The Battle of Milvian Bridge

During the fourth century Christianity was spreading across Rome, and it would eventually become the main religion of the empire. This might not have happened however if it wasn't for the emperor Constantine and The Battle of Milvian Bridge. This famous battle was fought between two men who both wanted to become the next emperor. They were Constantine and Maxentius. This war had started when the precious emperor, named Diocletian, had abdicated. Maxentius had previously won two battles in Italy and had occupied the city of Rome; while Constantine’s army waited outside. Rather than be sieged Maxentius went out to fight. The battle took place in front of a bridge over the Tiber called the Milvian Bridge. The two events that make this battle so important are first that Constantine won and became emperor, and second the vision that Constantine had just before the battle. Lactantius, one of Constantin’s advisers, wrote that the night before the battle Constantine had a dream where he was told to paint the sign of the cross on to his soldier’s shields. Constantine then saw the sign of the cross in the sky, and he had visions of Jesus. Constantine’s subsequent victory converted him, and later the rest of Rome, to Christianity. Later Constantine would pass the Edict of Milan and make Christianity the official religion of the empire. The roman adoption of Christianity has greatly changed the world. All of Europe would eventually change from Pagan to Christianity. If Constantine hadn't had those visions, and if he hadn't won the battle, world history would be very different.