This tapestry, designed by Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) and woven by the workshop of Giacomo della Riviera (17th century), is titled “Constantine burning memorials” by the Getty Research Institute. It is a vague title, but by pairing context clues in the artwork with historical accounts about the reign of Constantine, a general idea can be gleaned about what the artwork is likely meant to depict. Unfortunately, the resulting conclusions are not the most flattering to Constantine, at least in a modern interpretation.
Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337) came to power in a time when Christians were persecuted. Constantine’s father, Emperor Constantius I (r. 305-306), had participated in the oppression, and Constantine, himself, originally ruled alongside noted persecutors, such as Emperor Galerius (r. 305-311) and Emperor Maximinus (r. 310-313). In his early reign, Constantine was more tolerant toward Christians than his co-rulers, and he ended the persecutions in his own portions of the divided Roman Empire. Other Roman co-rulers of the time, including Maxentius (r. 306-312) and Licinius (r. 308-324), joined Constantine in extending tolerance toward Christians in their realms—and these figures were ultimately joined by Galerius in 311, who released a deathbed edict calling for toleration and an end to the persecution. Oppression, however, was still existent, especially in the realm of Maximinus. Yet, after the death of Galerius, Constantine went on to conquer Maxentius, and his temporary ally Licinius subsequently overthrew Maximinus. Finally, with only Constantine and Licinius remaining, the age of religious oppression was at long last over—at least for followers of the proto orthodox Christian sect (as opposed to Gnosticism, Arianism, the Donatists, and other early interpretations of the religion). Constantine later defeated Licinius in 324, becoming the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
Such was the background of complicated historical events that occurred prior to the depicted scene of Constantine in the tapestry. It shows the victorious emperor in his capacity as the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, and, more specifically, he is portrayed carrying out a curious act involving the burning of vague memorials. A viewer could interpret the scene in multiple ways. For one, perhaps the artwork depicts Constantine destroying texts, laws, edicts, and other materials linked to his late rivals, such as Galerius and Licinius. This was, indeed, something the emperor did, as an edict of Constantine was recorded in the Codex Theodosianus (published between 429 and 438), that stated: “All men shall know that the constitutions and laws of the tyrant Licinius are abolished…” (Codex Theodosianus, 15.14.1). There are, however, other interpretations that can be made of the artwork. Due to the prominent presence of Christian priestly figures surrounding Constantine in the scene, the artwork may be depicting an act of burning that was more religious in nature.
Constantine, following his victory over Maxentius in 312 and his subsequent conquest of Licinius’ domain in 324, began to show increasingly zealous favoritism towards Christians. Instead of just saving Christians from persecution, as he had done in his early reign, Constantine later pivoted during his time as sole emperor to become more openly active in the Christian community, involving himself in church politics, theology, and religious construction projects. This evolution, unfortunately, had a negative impact on those in the Roman Empire who still followed the traditional gods. Judged by the standards of his time, it is not quite fair to call Constantine a persecutor of the followers of the traditional religions, but he nevertheless eventually began to act with heavy-handed oppressiveness against specific temples and practices in connection to the old gods.
Constantine, in his later reign, used his military to shut down and dismantle several temple complexes in various cities of his empire. Curiously, many of these were in the Middle East. For one, he dismantled a pagan temple in Jerusalem prior to the construction of his Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated in 336. He also used the military to destroy an important temple at Aegae of Cilicia—the believed birthplace of the healer-god, Aesculapius, and the site of a sacred sanctuary of healing. The Christian writer, Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260-339), commented on the destruction of the temple with an unsympathetic tone, stating, “a wide-spread error of these pretenders to wisdom concerned the demon worshipped in Cilicia, whom thousands regarded with reverence as the possessor of saving and healing power…[Constantine] gave directions that this temple also should be razed to the ground. In prompt obedience to this command, a band of soldiers laid this building, the admiration of noble philosophers, prostrate in the dust…” (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3.56). Similarly, Constantine targeted a temple on Mount Lebanon, built upon the site where the mythical figure, Adonis—the ill-fated lover of Aphrodite—was said to have been born. The temple there, dedicated to Aphrodite (or Venus), was destroyed by Constantine’s military. Eusebius, once again relishing the destruction, wrote:
“This was a grove and temple, not situated in the midst of any city, nor in any public place, as for splendor of effect is generally the case, but apart from the beaten and frequented road, at Aphaca, on part of the summit of Mount Lebanon, and dedicated to the foul demon known by the name of Venus…These proceedings, however, could not escape the vigilance of our august emperor, who, having himself inspected them with characteristic forethought, and judging that such a temple was unfit for the light of heaven, gave orders that the building with its offerings should be utterly destroyed. Accordingly, in obedience to the imperial command, these engines of an impure superstition were immediately abolished, and the hand of a military force was made instrumental in purging the place” (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3.55).
