Fourth Century
Death of Constantine and Julian the Apostate

The Death of Emperor Constantine
Emperor Constantine was a hero for most of the fourth century Christian bishops. Not only did he decree that it was illegal to persecute Christians, he made it illegal to persecute followers of ANY religion. However, Constantine went further: he also decreed that all buildings/property confiscated by the State be returned or paid for quickly. Then he gifted churches with new buildings, codex copies of the Bible and employed bishops to help in the administration of the judicial system.

The Empire After the Death of Constantine the Great
Political intrigue was a constant within the Roman imperial system, and continued after Constantine. The various religious factions opposed to Nicaea quickly sought out upper-class allies in hopes of either altering the official creed or gaining protection. In fact, it could be argued that Nicaea played as much a role in forging a concrete Arian identity as it did a Nicene one. Most of these groups were collectively labeled Arian by the orthodox clergy, but unlike the Donatist in North Africa who were opposed to any state church, the collective Arian minority was large enough and popular enough to gain some political influence. As the heirs of Constantine prepared to compete for succession and power, these disaffected Christians sensed opportunity. Some were able to win the support of several within the court, including tacit toleration by Constantine and open support by Constantine's own son, the future emperor, Constantius II.

Constantine died in 337 after receiving baptism by Eusebius of Nicomedia, a defender of Arian theology who had grudgingly renounced his beliefs and accepted Nicene orthodoxy. The next fifty years were dominated by a series of civil wars as his sons tried to assert themselves and maintain power. The youngest, Constans (337-350) killed one brother and successfully ruled the West as a supporter of the Nicene church. His eldest brother, Constantius II (ruled 337-361) embraced the outcast Arian church in the East, probably in part to offset Constans' support within Nicene Orthodoxy.

The Reign of "Julian the Apostate"
It is important to remember that Constantius only had to tolerate Arian clergy to differentiate himself from his brother. Constans was murdered in a coup in 350 and three years later Constantius became the sole emperor. After the death of Constantius in 361, his nephew Julian became emperor (361-363). Julian had witnessed the virulent conflict between Christian sects and had seen the supposedly "Christian" Constantius murder Julian's brother. This may help explain his decision to repudiate Christianity when he took over.

The reign of Julian was too short to seriously hinder the growth of Christianity, but he did issue edicts limiting Christian practices within pagan spaces and limiting their role in secular government. Also, as a self-professed apostate, he significantly weakened the Christian claim to be the religion of the enlightened elite. Most importantly, he continued the efforts Constantius had made to recognize Arian clergy. Julian probably thought that increased religious friction would weaken the Christian influence across the empire. By the 360s there were at least three major church hierarchies (orthodox, Arian, and Donatist) competing for political influence, seeking to win converts, and arguing that local churches should submit to their authority. Note: this is only within the Roman Empire. There were also separate church hierarchies in Axum (South of Egypt) and Armenia.

Julian died while invading Persia and his generals offered the throne to a respected pagan official, but he refused. Their second choice was a Nicene Christian soldier named Jovian (ruled 363-364). This anecdote is important because it shows that while Christian doctrine and identity are crucially important to narrators like Eusebius, they clearly are not carrying the same weight in the political arena. Jovian was neither selected nor rejected based on his Christian faith. He had served on Julian's personal bodyguard team for several years. It is critical to remember that the majority of Roman citizens and the government were NOT Christian. "Christians" of all flavors made up around 30% of the population - this is probably a generous estimate. There were areas, like in Antioch, where Christianity was the majority, but this was the exception rather than the norm. Pagan temples were still operating throughout the empire.