#Emperor Constantine the Great

[blueiscoool]

Very Rare Emperor Constantine Silver Ingots Saved From Illegal Sale

A man allegedly tried to illegally sell three rare Roman-era silver ingots that his great-grandmother reportedly found in her garden years ago.

Three "truly sensational" Roman-era silver ingots depicting Constantine the Great were nearly sold illegally on the internet, a new investigation finds.

An unnamed man alleged that his great-grandmother found the rare artifacts buried in the family's backyard in Transcarpathia (also known as Zakarpattia), a region in western Ukraine. Later, the man reportedly tried to sell one of the silver bars online, according to Public Uzhgorod, Ukraine's public broadcast station.

However, officials from the museum intervened by reporting the attempted illegal sale to local law enforcement. When officers searched the home, they discovered two additional ingots. Because the ingots have "special cultural value," Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General has taken over the case, according to a translated statement from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Each of the metal blocks, which are almost entirely pure silver, weighs more than 12 ounces (342 grams) and contains a coin-shaped impression of Emperor Constantine the Great on each side, according to the statement. Constantine, who ruled from A.D. 306 to 337, is known for ushering Christianity into the Roman Empire and moving his capital to "New Rome," which later became Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

The ingots would have been used during the minting process to strike coins known as siliquae. The coins with Constantine's likeness would have been issued between A.D. 310 and 313 in Augusta Treverorum, a Roman city that today is Trier, Germany. At one time, the pieces would have been batched together with a thin, silver ribbon, which has since been lost, according to the statement.

"Three ingots fastened together were supposed to be a gift for a very high-ranking person," Maksym Levada, a curator at the museum, said in the statement. "The fact that they were found outside the Roman Empire on the territory of modern Ukraine makes them an invaluable source of our past."

Experts estimate the treasure's value at 3.5 million Ukrainian hryvnia, or about $84,800.

"But what makes them unique is not the cost, but the fact that only a few similar ingots have been found in Europe to date," Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in the statement.

There are about 90 known Roman silver ingots in existence today, with only 11 containing mint stamp impressions, making the three ingots' recovery even rarer, according to the statement.

Kyrylo Myzgin, an archaeologist and faculty member at the University of Warsaw who initially examined the ingots, said in an email that the finding "can be considered truly sensational."

"It is excellent news that they ended up in a museum rather than on the black market for antiquities," Myzgin said. "Roman silver ingots with coin die imprints are incredibl\y rare and were virtually unknown outside the Roman Empire. It is likely that these ingots reached the territory of what is now western Ukraine as a result of interactions between the local population — possibly Germanic tribes or Dacians [people in what is now largely modern-day Romania] — and the Roman Empire in the early 4th century. However, the exact nature of these interactions has yet to be determined."

The ingots are now on display in the museum's "Salvated Treasures" exhibition, which contains a collection of rescued artifacts.

By Jennifer Nalewicki.

[sculptorofcrimson]

Tyrant’s Lullaby

Once upon a time, there was a glorious, terrible man. He built horrors. He built wonders. He brought monsters up from the deep. He took a child from the arms of a horrified, weeping family, and raised him not as a boy but as a general. He took a child and ruined his future, He took a child and made him a king, a pet, a dog. He marched armies over the face of the ravaged earth, and trampled all that did not kneel before the weight of the storm. He burned tundras to ash and shook the mountains until they crumbled, He boiled the seas to mist and the skies to charcoal. And when the scouring was done, and the earth was entombed in ashes, He turned His dreaming, endless glare upon His own. 

He strangled the thunder that had bore Him a throne, He sent the golden, the children stolen from their cradles, to plunge down long knives into turned backs raised so fervently before His regard. With their blood they had built Him a kingdom, and with their bones He crowned Himself a throne. And when Terra knelt, cowed, battered, in awe and in fear, He turned His gaze skywards.

And the stars felt His benevolent wrath. 

He bore twenty sons, two of them sacrificed, and He unleashed them upon the earth, the skies, the stars. They hunted for Him, they loved Him, they adored Him, yet some had strayed too far from His light, some had gazed upon the man that would be a god with sullen, hungry eyes, doing His bidding, and knowing His wrath. They are those who were there when affection curdled to treachery.

There was no peace among the stars, no mercy, no rest, simply a slow, heartless drowning as the gold claimed them limb by limb, inch by inch, and swallowed them into the endless light. 

And then war. Treachery, when the stars themselves were swallowed. When brother turned against brother, and father against son. When the Phoenix cleaved the Gorgon’s head from his shoulders, and the Immortal bashed in the Haunter with a hammer, when the Angel fell to the Traitor and He stained the Palace’s stones red with His son’s blood. When Horus burned, when the Angel shed his wings and the golden were shattered upon the anvil of betrayal, the Father fell to His son. 

