APPENDIX 567
genius pop. Rom., and with Sol, but certainly not in the two first cases, perhaps not in the last case, after 315 a.p. Further, Constantinian coins with Juppiter were not struck in the west, but in the mints of Licinius. Thus we may say that between 315 and 323 pagan emblems were disappearing from Constantine’s coinage, and indifferent legends took their place, such as Beata tranquillitas.
We also find coins with 4 , a8 a sign of the mint ; and at the end of Constan- tine’s reign a series of copper coins was issued in which two soldiers were repre- sented on the reverse holding the labarum, that is a flag with the monogram fg.
We see then two stages in Constantine’s policy. At first he removes from his coins symbols which might offend his Christian soldiers and subjects whom he wished to propitiate (this is Schiller’s interpretation) ; and finally he allows to appear on his money symbols which did not indeed commit him to Christianity, but were susceptible of a Christian meaning.
(2) Laws. After the great Edict of Milan, 312-3 a.p. (which, according to Seeck, was never issued), the following measures were taken by Constantine to put Christianity on a level with the old religion. (1) 313 a.p., the Catholic clergy were freed from all state burdens. (2) 313 (or 315), the Church was freed from annona and tributum. (3) 316 (321), Manumissions in the Church were made valid. (4) 319, (1) was extended to the whole empire. (5) 320, exception to the laws against celibacy made in favour of the clergy, allowing them to inherit. (6) 321, wills in favour of the Catholic Church permitted. (7) 323, forcing of Christians to take part in pagan celebrations forbidden, On the other hand, a law of 321 (Cod. Theod. xvi. 10, 1) forbids private consultation of haruspices, but allows it in public. [Cp. further Seuffert, Constantins Gesetze und das Christenthum, 1891.
(3) Evszsrus describes in his Ecclesiastical History (bk. x. 1 sgq.) a number of acts of Constantine after his victory over Maxentius, which attest not only toleration but decided favour towards the Christians. He entertains Christian priests, heaps presents on the Church, takes an interest in ecclesiastical questions. There is no reason to doubt these statements ; but Schiller urges us to remember (1) that Eusebius does not mention what favour Constantine bestowed on the pagans, and (2) that, when the final struggle with Licinius came and that Emperor resorted to persecution, policy clearly dictated to Constantine the expediency of specially favouring Christianity. In general, according to Schiller, from 313 to 323 Constantine not only maintained impartial toleration, but bestowed positive benefits on both the old and the new religion. The account of Eusebius is'a misrepresentation through omission of the other side.
One or two points may be added. Eusebius states that after the victory over Maxentius Constantine erected a statue of himself with a cross in his right hand at Rome. This statement occurs in Hist. E. ix. c. 10, 11; Paneg. ix. 18 ; Vit. C. i. 40. Is this to be accepted as a fact? A statement in H. E. is more trust- worthy than any statement in the Vit. C.; and Brieger thought that in this case the passage in H. E. is an interpolation from that in the Vit. C. (Ztsch. f. Kirchengesch, 1880, p. 45). But Schultze (ib. vii. 1885, 343 sqg.) has shown that Eusebius mentioned the statue in question, in his speech at Tyre in 314 a.p., from H. E. x. 4, 16. This adds considerable weight to the evidence.
In regard to the monogram g » Rapp in his paper, Das Labarum und der Sonnenkultus (Jahrb. des Vereins von Altertumsfreunden im Rheinlande, 1866, p- 116 sqqg.), showed that it appears on Greco-Bactrian coins of 2nd and 1st centuries B.c. It appears still earlier on Tarentine coins of the first half of the 3rd century. It is not clear that Constantine used it as an ambiguous symbol ; nor yet is there a well-attested instance of its use as a Christian symbol before A.D. 323 (cp. Brieger in his Ztschr. iv. 1881, p. 201).
Several examples of the Labarum as described by Eusebius are preserved ; I may refer especially to one on a Roman sarcophagus in the Lateran Museum.
For ‘‘ Christian emblems on the coins of Constantine the Great, his family and his successors” see Madden in the Numismatic Chronicle, 1877-8.
