Page 5 - What Constantine News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The members of that church were, a kind of hierarchy, sort of modelled on the roman army. >> bishops were the most senior church members in that particular city. >> because rome was the capital and the center of the empire, the bishop of rome becomes the leader of the other bishops, a position that will eventually become known as pope. for 200 years after peter's crucifixion, christians roman emperors. persecuted by until an unlikely hero emerges. >> constantine was a great military commander. and when it was his turn to become a junior emperor, he decided to fight his competition. >> constant...

Barbarians to the north. after a series of invasions and bloody clashes, the barbarians overthrow the last emperor of rome. the eternal city, once home to 2 million people, is reduced to less than 30,000. once the political and spiritual center of the empire, rome is now almost abandoned and stays that way for nearly 200 years. >> rome in the sixth century was muddier, and messier, and perhaps less efficiently governed than it had been in the time of constantine. >> rome is not a good place to live. it's very dangerous, the standard of living is very low. >> rome was virtually gone.

Gone from an outlawed sect to the ruling force of the western world. >> constantine was both the head of the state and the head of the church. he was still a roman, and in the old roman religion, the emperor was the chief priest. constantine definitely took that approach to his faith rather than what we would now think of as more of a separation of powers. >> despite christianity's new political advantage, after centuries of being persecuted for not believing in the roman gods, christians are now killing each other in disputes over church doctrine. >> constantine needed a way to bind this empi...

After a series of invasions and bloody clashes, the barbarians overthrow the last emperor of rome. the eternal city, once home to 2 million people, is reduced to less than 30,000. once the political and spiritual center of the empire, rome is now almost abandoned and stays that way for nearly 200 years. >> rome in the 6th century was muddier and messier and perhaps less efficiently governed than if it had been in the time of constantine. >> rome is not a good place to live. it's very dangerous. the standard of living is very low. >> rome was virtually gone. the church's center was in

Constantine commissioned spectacular building projects in christ's name throughout the empire. among the most famous of them, the church of the holy speepulce in jerusalem. >> it's one of the holiest places in christiandom. the slab on the floor is the place they say jesus was buried. >> but almost as soon as christians were free from roman persecution, they begin fighting with each other. >> the biggest problem was doctrine. in some people's eyes, jesus was born of a woman, he can't be divine. there's big questions whether is jesus human, divine, both? >> you would think this is hair splittin...