He was buried upon a rotting throne, screaming hollowly into the fading dark, the stars basking in His rage, His pity and His wrath. He was buried alive in a tomb made from gold, ashen bones ruling a decaying kingdom from the grave, dreaming forever of brighter days. Dreaming of His sons, and how He betrayed them first, how they betrayed Him, how they abandoned His bones. And finally could the golden rest, bathed in the heart of their greatest shame, enshrining the decaying dust of a master they had failed, in an empire He had forsaken. 

That man was the Emperor. That corpse is the Emperor, golden, glorious, and decaying just like the slaves.

Do not think your bones different from a slave's. When you rot, your corpse will be indistinguishable from those of your servants.

[didoofcarthage]

The Triumph of Rome: The Youthful Emperor Constantine Honoring Rome by Peter Paul Rubens, unused design for a series of tapestries about Constantine commissioned by King Louis XIII of France

Flemish, c. 1622-1623

oil on panel

Mauritshuis, The Hague

[dreamconsumer]

Constantine the Great (272-337) and his mother Helena of Constantinople (246/248-330).

[scholarastrid]

Statue of Emperor Constantine overlooking the Great Bath of the Roman Baths in Bath Spa, UK, November 2024.

[appljuiceboxx]

constantine is an alien and he is kinda spacey!!!! he came in from moesia to christianize all of rome!!!!!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (August 18)

Flavia Julia Helena, also known as Helena of Constantinople and in Christianity as Saint Helena, was an Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great.

Not much is known about Saint Helena but it is probable that she was born in the middle of the third century in Asia Minor.

She worked as a stable maid as a young woman, according to Saint Anselm.

Helena later married a young Roman official, Constantius Chlorus, who took her as wife despite their difference in social status.

Around the year 270, she gave birth to their first son, Constantine.

Constantius quickly rose in the ranks of the Roman military. Due to political reasons, he was forced to repudiate Helena and marry another.

Helena remained at a distance as she watched her son rise in the court of Diocletian.

In 305, Constatius, now Augustus, and Constantine went to Britain to fight against the Picts.

Constantine became emperor when his father died unexpectedly at York.

As the new emperor, his first action was to recall his mother Helena.

Shortly after her son’s accession, Helena converted to Christianity.

Her faith moved her to care for the poor by providing for their needs through generous almsgiving.

She also worked to liberate prisoners and those sent to the mines or into exile.

Constantine’s reign took a downward turn when he ordered the death of his son and that of his second wife.

The family tragedy pushed Helena to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326.

There, she ordered the construction of the Basilicas of the Nativity in Bethlehem and of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives.

The work was overseen by Helena whose faith was rewarded when the True Cross was discovered.

Possibly through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem, she had a woman who was near death brought from the city.

When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change.

However, when she touched the third and final cross, she suddenly recovered.

Helena then declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross.

The three nails from the Crucifixion were given by Helena to Constantine.

On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Churches were also built on other sites detected by Helena.

Helena died in an unknown location in 329. Constantine had her body brought back to Rome.

[chicagotimesmagazine]

The Conversion of Constantine The Great

By Chicago Times Magazine – July 25, 2024 The conversion of Constantine the Great, a pivotal moment for both Christianity and the Roman Empire, remains a blend of historical fact, legend, and theological interpretation. Often hailed as the first Christian emperor, Constantine’s embrace of Christianity was a complex interplay of political acumen, personal belief, and the evolving religious…

[leroibobo]

the church in the monastery of the cross in jerusalem, palestine.

the monastery was originally consecrated in the fourth century under the instruction of roman emperor constantine the great, while palestine was under roman rule. some years later, it was given to kartlian (basically roman georgia) king mirian III after the conversion of his kingdom to christianity. it remained a georgian orthodox monastery until 1685, when the then heavily-indebted georgians sold it to the greek orthodox patriarchate of jerusalem.

its murals retain both georgian and greek inscriptions. in the last picture, georgian text is on the left, and greek on the right.

[fuckyeahreligionpigeon]

In 325, at the Council of Nicea, Constantine the Great created the Catholic Church after a genocide of 45,000 Christians, where he tortured them to renounce Reincarnation. At the same time the religious books of all the villages of the empire are collected and thus create THE BIBLE.

In 327, Constantine, known as the emperor of Rome, ordered Jerome to translate the Vulgate version in Latin, changing the Hebrew proper names and adulterating the scriptures.

In 431, the cult of the VIRGIN was invented.

In 594, PURGATORY was invented.

In 610, the title of the POPE was invented.