Another temple of Venus in Lebanon caught the hostile attention of Constantine. This time, the emperor trained his gaze on Heliopolis, a hub for temples of traditional ancient worship, as well as religious cults. At Heliopolis, Constantine targeted temples of Aphrodite and Zeus, building a Christian Cathedral on top of the latter temple complex. On this, Eusebius wrote:
“We may instance the Phoenician city of Heliopolis, in which those who dignify licentious pleasure with a distinguishing title of honor, had permitted their wives and daughters to commit shameless fornication. But now a new statute, breathing the very spirit of modesty, proceeded from the emperor, which peremptorily forbade the continuance of former practices…At the same time he followed up his words by corresponding deeds, and erected even in this city a church of great size and magnificence” (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3.58).
Temples at Jerusalem, Aegae of Cilicia, Aphaca and Heliopolis were the most famous examples of Constantine’s closure and demolition of certain sites of traditional religious worship. Yet, there were also more general and widespread ways that Constantine applied pressure to the worshippers of the traditional gods. For one, he imposed a practice of monotheistic prayer on his military legions as early as 315, and he later placed restrictions on the sacrifices that could be performed for the ancient gods. He was also said to have seized certain valuable metals and other materials from temple compounds. Eusebius, likely portraying Constantine as more oppressive than he really was, stated:
“[H]e used every means to rebuke the superstitious errors of the heathen. Hence the entrances of their temples in the several cities were left exposed to the weather, being stripped of their doors at his command; the tiling of others was removed, and their roofs destroyed. From others again the venerable statues of brass, of which the superstition of antiquity had boasted for a long series of years, were exposed to view in all the public places of the imperial city…They ordered the priests themselves, amidst general laughter and scorn, to bring their gods from their dark recesses to the light of day: they then stripped them of their ornaments, and exhibited to the gaze of all the unsightly reality which had been hidden beneath a painted exterior. Lastly, whatever part of the material appeared valuable they scraped off and melted in the fire to prove its worth…” (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3.54).
Refocusing on the tapestry, it could be argued that the memorials being burned are religious materials related to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire. The Christian figures, dressed in robes covered in crosses, may be there with Constantine to support his campaign against Aphrodite, Zeus, and their Olympian and Capitoline ilk. In keeping with the tone of Eusebius, the artwork may be a piece that glorifies the triumph of Constantine and Christianity over paganism in the Roman Empire.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Eusebius, The Church History: A New Translation with Commentary, translated by Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1999.
- The Life of Constantine, by Eusebius and translated by Ernest Cushing Richardson (1890), republished in Eusebius: Collected Works (Delphi Classics, 2019).
- Zosimus, New History, translated by Green and Chaplin (1814), republished in Zosimus: Complete Works (Delphi Classics, 2023).
- The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, edited by Oliver Nicholson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- [Lactantius’ Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died] https://topostext.org/work/732
- [Eusebius Ecclesiastical History] https://topostext.org/work/732
- [Zosimus New History] https://topostext.org/work/740
- [Theodosian Code] https://archive.org/details/theodosiancodeno0000unse/mode/2up
- https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-6353
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor
- https://primo.getty.edu/permalink/f/nf2bk5/GETTY_OCPFL632009
