Constantine: Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire

Blackwell Ancient Lives

by Timothy D. Barnes

Drawing on recent scholarly advances and new evidence, Timothy Barnes offers a fresh and exciting study of Constantine and his life. First study of Constantine to make use of Kevin Wilkinson's re-dating of the poet Palladas to the reign of Constantine, disproving the predominant scholarly belief that Constantine remained tolerant in matters of religion to the end of his reign Clearly sets out the problems associated with depictions of Constantine and answers them with great clarityIncludes Barnes' own research into the marriage of Constantine's parents, Constantine's status as a crown prince and his father's legitimate heir, and his dynastic plansHonorable Mention for 2011 Classics & Ancient History PROSE award granted by the Association of American Publishers

Genres: History, Christianity, Nonfiction, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Adelais · Rating 3 out of 5]

Як доповнення до якоїсь офіційної біографії Костянтина почитати можна, але починати з цієї книжки я б не рекомендувала, бо автор знайшов вільний постамент, видерся на нього і пішов повчати, що все було не так. І мотиви в Костянтина були не такі, і син таткову репутацію підмочував, а панегирики можна читати некритично, бо ну просто. Читала це все slightly bemused, хоча видно, що автор всі джерела таки старанно перекопав.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Barnes' major work "Constantine and Eusebius" (1981), I was eager to read his latest take on the subject considering all the research undertaken by so many in the past thirty-ish years.

Barnes heavily favors Peter Weiss' paper on "The Vision of Constantine" and Kevin Wilkinson's work concerning the pagan poet Palladas (specifically re-dating his work to Constantine's reign rather than later) in order to argue against interpretations suggesting that Constantine was consistently tolerant religiously speaking.

He does a good job of balancing brevity and detail in describing the current knowledge and development of discussion on topics related to the emperor's life and reign. However, as seems to be the case with most modern historians of Constantine, Barnes also de-emphasizes Christianity's influence. Where there was benefit for Constantine or the empire, Christianity is de-emphasized in favor of political genius, extraordinary generalship, or sheer dumb luck. But any negative aspect is somehow connected with Christianity. Historians can't help but acknowledge Constantine's Christianity, but they turn it into a negative thing where it is not simply de-emphasized in favor of non-religious aspects (and there, technically, aren't any during this time period).

[David Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful study of Constantine. Good for pillaging. Wish I had read this years ago. Mounts convincing arguments against those who see Constnatine's conversion as phony and opportunistic. This book is thick, with a sometimes polemical tone that reflects the infighting of specialists.

[Miranda Alford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why are there so many people with too similar names??!? I can’t lie it got a little confusing with all the constans Constantines and Constantius out there. It didn’t help the references were in the middle of the page and not at the bottom so you had to read the references whilst reading it as a book. Although it probably wasn’t actually meant to be read as a book- I’m just a boring nerd so I read it anyways.

I also thought there would be a bit more about religion, considering it’s got religion in the title- there were parts but not in as great detail as I would have liked. Moreover a lot of the book was dedicated to Constantine’s father and not Constantine himself which was dull I don’t care about him.

Anyways a good grounding in later imperial Roman Empire and interesting in parts, although sometimes a little bit of a slog to get through.