In this sign you shall conquer

[Majorianus Invictus]

I was watching the series from BBC, Ancient Rome; Rise and Fall of an Empire, and it was extremely well acted I must say. The series I watched dealt with Constantine. Now at the moment of his sign from God, they depicted a comet slamming into the ground, not to far from his marching army, which Lactantius exploited as a sign from God. Of course the smoke trail of the comet looked much like the symbol he painted on the shields of his army.

 

Is there any reference for a possible comet? I have seen mention of the signing being a possible solar halo. I was curious as to the thoughts of the group here at UNRV.

 

as always, thank you for your time.

 

H. Bassianus Invictus

[caldrail]

The shape was in the clouds, presumably a gap through which the sun shone. At any rate, I'm not aware of any astronimical event. It makes little difference because Constantine wasn't exactly being honest. He needed a rallying call, a unifying factor, and used christianity for his own ends. It may well be he was talking out of his subligaria and no such vision was actually revealed, but then, soldiers were notoriously superstitious and easily manipulated.

[Viggen]

...maybe this could be of interest to you Helvidius;

 

http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc061903.html

 

cheers

viggen

[Majorianus Invictus]

Thank you Viggen. Very interesting indeed!