In 313, Constantine the Great legalized the Faith in the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan.
A year earlier, he adopted Christian beliefs after his victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
Most people don’t know that pious tradition tells of a vision in the sky from God that would later spur Constantine to conversion!
Lactantius, a tutor to Constantine’s son, said that before the emperor left Gaul for Rome he and his army saw a great cross in the sky.
Beneath the cross were written the Greek words en toutoi nika meaning: “In this sign, conquer.”
Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, a Roman historian, tells a similar account but differs in that they experienced this vision just before their battle outside Rome began.
Both of these accounts say that Constantine prayed to understand the meaning of the vision. He dreamt of the chi rho and instructed his army to fashion the christogram as their battle standard.
After winning the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine sought guidance from the bishops who travelled with him. They explained to him the cross in the vision was a symbol of Jesus’ triumph over death and He was the Son of God.
From then on, Constantine devoted himself to Christ and went on to become the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity in 336.
A little over 40 years later in 380 under Theodosius I, Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire.
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