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The Battle of Milvian Bridge – a clash between good and evil, or was it?

The Battle of Milvian Bridge – a clash between good and evil, or was it?

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, fragment, Giulio Romano, Raphael's Stanze, Apostolic Palace

Without a shadow of a doubt, we can say that this battle was one of the most significant clashes in the history of Western civilization. For centuries Christian commentators have described it as a struggle between good and evil, in which thanks to divine intervention, Constantine was able to defeat paganism. What would have happened if victory instead came the way of his rival – Maxentius? Would the empire have been united once again? Would Christianity have become a state religion as rapidly as it had? Would it have happened at all?

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Giulio Romano, Raphael's Stanze, Apostolic Palace, pic. Wikipedia

Battle at the Mulwijski Bridge (fragment), Giulio Romano, Raphael's Stanze, Apostolic Palace

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Andrea Camassei, San Giovanni Baptistery

Without a shadow of a doubt, we can say that this battle was one of the most significant clashes in the history of Western civilization. For centuries Christian commentators have described it as a struggle between good and evil, in which thanks to divine intervention, Constantine was able to defeat paganism. What would have happened if victory instead came the way of his rival – Maxentius? Would the empire have been united once again? Would Christianity have become a state religion as rapidly as it had? Would it have happened at all?

These questions will forever remain without answers. We can only look at the historical facts and try to separate them from legends, which abound when it comes to this event.
The struggle between two Roman armies, led on one side by Maxentius and the other by Constantine, took place on the 28th of October 312. Both the leaders were de facto usurpers, who took power against the system of tetrarchy introduced by Emperor Diocletian. Up to that time, they had cooperated with each other, even more so they were a family. The wife of Constantine was Fausta – the stepsister of Maxentius, on the other hand, the stepsister of Constantine married Maxentius's father – Maximian. When, however, Constantine's armies proclaimed him the emperor, leading his forces, assured of their military prowess, he began the march from the northern reaches of the empire towards Rome, gaining victories along the way against the forces of Maxentius. Defeating him, and taking over the city on the Tiber, meant assuming all power in the Western empire, and this was the main aim of the young general. When, several kilometers north of Rome he set up camp, and prepared for the siege, Maxentius, who had a larger army at his disposal could feel safe, behind the strong walls surrounding the city. At that time he ordered the Sibylline Books to be brought forth, which were a collection of oracular utterances, while also ordering sacrifices to be made to the gods, he asked the priests for advice. The message he received caused him to come out and meet Constantine in the field of battle. Why? That is one thing we will probably never find out. He ordered a makeshift bridge to be constructed out of wooden barges so that in the case of the battle tide turning against him his soldiers could retreat safely into the city.

On the day of battle, Maxentius’s forces crossed the Tiber and damaged the Ponte Milvio, so as not to allow the enemy to enter Rome. Seven kilometers from the banks of the river, Constantine’s forces blocked their path near the Red Rocks (Saxa Rubra). Maxentius's army did indeed have greater numbers, however, Constantine's forces consisted mainly of soldiers from Britannia, Germania, and Gaul, being more motivated and better trained.
At the onset of battle, both forces had regiments of cavalry on their flanks, while footmen stood in the middle. The cavalries of Constantine drove off the mounted soldiers of Maxentius and surrounded the infantry, driving them towards the shore of the Tiber. The makeshift bridge did not hold as the panicked soldiers swarmed upon it. Along with the men it sunk to the bottom and the same fate befell their leader. At that time the battle turned into a bloodbath – thousands of Maxentius's soldiers died. The next day Constantine had the body of his enemy, and brother-in-law, quartered, while his head was placed upon a spear and in a grand procession was carried into Rome. And that is how the Battle of Milvian Bridge ended. Let us, however, return to that famous struggle between good and evil, in which Constantine, as a Christian, played the main role and all thanks to the divine intervention which has been described and immortalized for centuries. How did it come about, that his smaller army was able to defeat the larger forces of Maxentius? Was it a miracle that led to the defeat of the second usurper? Nearly ten years after the battle the principal supporter of Constantine, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, recalling the words of the emperor claimed, that prior to the clash he had a dream in which a cross in the sky appeared to him and he heard the words "In this sign thou shalt conquer”. And it was based on this that Christians proclaimed Constantine the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire – converted in a miraculous way and supported in the struggle with the overwhelming forces of the enemy by the Christian God.

Subsequent years would show, that although Constantine bestowed his attention, money, and land upon Christians, he himself was not one of the faithful despite the alleged miracle. He had never taken part in the Eucharist, for the simple reason that only the baptized could take part in it, while Constantine was only baptized upon his deathbed. Yet according to Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea since the very moment of the miraculous victory, he claimed himself to be the subject of Christ, however, this can neither be confirmed in historical sources nor in the objects of material culture, such as coins or the Arch of Constantine, funded by the Roman Senate. In fact, they all prove that at that time Constantine worshipped another god, by the name of Sol Invictus. It is also difficult not to notice that Maxentius who ruled in the city on the Tiber for merely six years, and who for centuries had been depreciated by the Church, did more for Rome than Constantine had ever done throughout his long life. However, as we know the facts matter little for the propaganda machine. That is why the struggle for power of two young ambitious generals was turned into a story of an evil Maxentius – hated by the people tyrant and usurper – and the good Constantine, later named by the representatives of the Church, Great, even a saint, who became the savior and liberator of the Romans.

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