Early Christian Numismatics, and Other Antiquarian Tracts

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: EARLY CHRISTIAN NUMISMATICS. SIGNS OF CHRISTIANITY FOUND UPON THE MEDALS OF CONSTANTINE AND HIS FAMILY, WITH A CONTINUATION ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT UNDER HIS SUCCESSORS.1 On the 6th. of the calends of November (October 27th), A.d. 312?all historians are agreed upon this point? Constantino, under the...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: EARLY CHRISTIAN NUMISMATICS. SIGNS OF CHRISTIANITY FOUND UPON THE MEDALS OF CONSTANTINE AND HIS FAMILY, WITH A CONTINUATION ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT UNDER HIS SUCCESSORS.1 On the 6th. of the calends of November (October 27th), A.d. 312?all historians are agreed upon this point? Constantino, under the protection of the Cross, succeeded in destroying Maxentius in the vicinity of the Milvian Bridge, and made his triumphal entry into Eome, where he caused himself to be represented with this victorious emblem in his hand. Constantine was admonished in a dream to paint on his soldiers' shields the heavenly sign of God, and so to give battle. He does as he is commanded, and with the letter X placed transversely, having one extremity bent round, he marks their shields with Christ. Armed with this sign, his army draws the sword. This is the express statement, in the very words, of Lactantius, preceptor to the emperor's eldest son, and very probably an eye-witness of the fact (' De Mort. 1 ' Des signes de Christianisme qui se trouvent sur les monnaies de Constantin et de ses fils, avant et apres la mort de Licinius. Par B. Garucci.'?Reiwe Numismatique for 1866. Persec.' c. 44). From that moment no doubt can exist as to Constantine's public profession of faith in the doctrines of Christianity. No obstacle, therefore, could intervene to prevent the engraving upon the coinage and even on the armour of the emperor, the figure of the cross, and Christian monograms. It is not to be supposed that the association in the imperial dignity of Licinius, who was a pagan, had the power to deter him from such public profession, since from that time forwards the two princes came to an agreement to protect the Christians; they sanctioned the religion, and gave orders that these should be ...