What do you think they had done, Ivo? Something to do with the Christianity? Not converted, not respected. So you think they're worshipping the old gods still? Yeah, and who can blame them? Sure, okay, that's a good guess. Lucy, unfortunately the word I'm going to have to use is a lot less charming. Incest? Oh no. Allegedly, so this is where the pro and anti stories are difficult to say. So what we do know is in 326, Constantine has Crispus executed. And Fauster dies reputedly by being locked up in a sort of heating room at the Roman baths.

40:17And so she is dead. So he saunas her to death. He saunas, yeah, he steams her to death. Wow. That's what happens. And so we don't know why either of them was killed or if they're connected, as is the case. We've got these problems with the sources. So the pro-Constantinian sources just say nothing. They pass over the whole thing in silence, whereas the anti-Constantine sources say they were bumped off because they were having an incestuous relationship as stepmother and stepson. Which is sort of a standard slur in the Roman world, right? Yeah, absolutely. That's how you destroy your enemies, is you say they've been sleeping with the wrong person.

40:50Yeah. Because you can't disprove it, right? It's a kind of, it's a trope. Absolutely. An incest trope and getting at stepmothers, another absolute part of this. He's murdered his son, his wife, his father-in-law, his enemies, his friends, his brother-in-law, Bassanius, is dead. They're kind of dropping like flies. But that's okay because he's going to build a new city. Yeah, and he's got three sons still. He's got three sons and daughters as well. His new city is, of course, called Constantinople. Very good. And do you want to tell us what he's going to do there? What's he going to build? What would you build if you get to start Ivopolis, your own brand new city?

41:36Well, it's infrastructure, isn't it? Well, only of its churches, obviously, because that's got to be a big part of it for him. Sure, okay. So, but maybe also, particularly if he spends much time in York, there'll be some castles and walls. And then, you know, maybe, I've never been to Istanbul, so I'm not able to draw from present-day experience, but obviously football stadium. You know, dental, you know, massive dental sort of studios. Hair transplant surgeries. Yeah, absolutely. Everything we love and benefit from today. These are all excellent guesses. I think Church was good. Yes, and not quite a football stadium, but a very famous hippodrome.

42:22Oh, great. So that's actually, yeah. Chariot racing is the number one sport in the Eastern Roman Empire. Of course. and it will become the home of the most rabid fans. They riot and they burn the thing down. Absolutely, in the Nika riots. So tell us more a little bit about Byzantium that becomes Constantinople. Yes. Yes, it's nice to get away from the murder. So in 324, Constantine entirely rebuilds this new city that had been Byzantium and calls it Constantinopolis. It's inaugurated, it takes six years to build, very quick by HS2 standards, and it's inaugurated in May 330. And it's not entirely news because the Tetrarch's gone around building Tetrarch capitals, but Constantinople is more than just that.

43:07It has, as I was, it has churches, it has a Senate house, so that's like Rome. Obviously fortifications, as you said. It has an imperial palace with a massive great hippodrome, impressive public spaces. It's referred to as New Rome. It's referred to as a second Rome. But very much Constantine has left his mark. So we know that in the middle of his forum, there's this colossal bronze statue of him on top of a purple column, nearly 40 metres high in total. Just if you try to picture this, it's a classicising statue. So he was naked, holding a globe and a spear to symbolise he's emperor of everything.

43:47Ivo, if you were going to have a 40 metre naked statue of yourself, what would you be holding? I think globe and a sphere sounds fantastic. There was a boy at my prep school who was holding a globe on the front cover of the school magazine. And it's not dated very well. It satisfies every, like, born-to-rule stereotype part of the school. Like an incredibly Aryan eight-year-old just looking at a globe. So, yeah, maybe not. You say New Rome. Obviously, the eastern part of the empire spoke Greek. Yes. Constantine spoke Greek and Latin. Yeah, absolutely. So does he code switch when he's out there?

44:27Does he speak Greek when he's in Constantinople and then back home in Rome he's speaking Latin? Yeah, this is a really interesting question. And then when Justinian, who's Byzantine Empire, introduces his law code, it's still in Latin. So Latin continues being a kind of language of power. But yeah, there's kind of code switching between Greek and Latin is definitely key to this era. Is it important politically? Yeah. I mean, obviously it becomes important later on. The Byzantine Empire is enormously powerful and, you know, keeps going to 1453. But is it important to him, to his rule? I think it is, yes.

44:58Obviously, it's just not like any other imperial capital because it has a senate. So it's effectively set up as a rival, a second Rome. The Roman senators back in the real Rome hate it. And so, yeah, there's this whole new geopolitical era. There've been all of these problems on the east and sort of facing east. Yeah, that's what will happen in the end, as you say. It's the Eastern Roman Empire. the Byzantine Empire that will end up being the Rome that did not fall. Sure. And there's another city we need to talk about, another holy city, Jerusalem. Do you know why we're going to talk about this?

