HISTORY 355 



who had abdicated with Diocletian, was replaced by his 

 son Maxentius, who in the year 306 was declared 

 emperor at Rome. Thereafter great confusion and 

 dissension arose, there being six claimants for the 

 empire, and Maximian re-entered the political arena. 

 In 312 A.D. civil war broke out between Constantine 

 and Maxentius. When near Rome, the former defeated 

 his opponent, who was drowned and afterwards decapi- 

 tated. Eleven years later, he defeated the last of his 

 opponents. In the year 324 Constantine became sole 

 sovereign of the entirely re-united empire. With Con- 

 stantine two notable events took place : the first of 

 these was that the seat of the empire was transferred 

 from Rome to the newly built Byzantium, now Constan- 

 tinople. The second event, which was of inexpressibly 

 more importance, was that for the first time, in the 

 person of Constantine, Christianity mounted the im- 

 perial throne, which thenceforth, save for the brief reign 

 of Constantine's nephew, the Emperor Julian from 

 361 to 363 A.D. continued officially Christian till 

 the extinction of the last shadow representing it was 

 abolished, 1806 A.D. 



Such being a brief sketch of landmarks in the civil 

 and political history of Rome, it but remains to con- 

 sider briefly the religion and philosophy of the Roman 

 people. A knowledge of these, together with Roman 

 political history down to Constantine, may enable the 

 student to understand how the Roman civilisation, 

 acting on races settled within the empire, has produced 

 that European world which now exists. 



The religion of the Romans was very different 

 from that of Greece. Their gods mostly survivals of 

 the deities of the tribes whose union founded Rome 

 had hardly any legendary histories such as those which 



