La Théologie de la victoire de Constantin à Théodose (review)

Constantine's unexpected turnabout suddenly put Christian apologists on the spot. Many were prepared to modify the traditional connection between emperors' pietas for the pagan gods and their military success into a new connection between emperors' victories and their support for orthodox Christianity. In this process of accommodation two problems quickly became apparent. One was the difficulty of finding a proper role for a Christian emperor, even as theologians groped to find proper roles for the members of the Trinity. A second was the increasing pressure on the frontiers that made it necessary to explain imperial defeats as often as imperial victories within a Christian perspective. In his investigation of this new theology of imperial success (and failure) Heim discusses the writings of several prominent authors from the fourth and early fifth centuries, some of them Christian bishops, some still unrepentantly defiant pagans.

The first cluster of authors wrote, predictably, about Constantine and his dynasty. The emperor himself stressed both his dependence on divine assistance and the extent of his personal piety; Lactantius promoted the importance of appealing for God's assistance by describing the horrors that pagan emperors suffered; Eusebius was prepared to locate Constantine in a long biblical tradition, but without ever solving the problem of the emperor's relationship with God the Father and the Logos: "the equivocations of his trinitarian theology appear again in the equivocations of his political theology" (p. 80). Firmicus Maternus challenged Constantine's sons not to compromise with paganism; in dealing with Constantius, an Arianizing emperor who was nevertheless victorious over various usurpers, Lucifer of Cagliari tried to distinguish success in this life from the heavenly rewards of true faith. Heim is particularly acute in discussing the influence of the Old Testament in shaping Ambrose's thinking about Christian politics and his own role in providing pastoral guidance for emperors. In this perspective, Theodosius' capitulation before Ambrose was simply a confirmation of the continuation of biblical times. The remaining authors from the later fourth century seem to be added as counterpoint, or perhaps afterthoughts, to the model of Ambrose. The pagan historian Ammianus continued to stress the virtues that had once preserved the empire; not surprisingly, he found "the model of military courage" in the emperor Julian (p. 204). Julian in fact would have been an interesting addition to Heim's lineup, since he was a successful general in Gaul even though he was a pagan and had learned about soldiering from books, by reading Caesar's Gallic War. The poet Claudian emphasized the intervention of pagan gods in human affairs; the Christian poet Prudentius added a nice twist by claiming that it was the duty of the Roman Empire to assist in the spread of Christianity; and finally Paulinus of Nola added still another new factor by claiming that St. Felix had contributed to the defense of the Empire against the barbarians.

These discussions of Christian theological writings in particular provide an interesting supplement to M. McCormick, Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Early Medieval West (1986), an excellent and highly recommended study of the lingering influence of Roman imperial ceremonies long into the medieval and Byzantine periods. Heim's observations are consistently acute and thoughtful, even if sometimes a bit longwinded and facile. The problem is figuring out what they add up to. Despite the chronological progression of authors this is not a historical study, since Heim discusses only in general terms both the wider social context and the specific controversies that influenced these authors. And he introduces some dubious historical characterizations: the "certitude" that identified the age of Constantine (even though after his "conversion" Constantine continued to support paganism and was influenced by Arianizing bishops); the "hesitations" that marked the age of Theodosius (even though Theodosius issued a series of heavy-handed constitutions that finally banned paganism and heresies); the fourth century in general as another example of an...