is a remarkable woman. we know only a couple of things about the empress helena. we know that she was christian, and we know that she was a commoner. and yet she gets together with a traveling roman army officer and gives birth to the man who will one day become emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 bc, the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 ad, helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky, and he hears a voice that tells him, by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to
with a traveling roman army officer and gives birth to the man who will one day become emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 bc, the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 ad, helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky, and he hears a voice that tells him, by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. christianity is very much a minority cult practiced probably by no more than about 10 percent
and yet she gets together with a traveling roman army officer and gives birth to the man who will one day become emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 bc, the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 ad, helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky, and he hears a voice that tells him, by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. christianity is very much a
b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son constantine has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky and he hears a voice tell him, by this you will conquer. he takes it to mean by the symbol of the cross. by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor, the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. christianity is very much a minority cult practice, probably no more than 10% of the empire s population, if that. it s almost impossible to under estimate the impact of constantine s conversion to christianity. before that, the empire had been persecuting its christians.
and yet she gets together with a traveling roman army officer and gives birth to the man who will one day become the emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky. and he hears a voice that tells him by this you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. christianity is very much a