User:Geuiwogbil/Sandbox

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When will I have time to do these things? Hint: Not now. Geuiwogbil (Talk) 22:52, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Things to Do

• Fix up Tetrarchy-related articles:
  • Constantius
    • Appointment, British invasion, religious tendencies and policies, administration and rule in the West, campaigns in the North, relationship with Constantine, posthumous reputation.
    • User:Geuiwogbil/Constantine
  • Galerius
    • Appointment, campaigns in Syria and Egypt, Persian war, religious tendencies and policies, roles in persecution and succession to Diocletian, rise of Constantine and Maxentius, rescinding of persecutionary edicts, death.
    • User:Geuiwogbil/Sandbox2
  • Diocletianic Persecution
    • Motivations, the accounts of Lactantius and Eusebius, spread and enforcement, martyrdom and the Church, Constantine, Constantius and Maxentius, eventual failure, effects, revival under Licinius.
  • Tetrarchy
  • Carausius and Allectus
    • User:Geuiwogbil/Sandbox3

• Fix up Constantine-related articles:
  • Secular:
    • Bring Constantine to FA status
    • Licinius
    • Maxentius
  • Religious:
    • Arius
    • Donatist
    • Eusebius of Caesarea
    • Helena of Constantinople

• Merge the DLC section of Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles into a Expansions to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion article and bring said article to FA status
  • User:Geuiwogbil/Expansions

[edit] JSTOR

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14].

[edit] Coinage

Coin of Constantine, with depiction of the sun god Sol Invictus, holding a globe and right hand raised. The legend on the reverse reads SOLI INVICTO COMITI, to (Constantine's) "companion, the unconquered Sol".

Coins struck for emperors often reveal details of their personal iconography. During the early part of Constantine's rule, representations first of Mars and then (from 310) of Apollo as Sun god consistently appear on the reverse of the coinage.^{[citation needed]} Mars had been associated with the tetrarchy, and Constantine's use of this symbolism served to emphasize the legitimacy of his rule. After his breach with his father's old colleague Maximian in 309–310, Constantine began to claim legitimate descent from the third century emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II), the hero of the Battle of Naissus (September, 268).^[1]

Follis by Constantine. On the reverse, a labarum.

Gothicus had claimed the divine protection of Apollo-Sol Invictus. Constantine also promoted an association of himself with Sol Invictus, which was the last deity to appear on his coinage.^[2] The reverses of his coinage were dominated for several years by his "companion, the unconquered Sol" — the inscriptions read SOLI INVICTO COMITI. The depiction represents Apollo with a solar halo, Helios-like, and the globe in his hands. In the 320s Constantine has a halo of his own. There are also coins depicting Apollo driving the chariot of the Sun on a shield Constantine is holding.^{[citation needed]} Elements of this association remained even after Constantine's famous conversion to Christianity in 312. Thereafter, Christian symbolism, albeit ambiguous in some instances, began to appear in Imperial iconography.^[3] A coin of ca 312, for example, shows the chi-rho, the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek, on a helmet Constantine is wearing.^[4]

An example of "staring eyes" on later Constantine coinage.

A continuation of the iconographic precedent can be seen in the larger eye of the coin portrait. This suggests a more fundamental shift in official images. Beginning in the late third century, portraits began to become less realistic and more idealized.^{[citation needed]} The Emperor as Emperor, not merely as any particular individual, is of primary importance. The most common characteristics of this style are the broad jaw and cleft chin. The large staring eyes will loom larger as the fourth century progresses: compare the early fifth century silver coinage of Theodosius I, or the bust of Arcadius.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Courts and appointees

Constantine respected cultivation and Christianity, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men.^[5] Leading Roman families that refused Christianity were denied positions of power, yet two-thirds of his top government was non-Christian.^[6]

From Pagan temples Constantine had his statue removed. The repair of Pagan temples that had decayed was forbidden. These funds were given to the favored Christian clergy. Offensive forms of worship, either Christian or Pagan, were suppressed. At the dedication of Constantinople in 330 a ceremony half Pagan and half Christian was performed, in the market place, the Cross of Christ was placed over the head of the Sun-God's chariot. There was a singing of hymns.^[7]