Chapter XLVII.--That he wrote a Letter in Condemnation of Idolatry.
Moreover, the emperor, who continually made progress in piety towards God, dispatched an admonitory letter to the inhabitants of every province, respecting the error of idolatry into which his predecessors in power had fallen, in which he eloquently exhorts his subjects to acknowledge the Supreme God, and openly to profess their allegiance to his Christ as their Saviour. This letter also, which is in his own handwriting, I have judged it necessary to translate from the Latin for the present work, in order that we may hear, as it were, the voice the emperor himself uttering these sentiments in the audience of all mankind.
Chapter XLVIII.--Constantine's Edict to the People of the Provinces concerning the Error of Polytheism, commencing with Some General Remarks on Virtue and Vice.
"Victor Constantinus, Maximus Augustus, to the people of the Eastern provinces.
"Whatever is comprehended under the sovereign [3194] laws of nature, seems to convey to all men an adequate idea of the forethought and intelligence of the divine order. Nor can any, whose minds are directed in the true path of knowledge to the attainment of that end, entertain a doubt that the just perceptions of sound reason, as well as those of the natural vision itself, through the sole influence of genuine virtue, lead to the knowledge of God. Accordingly no wise man will ever be surprised when he sees the mass of mankind influenced by opposite sentiments. For the beauty of virtue would be useless [3195] and unperceived, did not vice display in contrast with it the course of perversity and folly. Hence it is that the one is crowned with reward, while the most high God is himself the administrator of judgment to the other.
"And now I will endeavor to lay before you all as explicitly as possible, the nature of my own hopes of future happiness. [3196]
[3194] Or "fixed," "appointed."
[3195] By a conjectural reading Stroth makes this "fools," instead of "useless," and renders, "For fools would not otherwise recognize the charm of virtue."
[3196] [The remark of Valesius in reference to the difficulty of this chapter appears probable; viz. that it is partly to be attributed to Constantine's own want of clearness, and partly to his translator, who has rendered obscure Latin into still more obscure Greek.--Bag.]
Chapter XLIX.--Concerning Constantine's Pious Father, and the Persecutors Diocletian and Maximian.
"The former emperors I have been accustomed to regard as those with whom I could have no sympathy, [3197] on account of the savage cruelty of their character. Indeed, my father was the only one who uniformly practiced the duties of humanity, and with admirable piety called for the blessing of God the Father on all his actions, but the rest, unsound in mind, were more zealous of cruel than gentle measures; and this disposition they indulged without restraint, and thus persecuted the true doctrine during the whole period of their reign. Nay, so violent did their malicious fury become, that in the midst of a profound peace, as regards both the religious and ordinary interests of men, they kindled, as it were, the flames of a civil war. [3198]
[3197] The word means "having no share with," and sometimes "disinherited." It may perhaps mean, "I have been accustomed to think of the former emperors as having been deprived of their possessions on account," &c.
[3198] [The persecution of the Christians, with its attendant horrors, being the act, not of foreign enemies, but of their countrymen and fellow-citizens.--Bag.]
Chapter L.--That the Persecution originated on Account of the Oracle of Apollo, who, it was said, could not give Oracles because of "the Righteous Men."
"About that time it is said that Apollo spoke from a deep and gloomy cavern, and through the medium of no human voice, and declared that the righteous men on earth were a bar to his speaking the truth, and accordingly that the oracles from the tripod were fallacious. Hence it was that he suffered his tresses to droop in token of grief, [3199] and mourned the evils which the loss of the oracular spirit would entail on mankind. But let us mark the consequences of this.
[3199] This is translated by Molzberger, "Therefore the priests let their hair hang down," &c.