th; Galerius died the next year; in A.D. 312
Maxentius fell before the arms of Constantine, and was drowned in the
Tiber while attempting to make his escape. It was during this campaign
that Constantine is said to have seen the miraculous cross in the
heavens.

The Roman Senate paid unusual honors to Constantine; games and festivals
were instituted in memory of his victory over Maxentius, and a triumphal
arch was erected, whose imperfect architecture shows the decline of
ancient taste. The Arch of Trajan was stripped of its ornaments to adorn
that of Constantine.

[Illustration: Arch of Constantine.]

The new emperor introduced good order into the administration of the
West, revived the authority of the Senate, and disbanded the Praetorian
Guards; he revoked the edicts against the Christians, and paid unusual
deference to the bishops and saints of the Church. The Emperor Licinius,
who had married his sister, in A.D. 313 defeated and put to death
Maximin, so that the empire was now shared between Constantine and
Licinius.

The former now summoned a council of bishops at Arles to suppress the
heresy of the Donatists, but, before it met, was forced to march against
Licinius, who had conspired against him. Licinius was defeated in two
battles, and forced to give up a large part of his dominions to his
conqueror. Constantine next defeated the Goths and Sarmatae. Licinius
had assumed the defense of Paganism, while Constantine raised the
standard of the Cross. The last struggle between them took place near
Adrianople; the Pagan army was defeated and put to flight, and in A.D.
324 Licinius was put to death. Thus Constantine reigned alone over the
empire of Augustus.

At the famous Council of Nice, which met in A.D. 325, the doctrine of
the Trinity was established, Arianism condemned, and at the same time
the emperor was, in effect, acknowledged to be the spiritual head of the
Church. But an event now occurred which must have destroyed forever the
happiness of Constantine. He was induced to put to death his virtuous
son Crispus, through the false accusations of his wife Fausta, and when
afterward he discovered the falseness of the charges made against
Crispus, he directed Fausta and her accomplices to be slain.

Rome, which had so long been the capital of the world, was now to
descend from that proud position and become a provincial city. When
Constantine returned to Rome after the Council of Nice, he found himself
assai