In 788, worship of pagan deities was imposed.

In 995, the meaning of kadosh (set aside) was changed to saint.

In 1079, the celibacy of priests is imposed >> a totally Catholic word.

In 1090, the Rosary was imposed.

In 1184, the Inquisition was perpetrated.

In 1190, indulgences are sold.

In 1215, confession was imposed on the priests.

In 1216, Pope Innocent III's tale of the terror of bread (a god in Greek mythology), which turns into human flesh, was invented.

In 1311, the batesimo prevailed.

In 1439, the non-existent PURGATORY was dogmatized.

In 1854, the immaculate Conception was invented.

In 1870, the absurdity of an infallible pope was imposed, in which the concept of Contracting was invented

There are more than 2,500 things invented by this religion to enslave human beings to Christianity ...

Religions and their Gods were created as a means of MANIPULATION and BUSINESS. As part of the EVOLUTION of the human being is the FREEDOM of these means of manipulation. Although little by little the human being is in the era of AWAKENING, young people are LESS RELIGIOUS every day for two more generations and the Catholic religion will be in its decline. (I wish to see that moment)

Everything will be part of our EVOLUTION.

It is up to you to continue believing what you now believe to be the absolute truth, because you have not questioned things, yourself ... question them yourself and you will see that all religions are an invention ... of man

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Alexander the Great in Greek Art

Alexander the Great (as per the official statement of the restorers). At. Demetrius Church, Palatitsia by unknown artist, 1570

Aigai was the original capital of the Macedonian Kingdom and the place where Philip II was killed. Although the capital was later transferred to Pella, Aigai remained the burial place for the Macedonian kings. The little church still maintains part of the ancient history alive as its interior bears incorporated architectural elements from the palace of Philip II. Alexander is depicted as a representative of the “Kingdom of the Greeks” -one of the four kingdoms that predate the end of times according to the prophet Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar II’s eschatological dream. Alexander the Great in Byzantine art:

Note, 7th painting because it shows a very important concept in Byzantine understanding of their past: Next to Alexander the "βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων" (emperor/king of the Hellenes/Greeks), you can see Octavian "βασιλεύς των Ρωμαίων" (emperor of the Romans/Byzantines). Alexander and Octavian Augustus were the most important historical rulers of the future Christian Romans (our so-called "Byzantines) before the reign of Constantine the Great.

source1

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[qqueenofhades]

Hi Hilary! I could use some help with something. Do you know some topics for historical tangents a history professor (Hob) could go on while talking to some students? Like some interesting discussion ideas? I was not a history major and I’m now drawing a blank 😅 I’d appreciate it greatly!

"Right, morning everyone... MORNING... yes, we all do know it is morning and I would like to remind everyone that it's not my fault we were scheduled at eight bloody AM. Consider it building character. Great. Let's get started. Can we put the phones down, please. In my day we didn't even have phones. No really. We didn't. Really didn't.

Anyway, so where were we? Ah, yes. End of the Western Roman Empire circa 476 CE, which stands for the secular Common Era, which historians now generally use instead of the Christian A.D. Anno Domini, which trust me, they used when I was born, because I am very old. Ah, you're laughing again, because you think I'm joking. Which, er, I definitely am. Anyway, the so-called collapse of the Roman Empire is one of the most mythologized events in the Western historical canon, and there are accordingly a lot of misperceptions about what happened and how. As we covered in the last class -- well, can anyone tell me what we covered last class?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Come on, one of you, just raise your hands. I don't bite.

Fine, all right, I'll do it myself. Again. Last class, we covered the eventful fourth century in Roman history, where the empire split into western and eastern halves, eastern Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and established his capital in Constantinople, which would later get the works from the Turks and become Istanbul. The western capital moved to Ravenna in 402, and it had been in Milan before that, not Rome. No longer the center of power as it had been for many centuries beforehand under both the empire and the republic, Rome was infamously sacked in 410 by the Visigoths under King Alaric I. The Supergoths. The Ubergoths. The Verygoths. The Turbogoths. All right, I'll stop. The Visigoths had formerly been a Roman client kingdom in the south of Gaul, which is the modern country of -- anyone?

Anyone? Anyone? Oh come on.