45:36Because, no, I don't. You had such confidence for a second. It's his mum. It's Helena. What do you mean it's his mum? Constantine's mum, she's going on tour. She's going to go check out all the best Christian sites because she wants to, she's Christian, you know, she's converted to Christianity too. Because of her son. Because of her, well, because of her son or has her son converted to her? No, they're different. Yeah, that's what we don't know. The sources go both ways. So do we know when she converts and why she converts and why she ends up in Jerusalem? No, we don't know. No, no. Okay, thanks for coming.

46:08But the interesting thing is the stories are all about, oh, the whole point of the tour is to go to Jerusalem. So this is, she sets off in 326. So perhaps in the aftermath of the scandal, There's stories about her being very angry and upset about the murders of Crispus and Fauster. But she heads off to the east. So she's an Augusta. So after a really bad period in her life, she's now named Augusta Empress. She goes off on this massive eastern tour. She doesn't just go to the Holy Land, but she does go there. And this is part of the story later on. So she goes to Jerusalem. She goes to Bethlehem.

46:46She sees the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Nativity. And this story develops, not at the time, but maybe 75 years later, after her death, we first can trace it. The story comes that she discovered the relics of the True Cross. Ah. But she, I mean, she didn't, sorry. Maybe she did. Okay, so... Yeah, so she goes off on this massive tour, and she's really old at this point. I was going to say, Constantine by this point, he's in his 50s. Yes, and so we think that by the time she dies, yeah, 328, she could have been around 80. So she returns home after this grand tour. She dies and her son has her buried in Rome.

47:26She is hugely important as a role model for later Byzantine emperors. And of course, she is declared a saint. But then so is Constantine, who I think maybe devalues the brand somewhat. So Ivo, we have Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor. And his mum is this sort of Christian who's gone on tour and seen all the holy relics. so we can imagine that this, you know, faith is very important to them. So I want to ask you, at what point did Constantine get baptised as a Christian? Oh, ludicrously late. How late can you go? Couldn't fit his head in the font. You know, 60, at the age of 60. Later than that?

48:03Later than that, 69. It's, I mean, it's as late as you can go, really, Lucy. I mean, they're quite keen on a deathbed baptism. To be fair to Constantine, deathbed baptism is quite popular in early Christianity because you're not supposed to sin after you're baptised, which is quite hard for most people. Certainly for Constantine, going around murdering everyone. So he's probably about 65, 337. He's out east preparing for a military campaign against the Persians and he gets ill. And at this point, pretty much on his deathbed, he's baptised by the local bishop, Antisian Constantius, brings his body to Constantinople, which seems fitting, and he gets buried sort of with full honours in the mausoleum of the Holy Apostles.

48:48And the bishop who baptises him, Bishop Eusebius, is that the same person who writes the sources? No, that would be too useful. People having the same name, I'm sorry. Eusebius of Nicomedia versus Eusebius of Caesarea, sorry. Nothing in this episode is simple. Just one simple thing is all we want. This is an above-averagely complicated episode. I mean, honestly, I am struggling to even figure out what's happened, and I'm going to be hosting this. It's a very complicated life. I'm so sorry, Ivo. You've come in for your debut, and we've thrown you a hospital pass. That's absolutely fine. I think getting Tetrarchy wrong suggests that I would struggle even with the simpler stories.

49:24I still feel bad about that. No, not at all. Please. What do you think happened to the Roman Empire after Constantine's death? He had reunited as one consolidated thing, and he founded this brand-new city, What do you think happens? Strength to strength. Yeah? Yeah, absolute dynasty. It's still going, isn't it? No, I think it's obviously a hotbed of opportunists ready to jump on the grave of any freshly baptized. Constantine, I think there's, but I could work out one of his sons maybe. Yeah, he's got three sons and a daughter. So that should be, he should be able to have a bit of protection of the, and Constantius just did something good, didn't he?

50:03What did Constantius do about two minutes ago? Buried his dad. Oh, he buried him. Oh, yes, sorry. So, yeah, I think surely the family name sort of stumbles on a little longer. I think that's a really good answer. Yeah, and basically it does, but with a good bit of added murder. Yes. So Constantine has got these three sons. He's also got two nephews, a bit optimistically perhaps, to have five potential successors. So yes, what do you think his sons do? They go on a total killing spree. They kill off the cousins. Basically, any surviving male relatives are either killed or put under house arrest.

