Life of Constantine Quotes

“Constantine saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing this inscription: conquer by this. At the sight, he himself was struck with amazement and his whole army also.”
― Eusebius, The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine: From 306 to AD 337

“[A]s the sun, when he rises upon the earth, liberally imparts his rays of light to all, so did Constantine, proceeding at early dawn from the imperial palace, and rising as it were with the heavenly luminary, impart the rays of his own beneficence to all who came into his presence.”
― Eusebius, Life of Constantine

“Perhaps the most striking result of working on the project has been the full realization of the complex relation between Eusebius' own writings, and between the Life and the ecclesiastical and theological context in which it was written.”
― Eusebius, Life of Constantine

“The Life of Constantine (Vita Constantini, henceforth VC) is the main source not only for the religious policy of Constantine the Great (ruled AD 306-37, sole Emperor 324-37) but also for much else about him. It is attributed in the manuscripts to Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea (d. AD 339), who was also the author of the first history of the Church (Church History, Historia Ecclesiastica, HE) and many other works of biblical scholarship, Christian apologetic, and contemporary religious debate.' The VC is divided into four books, with chapter headings by a later editor (see below, p. 24, §5). The title by which it is generally known is somewhat misleading, in that while the work certainly has biographical elements, it is better described as an uneasy mixture of panegyric and narrative history (see below, § 6). Many of the details which it records are to be found only here, and since the VC presents a view of Constantine that is not only extremely pro-Christian but also, as we can see from comparison with some of his other works, particular to the interests of Eusebius himself, it is not surprising that it has proved extremely controversial. Some scholars are disposed to accept its evidence at face value while others have been and are highly sceptical (§ 2). Indeed, the integrity of Eusebius as a writer has often been attacked and his authorship of the VC denied by scholars eager to discredit the value of the evidence it provides, with discussion focusing particularly on the numerous imperial documents which are cited verbatim in the work. In contrast, T. D. Barnes's major book on Constantine, for example, makes substantial use of the VC, and the work remains the single most important source for Constantine. Strangely, in view of the amount of attention which has been devoted to it, and to the issues surrounding the reign and policies of Constantine, there is no monograph devoted to the VC and only two short commentaries to date, in Italian and Spanish respectively.”
― Eusebius, Life of Constantine