242 PERSECUTION UNDER GALERIUS. but, for the most part, they still preferred death. In different provinces, different modes of torture were used; and every plan was devised to make the suffering as great as possible without destroying life. In some places the accused were scorched with boiling lead, or had sharp reeds thrust under their nails: great numbers were deprived of an eye, or a leg, and sent to work in the mines. In Palestine, which was under the immediate control of Galerius, all were compelled to sacrifice: and, whilst many apostatized to save their lives, others rashly offered themselves for martyrdom, and irritated their judges; giving examples of the two extremes of natural feeling uncontrolled by the Spirit of Christ. We can hardly suppose that all who suffered tortures and death were prepared for the crown of life; for many proud and bold spirits are ashamed to deny a profession that they have once made, uniting their opinions with themselves, and not holding fast for the Lord's sake. Eusebius of Caesarea, the historian, upon whose authority the accounts of this persecution chiefly rest, remarks that the heavy scourge was needful; and speaks of the fitness of particular chastisements to the nature of the case; curiously remarking that the pastors, who had so long neglected their charges, were condemned to take care of camels, or to feed the emperor's horses. Maximin, however, took example from the established church order and discipline; and hoped to strengthen the national religion by introducing a united system of priesthood somewhat resembling that of the Christians. New high-priests were chosen from among persons of the highest ranks; and priests were appointed in every city and village, and distinguished by the white mantle usually worn only by the ministers of the palace. In A.D. 310, Galerius was attacked with a disease of the most dreadful nature; his body, bloated with intemperance, was covered with ulcers which bred worms; and, it is said, the palace at Sardis, where he resided, was intolerable on account of his state of corruption. When the poor emperor found that his physicians and idols could do him no good, he sent forth an edict, permitting the Christian prisoners to go free, and releasing the confessors from the mines: he also allowed the Christians to rebuild their places of worship, and entreated that they would pray for his health. But he only survived his pro TYRANNY OF MAXENTIUS. 243 clamation a few days; and died in torments far worse than any he had inflicted, for his mind was tortured as well as his body. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, after vainly striving to fight against him. These are the words of the Lord Jesus, "I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke xii. 4, 5). CHRISTIANITY. CHAP. XLI. CONSTANTINE AND LICINIUS. -MAXIMIN'S ATTEMPTS AGAINST STORY OF CONSTANTINE'S VISION.- REAL POWER OF THE CROSS. CONSTANTINE'S VICTORY. -THE VICTORY OF LICINIUS.-RENEWAL OF CIVIL WAR.-DEATH OF LICINIUS. IN A.D. 311, after the death of the elder emperors, Constantine formed an alliance with Licinius who had the Illyrian provinces; and Maximin made an agreement with Maxentius which only increased the misery of their respective subjects. The pride of the tyrant of Italy was only equalled by his vices; and he often declared that he alone was emperor, and the three others, only his lieutenants in the frontier provinces. The people of Rome, who had before mourned on account of the neglect and absence of the emperors, had now reason during six years to lament their chosen sovereign's presence. The soldiers were the only class that Maxentius desired to please; and he would even dare to give them the villa, or the wife of a Roman senator, as the reward of obedience to his commands. After the death of Maximinian, Constantine had caused his statues to be thrown down; and the emperor of Rome, who had cared so little for his father during his life, affected great zeal in revenging this insult after his death; and desired that the statues of Constantine in Italy and Africa should be treated in the same contemptuous manner. This war with images 244 MAXIMIN'S OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. prepared their minds for war with each other; and Constantine was glad to receive a secret embassy from the Senate and people of Rome, begging him to come and deliver them from the tyranny of Maxentius. It After the death of Galerius, Maximin so far respected his edicts as to refrain from open persecution: but he injured the Christians yet more deeply by the plans that he adopted. seemed as if the adversary had learned, by long experience, that the Church could not be destroyed by violence, and was determined to try other means. Writings, full of blasphemy, were circulated by Maximin's authority as the acts of Pilate and of Christ; and these were to be taught in all schools in order to bring up the rising generation with hatred or contempt for the name of Jesus. Some wicked women at Damascus were bribed to make a false report of the nature of the Christian assemblies; and this was copied and circulated by the emperor's command. At Tyre, an appeal in his own handwriting was posted up, calling on the inhabitants to witness to the prosperity they had enjoyed since the worship of Jupiter had been restored: the good harvests, freedom from sickness, &c. It is said that Maximin was about to circulate appeals of the same nature throughout his dominions, when he was prevented by a general drought which was followed by a famine: and these evils were succeeded by a plague of inflamed ulcers which spread over the bodies of many of the people; but chiefly affected the sight and occasioned blindness. We are informed that the Christians, during