The reign of the emperor Constantine (306–337) was as revolutionary
for the transformation of Rome’s Mediterranean empire as that
of Augustus, the first emperor three centuries earlier. The abandonment
of Rome signaled the increasing importance of frontier zones in
northern and central Europe and the Middle East. The foundation of
Constantinople as a new imperial residence and the rise of Greek as
the language of administration previewed the establishment of a separate
eastern Roman empire. Constantine’s patronage of Christianity
required both a new theology of the Christian Trinity and a new political
image of a Christian emperor. Raymond Van Dam explores and
interprets each of these events. His book complements accounts of the
role of Christianity by highlighting ideological and cultural aspects of
the transition to a post-Roman world.