Constantine the Great

 Alright, here we go again. Recently in church history class, we started discussing about the Dark Ages and Christianity during these times. One of the names that came up was Constantine. I had learned about Constantine in my eighth grade history class, and he has interested me since then. When I found out that we had to do a report on for our semester grade (again), I knew exactly who I was going to do it on. Constantine the Great. This paper will be about how Constantine fought under the Christian banner, and went on to Rome.
 In the year 312 AD, Constantine had finally decided that it was time to lead his army over the Alps into Italy and take command of it. To do this, he would have to fight his rival, Maxentius. If he was victorious, he would be the sole emperor of the west. Constantine's entire future, and his life was at stake. (Walworth, Page 61)
 Constantine knew that success would be very difficult. His army would be going to unknown lands, and the type of fighters they would encounter, Constantine's generals encouraged him to forget about this plan. But he pressed forward in his plans. In the winter, he made his men make more and more weapons for the upcoming battle. By the early summer, they were ready to invade Italy.
 By this time, Constantine himself began having doubts on the battle which was coming forth. He began to be unsure of himself. Then suddenly he had a vision. A cross in the sky was seen by his entire army. Constantine also had a dream where, he said Jesus came to him and told him to put a monogram of his name on the shield of his men, and on his helmet. If he would march under this talisman, he would be victorious in Italy. (Walworth, Pages 61-64)
 Constantine knew that Maxentius and his men would pray to Jupiter Maximus, the God of 1000 years of Roman Victories, so if the Christian God could beat Jupiter Maximus, that would be enough for him to go from pagan to Christian. (Walworth, Page 65)
 On October of 312 AD, with a brand new sense of confidence, his army advanced towards the gates of Rome. As they marches, Constantine got news that Maxentius left Rome and crossed the Tiber River to meet Constantine along a narrow valley. This was the worst move that Maxentius could make. Constantine thought that the powerful God of the Christians caused Maxentius too make this bad move. (Walworth, Page 65)
 When the two armies met at the narrow valley, Constantine realized that he could destroy Maxentius's army by out flanking them. When Constantine flanked, Maxentius's army was totally confused, and ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Since they knew that the fight was lost, they ran in a while retreat. During this retreat, Maxentius was pushed into a river and drowned. Later Constantine's men found his body, cut off his head, put it on a pike, and presented it to Constantine. (Walworth, Page 69)
 Constantine said that his dream proved the power of the Christian god, and that Christianity was critical to his success. This victory was the start of many victories to come as he fought under the Christian banner. (Walworth, Page 69)
 When Constantine came to Rome, he was a newly Christian convert and the sole ruler of the entire western half of the Roman Empire. Crowds of people lined up to see him with the head of the former emperor on a pike. Most of the people did not know what the symbol on Constantine's helmet was, but the Christians recognized it as the monogram of Christ-CH and R-which was written in Greek. (The Catholic Encyclopedia)
 Constantine can rightfully claim the title of "Great" because he turned the history of the world into a new direction, and made Christianity the religion of the state. (The Catholic Encyclopedia)
 I found out a lot of new things about Constantine the Great while I was researching for this paper. It shows how you can accomplish anything, even when others tell you that your efforts are going to waste, if you strongly believe in God.