t if he should
ally himself to the Christian party, conspicuous advantages must
forthwith accrue to him. It would give him in every corner of the empire
men and women ready to encounter fire and sword; it would give him
partisans, not only animated by the traditions of their fathers,
but--for human nature will even in the religious assert itself--demanding
retribution for the horrible barbarities and injustice that had been
inflicted on themselves; it would give him, and this was the most
important of all, unwavering adherents in every legion of the army.
He took his course. The events of war crowned him with success. He
could not be otherwise than outwardly true to those who had given him
power, and who continued to maintain him on the throne. But he never
conformed to the ceremonial requirements of the Church till the close of
his evil life.

The attempt to make an alliance with this great and rapidly growing
party was nothing new. Maximin tried it, but was distrusted. Licinius,
foreseeing the policy that Constantine would certainly pursue,
endeavoured to neutralize it by feebly reviving the persecution, A.D.
316, thinking thereby to conciliate the pagans. The aspirants for empire
at this moment so divided the strength of the state that, had the
Christian party been weaker than it actually was, it so held the balance
of power as to be able to give a preponderance to the candidate of its
choice. Much more, therefore, was it certain to prevail, considering its
numbers, its ramifications, its compactness. Force, argument, and
persuasion had alike proved ineffectual against its strength.

[Sidenote: Influence of the reign of Constantine.]

To the reign of Constantine the Great must be referred the commencement
of those dark and dismal times which oppressed Europe for a thousand
years. It is the true close of the Roman empire, the beginning of the
Greek. The transition from one to the other is emphatically and abruptly
marked by a new metropolis, a new religion, a new code, and, above all,
a new policy. An ambitious man had attained to imperial power by
personating the interests of a rapidly growing party. The unavoidable
consequences were a union between the Church and State; a diverting of
the dangerous classes from civil to ecclesiastical paths, and the decay
and materialization of religion. This, and not the reign of Leo the
Isaurian, as some have said, is the true beginning of the Byzantine
empire; it is also the b