50:45In fact, only two sort of extended family male members survive, one of whom will then become the exciting emperor Julian the Apostate. That is a story for another day. But yes, so we're left with Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans' empire goes on. So they split the empire three ways. So he reconsolidated back into one and they split it into three, which is the same thing that happened after Alexander the Great, isn't it? Yes, it's, well, yeah. I mean, there's a very boring, nerdy thing about how it doesn't officially get divided into some years later, but you really don't want that. So there we go.

51:20So the Roman empire sort of barrels on afterwards, changed because he's introduced Christianity. Some emperors resist that again and push back again. Yeah, just Julian the Apostate. Yeah, but then eventually Christianity wins out. So it's been a wild and bloody ride. How do you feel about Constantine? Does he deserve the title, The Great? They were just doling that out, weren't they, back in the day? I'm fine with that. I mean, it's very impressive, you know, everything he's done. And I, you know, I've had a fair bit of Christianity in my own life. So, you know, cheers. I think I think what's so sort of bleak about the relentless sort of normalization of murder is like you then hear well the sons divide it three ways and they obviously you know brothers is you know better than nephews but surely if secondary family members can be dispensed with so easily how are you not constantly looking over your shoulder at your own brother as well you know I'm sorry to so incredibly basic to the opening scene of The Dark Knight, where just every single person gets picked off as soon as they cease to be useful to the operation.

52:33And that's sort of what this feels like, really. Yeah, it is. I'd love the sort of conclusion to be, the great thing that comes to know is, not only was he such an impressive conqueror of the world, but his Christian values really inspired a bit of loyalty in subsequent generations of his family. No, I'm afraid not. I mean, the son and the father were united in the Nicene Creed, but the son and the father didn't really unite politically. They were just at each other's throats and that's the story of Rome, I'm afraid, until the fall of Rome, or the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 470s. So there we go.

53:04That's Constantine. He's dead now. Oh, sorry. And only just baptised. But that's the point. That's the point. Wiped clean of all the sin. Yeah, yeah. The nuance window!

53:20Okay, it's time now for the nuance window. This is where Ivo and I sit quietly for two minutes, drawing up blueprints for our dream cities, while Professor Lucy takes to the forum to tell us something we need to know about Emperor Constantine. So my stopwatch is ready. Take it away, Professor Grigg. Thank you. So as I've made it clear, it's very hard to find a reliable account of the life of Constantine. We've got these very polarised sources. We've got a propaganda, you know, the remains of a propaganda campaign that's sent out to deliberately obfuscate. His legacy is very important. Not all of it is controversial, though.

53:55We do know that he brought about massively important changes, geopolitical changes. He made massive reforms in the army, the economy, obviously religion, and founded Constantinople. But he's also very famous for something he didn't do at all, which I wanted to talk about. So as we discussed, he was baptised on his deathbed by an Aryan bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia, despite the Nicene Creed. It's an inconvenient fact. Don't let an inconvenient fact get in the way of the story. So a new story develops that he's baptized by a much more respectable bishop, Sylvester, Bishop of Rome. And this then becomes part of one of the most famous historical forgeries of all time, the donation of Constantine.

54:35And so the story here is that Constantine has leprosy and is cured by Bishop Sylvester. That's when he converts to Christianity. And he grants Sylvester, the Pope, you might say, and the Roman church, some major powers. So supremacy over all the churches in the world. Also, he grants to the Bishop of Rome temporal authority over Rome and territories. And this is backed up by a document, the Donation of Constantine, and that's repeatedly invoked for centuries in battles between the church and governments, but also between the church in the East and the West, who obviously are not very keen on being ruled by the church at Rome.

55:13But guess what? Of course, as I've said, it's a forgery and it doesn't get uncovered until the mid-15th century. A Renaissance humanist and indeed priest, good for him, Lorenzo Valla proves that it was a forgery. But the legacy of Constantine as a legacy of fake news really went on for a long time. Amazing. One minute 57. Very impressive. Incredible timekeeping. So fake news, forgeries. Yeah. Is there anything legitimate about Constantine the Great? I mean, I guess there are plenty of legacies of him politically, but I mean how do you feel about his posthumous life? I don't know anything about it.

55:50Yeah everything I know about Constantine has come in in the last hour. But I've got a statue to visit when I go to York next on tour. You do, it's a nice statue. He's sitting in his throne. Fantastic. He looks very imperial. Are we pro or anti or neutral on Constantine the Great? I think anti. I've got to say it sounds like a bloody nightmare. So what do you know now?

