Constantine and the Cross 1961

 

Constantine and the Cross is a decent movie. If you are a Christian or a history buff you might enjoy it. It is not as exciting as my favourite sword and sandal film Oliver Stone's Alexander, but it is not too bad. It was made back in the day in 1961 when movie making was a serious business. A time before CGI and special effects. The movie doesnt spare a dime when it comes to set design and costumes. The actors look like Romans, dressed in colourful clothes and the battles seem authentic with hundreds of actors on the ground. 

Constantine and the Cross is of course about the famous Roman emperor Constantine the Great. It does not look at his early life but dives right into his conflict with Maxentius and Maximian. The film clearly has a pro-Christian feel to it. The humble Christians are noble and righteous whilst the pagan elite are arrogant and cruel. The movie's version of Constantine is the virtuous and honourable Constantine of Eusebius book The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine and not the scheming murderer depicted by historians like Zosimus. The movie does not seek to resemble actual history. There are twists and turns in regards to Constantine's mother Helena. And there are few extra characters thrown in there to make the story more entertaining and less like a documentary. And of course the movie has the famous scene where Constantine sees a vision in the sky and hears the words, 'In this sign conquer.' The great battle of the Milvian bridge is the fitting climax to a somewhat entertaining film. All in all it wasnt a bad movie and the best thing about it is that is free on Youtube.

Like I mentioned before the Constantine depicted in Constantine and the Cross is the righteous Constantine. The Constantine who defended the helpless Christians. The Constantine who only fought as a last resort. The Constantine of Eusebius' book The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine. I read The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine and it is a one sided propaganda piece that makes Constantine seem like a saint. In the book the emperor is compared to Moses and is esteemed higher than Alexander, Cyrus and all the Roman emperors before him. To Eusebius Constantine is the second coming of Christ who establishes the kingdom of God and builds a new Jerusalem. The book exaggerates Constantine's virtues and omits his crimes and vices. This book is fake news.

Fake news.

If you want a more balanced view of Constantine with all his vices and virtues it is better to read T.D Barnes' book Eusebius and Constantine. It does not omit, lie or exaggerate. It displays all the historical facts and leaves the reader to decide.

Another neutral and balanced book is Eusebius Life of Constantine but with commentary by Stuart G Hall and Averil Cameron. It explains Euebius' motivations and biases and corrects the errors and ommissions found in the original text. 

On the other side of the spectrum you have ancient writers like Zosimus and Eunapius who shed light on Constantine's flaws. In their works Constantine is depicted as a treacherous murderer who only founded Constantinople because he was hated in Rome and who only converted to Christianity because Jesus would wash away his numerous sins.

But by far my favourite criticism of Constantine is by his own nephew Julian the apostate. Julian's Symposium also known as The Caesars also known as Saturnalia is a satirical look at the Roman Caesars as they stand before the Olympian gods and explain why they are the greatest of all emperors. The Symposium is light hearted and funny. I really enjoyed it and I wished it could be performed on stage or on TV show. Any review I would write would not do it justice. It is beyond hilarious. A review I saw on Goodreads by a man known as Eric sums it up the best.

And the Winner is...(drum roll please)....Marcus Aurelius!

Julian the Apostate, a celebrated and reviled Roman Imperator noted for his rejection of Christianity during its ascendancy in the 4th Century AD, composed this humorous yet biting essay to pass judgement upon previous Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Constantine.

Setting the stage for this momentous victory are the ever so righteous Greek Gods on High Olympus, to celebrate the annual Saturnalia festival (later usurped by christian clergy and re-badged Christmas!)

Zeus and his compadres make short work of the typical Roman villains. Caligula and Commodus are quickly shown the door, without a chance to elocute Cicero-style. Caesar makes a fight of it but comes off as a boastful Trumpian blowhard and a guest appearance from Alexander the Great merely enrages him the more. Trajan and Augustus acquit themselves well, but Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher Imperator demonstrates reserve and humility enough to win over the Gods. Constantine takes a spanking for his self-serving, gluttonous ways. Julian takes a parting shot at Jesus, who is cast as Constantine's apologist, explaining that he may continue to sin without fear of retribution, "He that is a seducer, he that is a murderer, he that is sacrilegious and infamous, let him approach without fear! For with this water will I wash him and will straightway make him clean. And though he should be guilty of those same sins a second time, let him but smite his breast and beat his head and I will make him clean again."

It's a miracle that this essay survived later Christian purges of classical literature...truly a rare gem. Julian had a ready wit and it's a shame that his reign was ended prematurely by a vengeful Christian soldier.

You can read it for free here https://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html

The funny thing about Julian the Apostate is that he died young and did not rule for a very long time. He was killed while fighting the Persians. So maybe his uncle was right and those who were against Christians found misfortune and had tragic ends.

Moral of the story

The first lesson is that ideas are mightier than spears, words are stronger than swords and pens are more powerful than guns. When the Romans crucified Jesus and then destroyed the Temple no one could have imagined that a few centuries later Romans would be worshipping a Jew as a god. It just shows that the pen is mightier than the sword. No matter how much the Romans persecuted the Christians they could not destroy the idea. Ideas are mightier than spears. Jesus turned the entire system on its head and the first became last and the last became first, the mighty Romans worshipped a crucified Jew. Perhaps if the pagans like the Druids had sacred written texts they would have resisted Christianity like the Jews did. Likewise Hinduism stayed alive despite being confronted by Islam and Christianity because they wrote their ideas down. Today there is a pagan revival in the Europe and America. Perhaps they must write down their beliefs in sacred texts. 