Yes, thank you Sarah, it was in fact France. See everyone? Not that hard. Now that we're up to speed, right, the so-called End of Rome in 476, when the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by Odoacer, general of the Ostrogoths. Not the Visigoths. Definitely different thing here. The Alsogoths. The Othergoths. The Ohgodthosegoths. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I swear I will actually stop. But the common narrative from then is that Rome just bloody disappeared altogether, the Dark Ages started, it was grim and miserable and murdery all the time, everyone forgot how to do scholarship or art or religion or anything else, and then miraculously a thousand years later, woo, the Renaissance! Everyone sorted their heads from their arses and could do maths again! I'm sorry about saying arses. Please don't report me to HR, they've had enough of me already. Anyway, this argument, despite its long-time supremacy in the Western historiographical canon and Western popular culture, doesn't make sense on any number of levels. And that is because? Can anyone give me just one reason to start with?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Sarah again, yes, thank you. I appreciate you greatly, Sarah. Yes, for one thing, the Eastern Roman Empire still bloody existed! It was literally that meme where we're announcing that Rome is dead, Constantinople wants us to stop telling everyone that they're dead, and we sigh that sometimes we can still hear their voice. Yes, I know what a meme is, don't look so surprised. The city of Constantinople became the center of Roman culture and power, though we call it the Byzantine empire to distinguish it from the pre-476 Roman empire. It used Greek instead of Latin as its primary culture and language, it was Orthodox Christian instead of Catholic Christian, and while it was no longer the multinational power player that its predecessor had been, it still produced some heavy hitters. Such as Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, who actually, albeit briefly, reconquered the territories of former Rome in the west, and was married to the very fascinating Empress Theodora. We'll have to get back to her, but anyway, in the territories of Former Rome, such as modern-day Spain, France, and Germany, there were still client kingdoms who were directly descended from Rome and who premised their new independence on their Roman inheritance. The Visigoths -- yes, them again -- in Spain, the Merovingians and the Franks in France, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in Germany, and other. So tell me, can we really say that Rome collapsed, exactly, and/or disappeared, instead of just dissipated and re-formed? We still had Latin as the language of state administration, the Roman Catholic Church as the supreme religious and cultural arbiter, and other major innovations that would last through the Middle Ages. Where does this whole Dark Ages thing come from?

Anyone?

Anyone aside from Sarah?

Oh, God's wounds. All right then. The idea that Rome disappeared overnight and took everything good with it is a projection, a fiction, popularized by proto-Renaissance and Renaissance writers who wanted to legitimize their look back into the past. We're getting ahead of ourselves, but the idea of the Dark Ages as this backward slovenly time of idiocy and misery -- it just gets me very worked up, all right?! Yes, written texts and certain other traditional markers of historic narrative became much scarcer than before, and we don't know as much about it as we do the more meticulously documented societies on either side, but it's only dark because we've decided that Rome, the brutal excessively slave-owning militaristic expansionist violent empire par excellence, was the marker of all culture and the peak of Western civilization for all time and nobody else could ever come close! This is how we get bloody Game of Thrones insisting that the medieval era was always filthy and dark and full of rape and violence and morally awful people -- so tell me, George, which part of your fantasy novel, the dragons or the ice zombies, were we expected to read as actual literal truth? It's just because we want to protect the idea of ourselves as so much better than people in the past, and the past itself as full of terrible violence that is somehow worse and more primitive than our violence, and that surely we could never do that because we're so much better! Which is total bullshit! Bullshit!

...yes. Thank you. Right. I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine, I apologize for that. Just a bit of a trigger for me. We'll get back to the lesson now, yes. I'm warning you, though. If you use Dark Ages uncritically in your essay, I am knocking you down a full grade. No matter what."

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day

Saint Artemius the Martyr

Died: 363

Feast Day: October 20

Patronage: archers, politicians, those suffering from hernias

Saint Artemius the Great Martyr of Antioch, was a distinguished military leader during the reigns of Constantine the Great and his successor and son, Constantius, who sent Artemius to bring the relics of the Apostles St. Andrew and St. Luke to Constantinople.

Constantius then rewarded him by making him the ruler of Egypt. Artemius zealously fought against pagans, destroying temples and idol images. When Julian the Apostate became emperor, Julian wanted to restore paganism. St. Artemius publicly denounced Julian, refusing to honor the pagan gods, which enraged Julian, who then took all his property and beheaded St. Artemius.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[whencyclopedia]

This map illustrates Constantine I's (also known as Constantine the Great, c.272 - 337) rise to power, beginning with his proclamation as emperor by his troops in 306 CE and solidified through key military victories, including the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE, which led to his conversion to Christianity. By 324 CE, he became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire after defeating Licinius...

[chicagotimesmagazine]

Constantine The Great: A Divine Conversion

By Chicago Times Magazine – July 24, 2024 The conversion of Constantine the Great, a pivotal moment for both Christianity and the Roman Empire, remains a blend of historical fact, legend, and theological interpretation. Often hailed as the first Christian emperor, Constantine’s embrace of Christianity was a complex interplay of political acumen, personal belief, and the evolving religious…