Labarum, [33] an
obscure, though celebrated name, which has been vainly derived from
almost all the languages of the world. It is described [34] as a long
pike intersected by a transversal beam. The silken veil, which hung down
from the beam, was curiously inwrought with the images of the reigning
monarch and his children. The summit of the pike supported a crown of
gold which enclosed the mysterious monogram, at once expressive of the
figure of the cross, and the initial letters, of the name of Christ.
[35] The safety of the labarum was intrusted to fifty guards, of
approved valor and fidelity; their station was marked by honors and
emoluments; and some fortunate accidents soon introduced an opinion,
that as long as the guards of the labarum were engaged in the execution
of their office, they were secure and invulnerable amidst the darts of
the enemy. In the second civil war, Licinius felt and dreaded the power
of this consecrated banner, the sight of which, in the distress
of battle, animated the soldiers of Constantine with an invincible
enthusiasm, and scattered terror and dismay through the ranks of the
adverse legions. [36] The Christian emperors, who respected the example
of Constantine, displayed in all their military expeditions the standard
of the cross; but when the degenerate successors of Theodosius had
ceased to appear in person at the head of their armies, the labarum
was deposited as a venerable but useless relic in the palace of
Constantinople. [37] Its honors are still preserved on the medals of
the Flavian family. Their grateful devotion has placed the monogram
of Christ in the midst of the ensigns of Rome. The solemn epithets
of, safety of the republic, glory of the army, restoration of public
happiness, are equally applied to the religious and military trophies;
and there is still extant a medal of the emperor Constantius, where the
standard of the labarum is accompanied with these memorable words, By
This Sign Thou Shalt Conquer. [38]

[Footnote 29: Nomen ipsum crucis absit non modo a corpore civium Romano
rum, sed etiam a cogitatione, oculis, auribus. Cicero pro Raberio, c.
5. The Christian writers, Justin, Minucius Felix, Tertullian, Jerom, and
Maximus of Turin, have investigated with tolerable success the figure
or likeness of a cross in almost every object of nature or art; in the
intersection of the meridian and equator, the human face, a bird flying,
a man swimming, a mast and yard, a plough