tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post2417718099602573889..comments2024-02-04T03:57:19.271+01:00Comments on Zenobia: Empress of the East: All Roads Lead To ... EmesaJudith Weingartenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06683483030413488309noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post-38155115730426451912007-03-12T11:49:00.000+01:002007-03-12T11:49:00.000+01:00This is an intriguing idea. And it fits very well ...This is an intriguing idea. <BR/><BR/>And it fits very well with the lesser-known western version of the story of Constantine's baptism: while it is generally accepted that he was baptised on his deathbed (as described by Eusebius: that is, the eastern version), there is a different western account (included in the Actus Sylvestri) which claims that he was baptised by none other than Pope Silvester.<BR/><BR/>Silvester had been elected pope in 314, so this could only have happened -- if it ever did -- when Constantine visited Rome in 315, at the time he began construction of the <A HTTP://PENELOPE.UCHICAGO.EDU/THAYER/E/GAZETTEER/PLACES/EUROPE/ITALY/LAZIO/ROMA/ROME/ARCH_OF_CONSTANTINE/HOME.HTML> Arch of Constantine</A>.<BR/><BR/>For a thorough discussion of this question: M. Amerise, Il battesimo di Costantino il Grande. Storia di una scomoda eredità . (Franz Steiner, 2005). With a very good review in English at <A HREF="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2006/2006-04-03.html" REL="nofollow"> by Jan Willem Drijvers</A><BR/><BR/>I am still wondering what was going on between Constantine's death and the known inauguration of the church of San Silvestro in 761 AD. I'll try to learn more when I'm in Rome, perhaps later this year.Judith Weingartenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06683483030413488309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post-49159892302271595532007-03-11T05:39:00.000+01:002007-03-11T05:39:00.000+01:00If I recall correctly, Constantine hedged his cele...If I recall correctly, Constantine hedged his celestial bets for quite some time, minting coins with Sol Invictus well into the 320s. We know that Constantine knew his end was near in early 337; perhaps dedicating the building to the recently-departed Sylvester was a gesture that went part-and-parcel with Constantine's so-called "deathbed conversion" a few months before his own death. In addition to helping the tally on his Christian ledger, it would have had the aesthetic virtue of echoing the honors previously afforded to deified emperors/pontifices.David Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02416064825544118818noreply@blogger.com