The second lesson is that you should stick to your principles. Be willing to die for what you believe in. No matter how much the Christians were persecuted they would not recant and forsake their religion. They were burnt, cut in half, fed to the lions and drowned but they would not give up their beliefs. In the end the Christians overcame their persecutors. Likewise the Jews never gave up their religion. No matter how much they were oppressed by Christians they stuck to the culture and traditions of their ancestors. And in the end the Jews prevailed and today they have a state in Israel. On the other hand, the pagans did not fight for their beliefs. Their temples and idols were torn down and the pagans gave up and left the ways of their ancestors. The pagans did not fight for their beliefs and their traditions were destroyed. Today we see the same thing with western civilisation. The whites will not stand up for the beliefs. They have no principles and go where the wind takes them. At first Europeans were pagans. Then they converted and became Catholics. Then they switched and became Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Calvinists, Methodists, Mormons and a thousand different Christian denominations. Then they changed and became liberal humanists, atheists, democrats, fascists, capitalists and communists. Now they will be persecuted by Muslims and will become Muslims. A people must have principles and a code of honor. It reminds me of the Aesop fable about the grandfather, the boy and the donkey.

If a people have no rooted culture and principles they will go nowhere in life. Now today western civilisation has turned into a dystopian, Kafkaesque nightmare with trannies in women's sports, gay parades in front of little children, drug addicts defecating in the street and criminals running amok. Look at the Gulf Arabs who will not compromise their culture and religion. Look at how they have turned a desert into a paradise. Have principles and set beliefs that you never compromise on and you will prosper.

The third lesson is that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes true. The story of Jesus is clearly a case of Chinese telephone. Christians kept repeating the lies until it became a religion and the emperor Constantine believed the lie. 

The fourth lesson is that turning the other cheek and loving your enemies does not work. Constantine did not turn the other cheek. No. He fought the pagans on the battlefield and later Christian emperors actively destroyed pagan temples. Emperors like Charlemagne did not try to persuade pagans to convert, they beheaded and massacred the heathens. Constantine was really the founder of militant Christianity. It is militant Christianity that saved Europe from the Muslims at Vienna in 1683, at the Battle of Tours in 732 and at the Siege of Malta in 1565. It is militant Christianity that reclaimed Spain and Sicily.  It is militant Christianity that retook the Holy Land from the Muslims during the first Crusade. It is militant Christianity that spread the faith of Christ to South America and Africa. 

I am not sure why the victories at Vienna, Granada and Tours are not public holidays in Europe but they should be. It is amazing to me that there are not many cities around the world named Constantinople after the great city. If you wont retake Constantinople the least Christians could do is name cities and streets after the greatest city in Christendom. Or better yet someone should rebuild a brand new Constantinople and a new Hagia Sophia somewhere in honour of the lost city. Moreover there should be more movies about the Spanish Reconquesta, the fall of Constantinople, the siege of Vienna and the Battle of Tours. Songs should written and sung about Charles Martel, King Ferdinand, Queen Isabel, John Sobieski etc.

The Reconquesta should be a public holiday in Europe.

The Siege of Vienna should be remembered and commemorated.

Why isnt the Battle of Tours celebrated in Europe today?

Today Christianity is on the ropes. All over the world Christians are persecuted, killed and abused. Europe is under siege once again and mosques are all over western Europe. It is time Christians put aside their apathy and remember the words at Milvian bridge, 'In this sign conquer!'

                                      

Final Thoughts

Hundreds of books have been written about Constantine the Great and hundreds more will be written. Love him or hate him he was an icon and as Bart D. Ehrman said, Constantine was the second most important Christian convert after Paul. He is the reason why Sunday is a day of rest. He is the reason why Easter follows the solar calendar not the lunar calendar. Constantine is the reason why Christmas is on 25 December. He built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the St Peter's Basilica and the great city of Constantinople. 

A paragon of virtue or the embodiment of evil?

To his enemies Constantine was an apostate to the religion of his ancestors. To some he made the western part of the empire weaker. To people like Edward Gibbon Constantine supported a religion that made Romans weaker and led Rome down the path of self destruction and ultimately a dark age. 

To his critics he was a scheming and treacherous murderer who played the Game of Thrones and won. To cynics he was an opportunist who used Christianity as a tool to gain power and unite a divided empire. To others he was a syncretic who infused paganism into Christianity and duped the world into worshiping the sun. In the end Constantine's city of Constantinople was overrun by Turks and today is known as Istanbul. Constantine's body has been destroyed and nothing is left of his remains of burial place. 

There have been several movies that depict Constantine as a sincere Christian whose intentions were good. I would pay money to watch a film about an evil Constantine. An ambitious Constantine who sacrificed Roman soldiers for glory. An Machiavellian Constantine who pretended to convert to Christianity to unite the empire under his power. A greedy Constantine who looted the temples of the pagan gods to live a life of luxury in Constantinople. A treacherous Constantine who back stabbed his friend Licinus. A murderous Constantine who killed his father in law, brother in law, wife and son. A foolish Constantine who divided his empire among his three sons and thus doomed the empire to the inevitable civil war. A movie about a wicked Constantine would be more interesting then Constantine and the Cross in my opinion.

                                     

Whether Constantine was a paragon of virtue or the embodiment of evil is a debate that will continue until the end of time.

Buy my book

With that said, I actually wrote a book about Christians who are persecuted by Muslims but rally together under the sign of the chi-rho and uses militant Christianity to remove the yoke of bondage. The book is called The Milvians and you can get it on Amazon. Link below.

https://www.amazon.com/Milvians-Mark-Anderson/dp/B0CRLD7YS9