Constantine's Great! York's Roman Emperor To Return To The City

Statue of Constantine the Great found in York and the first known portrait of him. © Yorkshire Museum

Graham Spicer avoided being thrown to the lions long enough to get the lowdown on a forthcoming Roman blockbuster...
York may be better known for its connections with Vikings and the Wars of the Roses, but a major new exhibition has been announced that will show how 1700 years ago it also saw the proclamation of one of Rome's best known emperors.
Constantine the Great: York’s Roman Emperor will open on March 31 2006 at The Yorkshire Museum, York and examines the life of Constantine the Great, the emperor who promoted Christianity with profound implications for the spread of the church.
“Without the strong support of a Roman Emperor, Christianity might not have survived,” said Dr Christopher Kelly, Roman historian and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. “Without Constantine the political and religious history of Europe would be strikingly different.”

Gold coin of Constantine from AD316. © Ashmolean Museum

Constantine was born in AD272 or 273 at Naissus in modern-day Serbia, son of the Emperor Constanius. But it was in the Roman stronghold of Eboracum, now York, that in AD306 Constantine was proclaimed emperor by his troops on the death of his father. They were both on a military campaign against Scottish tribe the Picts.
“His destiny meant that his story began in York, and his extraordinary achievements give us a worthy subject to celebrate,” said exhibition curator Elizabeth Hartley.
Back in Rome, however, the usurper Maxentius seized power and Constantine confronted him at the Battle of the Malvian Bridge. Constantine is said to have embraced Christianity after having a vision on the eve of his decisive victory there.

The Hinton St Mary Mosaic, which features an unbearded Christ, unique for a Roman mosaic. © British Museum

“Over the next 20 years, Constantine made his convictions absolutely clear,” explained Dr Kelly.
“In Rome it was Constantine’s generosity that paid for the first St Peter’s on the Vatican Hill…He also founded the first Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”
“We are looking at one of the great visual revolutions in the development of Western Art,” he added.

Ornate Roman leather shoes from the time of Constantine, still in amazing condition after all these years. © Victoria and Albert Museum

Christian symbolism began to dominate the Roman world as Constantine promoted religious toleration. He also presided over the Council of Nicaea in AD325 from which the Nicene Creed was formed, still used almost unchanged today during Holy Communion.
He founded Constantinople, as a new Rome and centre of empire, and died there in AD337. The Yorkshire Museum has gathered more than 270 rare objects and artworks chronicling his life and times for the exhibition. Support from the British Museum has been key, although a total of 36 museums and private collections across Europe are loaning important exhibits.
“It is as close as you can get to what the emperor would have seen or been aware of himself,” explained Elizabeth Hartley.

The Water Newton Hoard of silverware. © The British Museum

These include a sculpture of Constantine’s head found in York, believed to be the earliest portrait of the emperor, the fourth century Hinton St Mary mosaic which features the only head of Christ found on a Roman mosaic, and the Water Newton Hoard of silverware.
It is expected to be one of the UK’s biggest new tourist attractions in 2006. The Yorkshire Museum houses an extensive permanent collection of Roman items and the building’s Multangular Tower occupies the west corner of a former legionary fortress.
The city of York itself was the headquarters of Roman Britain’s northern military command at the time of Constantine.


http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/time/roman/art31934