A highly illustrated study of the battle of the Milvian Bridge, a pivotal moment that saw the triumph of Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, and the adoption of Christianity as the official state religion of Rome.
In AD 312, the Roman world was divided between four emperors. The most ambitious was Constantine, who sought to eliminate his rivals and reunite the Empire. His first target was Maxentius, who held Rome, the symbolic heart of the Empire. Inspired by a dream sent by the Christian God, at the Milvian Bridge region just north of Rome, he routed Maxentius' army and pursued the fugitives into the river Tiber. The victory secured Constantine's hold on the western half of the Roman Empire and confirmed his Christian faith, but many details of this famous battle remain obscured.
This up-to-date volume identifies the location of the battlefield and explains the tactics Constantine used to secure a victory that triggered the fundamental shift from paganism to Christianity.
Autorentext
Dr Ross Cowan is a British author and historian. He is a specialist in Roman warfare and makes occasional forays into Scottish military history. For more information, and examples of his work, please visit independent.academia.edu/RossCowan
Seán Ó'Brógáin lives and works in Donegal, Ireland. He has a BA (Hons) in scientific and natural history illustration from Blackpool and Fylde College (Lancaster University).
Inhalt
Introduction
Chronology
Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Opposing plans
The campaign
Aftermath
The battlefield today
Further reading
Index