56:16OK, well, it's time now for the quiz. This is the So What Do You Know Now? This is where we find out how much Ivo can remember from our absolutely chaotic conversation. Do I get to look at my notes during the quiz? Absolutely, that's what they're for. Ivo, generally, I imagine you're quite good at quizzes. You've said you're not, but I think you test well. That's good. It depends how much I'm able to revise. I've done OK on a couple of quizzes. You've made some notes. And I've made some notes for this. Fab, so let's see what you do. Ten questions. I will be generous as a market because honestly, some of this stuff I can't remember because it's been so chaotic.

56:48But let's have a go. Okay, question one. What was unusual about Constantine's parents' relationship? Different classes. They were, absolutely. They were sort of, you know, she was maybe lower status and he was higher status. Question two. Which Christian persecuting emperor founded the first Tetrarchy then retired to his garden? Of course, it was Diocletian. Very good. Mr. Cabbage himself. Question three. What mode of transport did Constantine use? Pause. Very good. But in a roundabout, sort of not direct horse. Absolutely. Fast horses, but long way round. Fantastic. Yeah, very good. Question four.

57:21In which city was Constantine first proclaimed emperor by his army? York. It was. Iboricum, York. Question five. You'll accept the English translation, me. Sorry. After receiving a vision, supposedly, what did Constantine put on his soldier's shield before the Battle of Milvian Bridge? It's there. It's there. The Cairo. It was the Cairo, the Christian imagery, the first letters of Christ's name in Greek. Question six. What city did Constantine found in 330? Constantinople. It was. That's quite an easy one, isn't it? Question seven. Why did Constantine kill his wife, Fauster, and eldest son, Crispus?

57:55Incest. Supposedly. Supposedly. It's a trope. Question eight. You're doing very well, by the way. Question eight. What happened to Constantine's co-emperor, Lichinius and his son, Lichinius II?

58:08Um... What did happen to them? I mean, dead. I'll take dead. Yeah, executed by Constantine. Question nine. What did Helena, Constantine's mother, allegedly find in Jerusalem? Oh, the relics of the true cross. Absolutely. Very good. And question 10. For a perfect 10 out of 10, Ivo Graham. When was Constantine the Great baptised? On his deathbed. Yay, you've done it. Well done. Hugely impressive, given that even the historians in the room didn't know what was happening for half of the point. I mean, absolute chaos. I think you gave me the benefit of the doubt on a couple of those. No, no, I think you did very, very well.

58:47It's the one where I just rather pathetically said, murdered. True, absolutely true. Thank you so much, Ivo. I hope you've enjoyed that slightly, I mean, wild ride. I've enjoyed it a great deal, of course. We'd love to have you in, thank you. It's a real demo for the grace of God. Another big thumbs up for the 21st century. And this is why you want to avoid politics, right? You've made the right decision. Comedy, not politics. A listener, of course, if you want more murderous Roman emperors, check out our episodes on the rise of Julius Caesar. We've got Agrippina the Younger. We've got Emperor Nero.

59:17That's with Patton Oswalt and Mary Beard. To hear more about the Christianization of the Roman Empire, we've got an episode on Hypatia of Alexandria. Plus, of course, we've got an episode on Constantinople, the city that Constantine founded. We talk about the Ottoman era with Sue Perkins. If you've enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe to You're Dead to Me on BBC Sounds to hear the show 28 days earlier than anywhere else. And if you're outside the UK, you can listen at bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. I'd just like to say a huge thank you to our guests in History Corner. We had the legendary Professor Lucy Grigg from the University of Edinburgh.

59:49Thank you, Lucy. Pleasure. And in Comedy Corner, we had the incredible Ivo Graham. The great, indeed. Thank you, Ivo. Thank you very much, Greg. And to you, lovely listener, join me next time as we launch another campaign into the far reaches of the past. But for now, I'm off to go and retire my microphone and plant my vegetable garden. If it's good enough for Diocletian, it's good enough for me. Bye!

1:00:25Hello, it is Danny Robbins here. For years now on Uncanny, we have explored real people's potentially paranormal experiences. But one thing that listeners have often asked me is why don't we look at supernatural cases from the past? Well, you asked and we listened. Our new series, Uncanny Cold Cases, takes a deep dive into some of these stories, from the most haunted house in England to the original UFO abduction case. Can we make sense of these strange stories that have haunted history? Uncanny Cold Cases. Listen on BBC Sounds.

1:01:07In a world where swords were sharp and hygiene was actually probably better than you think it is, two fearless historians, me, Matt Lewis, and me, Dr. Eleanor Janaga, dive headfirst into the mud, blood, and very strange customs of the Middle Ages. So for plagues, crusades, and Viking raids, and plenty of other things that don't rhyme, Subscribe to Gone Medieval from History Hit wherever you get your podcasts.