Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/423

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 405 same passions and prejudices have engaged the partial CHAP. writers of the times to connect the pubHc profession of '__ Christianity with the most glorious or the most igno- minious era of the reign of Constantine. Whatever symptoms of christian piety might trans- His pagan pire in the discourses or actions of Constantine, he per- ^"P^"" ' '°"* severed till he was near forty years of age in tiie prac- tice of the established religion ^ ; and the same conduct which in the court of Nicomedia might be imputed to his fear, could be ascribed only to the inclination or policy of the sovereign of Gaul. His liberality restored and enriched the temples of the gods : the medals which issued from his imperial mint ai'e impressed with the figures and attributes of Jupiter and Apollo, of Mars and Hercules ; and his filial piety increased the council of Olympus by the solemn apotheosis of his father Constantius'. But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology ; and he was pleased to be represented with the symbols of the god of light and poetry. The unerring shafts of that deity, the brightness of his eyes, his laurel wreath, im- mortal beauty, and elegant accomplishments, seem to point him out as the patron of a young hero. The altars of Apollo were crowned with the votive offerings of Constantine ; and the credulous multitude were taught to believe, that the emperor was permitted to behold with mortal eyes the visible majesty of their tutelar deity; and that, either waking or in a vision, he was blessed with the auspicious omens of a long and victorious reign. The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine ; and the pagans might reasonably expect that the in- •« Theodoref (1. i. c. 18.) seems to insinuate that Helena gave her son a christian education; but we may be assured, from the superior authority of Eusebius, (in 'it. Constant. 1. iii. c. 47.) that she herself was indebted to Constantine for the knowledge of Christianity. ' See the medals of Constantine in Ducange and Banduri. As few cities had retained tiie privilege of coining, almost all the medals of tiiat age issued from the mint under the sanction of the imperial authority.