these calamities, busied themselves in visiting the diseased, and in distributing food to their famishing countrymen. Constantine, in the meantime, was assembling an army for the invasion of Italy; and, in order to keep up his friendship with Licinius, during the approaching contest with Maxentius, he offered him his sister Constantia in marriage. But the emperor of the West was still doubtful of success: and, it is related that, whilst he was hesitating as to which of the gods would be most likely to favour his undertaking, he saw a light more brilliant than the noontide sun appearing in the sky in the form of a cross, with a Greek inscription, signifying "In this overcome." He declared that Christ himself appeared to him in a vision the following night, and desired him to take the cross as his standard, instead of the images usually borne before : POWER OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 245 the army in battle. If Constantine were really deceived by some extraordinary appearance instead of being a wilful deceiver of others, as some have supposed, we know that it must have been by the power of Satan in transforming himself into an angel of light and it is not impossible that the adversary, being weary of fruitless opposition, as suggested above, took a new method of deceiving the nations, by appearing as the fellow-worker and supporter of the Church. It is certain that, if the vision of Constantine had been of God, as that of Paul, it would have had the same humbling effect: and he could never have made the cross the means of obtaining worldly glory and dominion. For when the apostle said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," he does not fail to add, "whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." The cross of Christ teaches separation from the world for the powers of the world crucified the Lord of glory. The cross of Christ teaches the desperate wickedness and deep degradation of man; and was never intended to be the instrument of exalting the men of this world. The cross of Christ proves that his servants must not fight, because his kingdom is not from hence. The cross of Christ shows the rejection of the service of twelve legions of angels. Then who but the arch-enemy, the father of lies, could have given Constantine the idea of the ensign of the cross, saying, “In this overcome." : It is only those who have themselves been overcome, humbled, and subdued, by a spiritual understanding of the meaning of the cross of Christ, that can, in any sense, overcome by its means. And the enemies they overcome are not flesh and blood, not armed hosts, but the world, whose vanity and wickedness they have learned by the cross; the principalities and powers of darkness, whom they have seen triumphed over there; the flesh, which they have seen put to death there. It was impossible for Constantine to overcome by this power; for, as one of those who glory in their shame, and mind earthly things, he was, in fact, among the enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil. iii. 18, 19). The victory of Constantine over Maxentius does not appear miraculous when it is considered, that the Italian forces were weakened by long repose and luxury, while the legions of Gaul had been constantly exercised against the hardy barbarians. 246 DEFEAT OF MAXENTIUS. Moreover, Constantine had not only the hearts of his own soldiers, but the goodwill of all Italy: as Maxentius was thoroughly hated. The passage across the Alps was no longer the perilous undertaking it had been in the days of Hannibal : but, in their march along a good military road, the Gallic troops were supplied with provisions by a civilized and submissive peasantry. Constantine vanquished the first army sent to oppose him, in the plains of Turin, and from thence advanced to Milan, and took possession of the imperial palace. Many of the cities of Italy then openly declared in his favour; and a march of four hundred miles brought the conquering army within sight of Rome. At Verona, another battle was fought when thousands were left dead on the field; and, within a few miles of the capital, a terrible slaughter was made of the troops which Maxentius commanded in person. It is said, the Prætorians fought in despair, believing that Constantine would show them no mercy; and the greatest part of them died in the places where they stood. When the Moorish and Numidian cavalry who supported them were defeated, the feeble Italians fled at once: and Maxentius, in trying to escape over the bridge into the city, was forced into the water by the crowds that were hurrying by him, and sank under the weight of his heavy armour. The body was found the next day; and the severed head, exhibited to the people, convinced them of their deliverance from the tyrant, and enabled them to receive Constantine with every expression of delight, A.D. 312. The grateful Senate immediately proclaimed him to be the first in rank of the three remaining emperors; and Constantine, in return, professed to restore them to their ancient dignity but it was very evident that he intended to be absolute in the exercise of his power. Not satisfied by the death of : At Maxentius alone, he caused his two sons to be executed. the same time he put an end to the Prætorian guards for ever: their camp was destroyed, and the few, who survived the final battle, were dispersed through the legions in different parts of the empire. Thus Rome was left defenceless; and its citizens fell again under the taxation, from which they had hoped to escape by setting up Maxentius. Constantine commemorated his victory by placing a spear in the form of a cross in the hand of his own statue at Rome; and by the erection of a triumphal arch, which was called by |