Most battles in history only change matters in the short term, such as with the transfer
of a piece of land or the payment of a war indemnity. Some battles are said to change
the course of history for centuries or even millennia after they take place, due to the
significance of the conflict. The outcome of the decisive Battle at the Milvian Bridge
shaped the religious future of the Roman Empire, and maybe the world, for centuries to come
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Previously we have covered the events of the Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman empire
with its plagues, civil wars, and economic problems, and constant incursions by Germanic
tribes and the Sassanid Empire. As these difficulties progressed, Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor
by his soldiers in 284. A year later he defeated his Imperial rival, Carinus, at the Battle
of the Margus River, claiming the Empire for himself.
His reign would prove to be a stabilising force after the mayhem of the third century.
Sole rulership had proven unstable for the empire, so after his victory, Diocletian moved
to Mediolanum and made his comrade Maximian Caesar of the West, forming the Diarchy system.
Maximian marched west to deal with rebellions in Gaul and Britannia, while Diocletian went
east, winning a battle against the Sarmatians and making peace with the Sassanids. Then
in 286, he promoted his co-emperor to the rank of Augustus. Although they were now technically
the same rank, Maximian was clearly the junior colleague in the relationship and Diocletian
would continue to make rulings affecting the entire empire.
In 293, the Diarchy evolved into the Tetrarchy. To the East, Diocletian, ruling from Nicomedia,
appointed another of his senior officers, Galerius, as his Caesar, who operated from
Sirmium in the Balkans, while in the west, Maximian, governing from Mediolanum, appointed
Constantius as his successor, whose capital was in modern Trier in Gaul.
Diocletian instituted this rule of four in an attempt to form a stable inheritance system,
which seemed to possess some qualities which made the second century so prosperous. The
two senior partners, the two Augusts, would adopt their appointed Caesars as their sons
and appoint them heir-apparent. In addition, the caesar would marry a daughter of their
senior partner. The four co-emperors were a part of the so-called ‘imperial college’.
During November of 303 Diocletian travelled to Rome and celebrated the 20th anniversary
of his rule, with Maximian at his side. Also in his Imperial retinue was a 31-year-old
military tribune, Constantine. This young ward was the son of western caesar Constantius,
and had served as the right-hand man of Diocletian and Galerius since 293. It seemed evidently
clear that he was being groomed for the imperial college.
Diocletian was struck by a vicious illness on his way back to Nicomedia and became unable
to rule. In May of 305 the frail old Emperor announced his abdication to the army, and
Galerius succeeded him as the Eastern Augustus. Constantine stood on the tribunal with the
Imperial duo, expecting his promotion to Caesar. However, Galerius considered him too ambitious
and ignored him in favour of a nephew - Maximinus, who could be used as a puppet.
At the same time an identical ceremony in Mediolanum saw Maximian step down and be replaced
by Constantius, the father of Constantine. Galerius attempted to influence the events
in the West, scheming to make Severus, who was loyal to him, the western Caesar instead
of Maximian’s son Maxentius. Constantine and Maxentius would not stay idle, and would
eventually cause the first fracture of the Tetrarchy.
In this summer of 305 Constantius summoned his son from the East to join him in a campaign
against the Picts. He was not satisfied with the succession settlement dictated by Galerius,
and intended to introduce Constantine to his troops as his preferred heir. After a year
of fighting his father’s troops, they declared him Augustus in modern day York upon the death
of Constantius during July of 306. When Galerius discovered news of this usurpation
he was angered, and refused to acknowledge Constantine’s succession as senior Emperor.
However, he would grant Constantine the title of Caesar, with which he was, for the moment,
satisfied. To the south, in Rome, this succession also prompted Maxentius, to act. When Galerius
declared that taxes would now be levied on the city of Rome, the citizens, Praetorians
and urban cohorts were furious. They declared Maxentius Princeps, as he promised not to
introduce taxes on the eternal city. He was supported by the regions in the south of Italy
and importantly, Africa, which controlled the majority of Rome’s grain supply.
If Galerius was angered by Constantine’s usurpation, he was furious at the same act
perpetrated by Maxentius, whom he despised. Severus, who was a fellow puppet Augustus
of Galerius, was ordered to destroy the usurper in Rome. In early 307 Severus left Mediolanum
with a powerful field army and approached the city’s massive walls. Intimidated by
the colossal city, the army deserted when Maxentius offered lavish bribes to its commanders.
Severus was captured and killed. Maxentius now controlled all of the Italian Peninsula.
In the summer of the same year, Galerius himself crossed the alps and marched south with another
army. Despite adding the defectors from Severus to his forces, Maxentius knew that Galerius
was a capable commander and wisely withdrew behind the walls. Realising the difficulties
of besieging such a massive city, Galerius took time to negotiate with Maxentius. This
gave the princeps time to dispatch agents to the enemy siege camp to offer more bribes
in exchange for defections. Surprisingly this worked again, and Galerius was forced to retreat
after losing a portion of his army. During their withdrawal, the eastern Augustus allowed
his defeated troops to plunder the country, which only angered the local population. With
this victory, Maxentius declared himself Augustus. Galerius raised his lieutenant Licinius in
place of the now dead Severus. But the Caesars Constantine and Maximinus, the latter of which
proved to be less of a puppet than expected, were not satisfied with this. Under pressure,
Galerius modified the imperial college to consist of four Augusts in 310. In the same
year Maxentius had to quell a rebellion in Africa to secure his food supply.
In April of 311, Galerius passed away from illness and the stage was set for the decisive
conflict. Constantine was rallying a huge army and made an alliance with Licinius, while
Maximinus finally granted Maxentius the official recognition he was looking for, afraid of
Licinius’ growing power. In early spring 312, Constantine finally crossed the Alps
and won two major battles in northern Italy, at Turin and Verona. At the second of these
battles, Maxentius’ most senior commander was killed.
He then marched down the Via Flaminia, arriving near Rome in autumn. Constantine and his army
arrived in the area of the Milvian Bridge on the 27th of October, where his army set
up camp and began to prepare for battle. At this point, a famous event occurred which
has been repeated throughout the ages as a key moment in the history of Christianity.
The sources differ, but it is clear that at some point in the evening before the battle,
Constantine had a vision. Eusebius claims that he was told by Constantine that, while
marching, he looked up at the sun and saw a cross of light in the sky above it, along
with the words ‘In this sign, you shall conquer.’ He ordered his men to mark their
shields with the first two letters of Christ’s name: Chi-Ro [kai-rho].
As Maxentius, was a devout follower of Rome’s pagan faith, the conflict at the Milvian bridge
has since been seen as a battle between Christianity and Paganism. Unlike the previous invasions
of Italy, Maxentius left the strong walls of Rome and decided to engage his numerically
inferior opponent in a pitched battle. Let us now take a moment to discuss the composition
of the two armies. After his victories against Severus and Galerius,
sources state that Maxentius probably had around 100,000 soldiers to defend the entirety
of his new realm. The core of his army consisted of the Praetorian guard, Imperial Horse Guards
and the Urban Cohorts of Rome. Deserter legionaries also formed a substantial part of Maxentius’
forces. In addition, after his ascension, Maxentius began to levy heavily from Africa
and Italy. It is likely that Maxentius had around 30,000 troops at the Milvian Bridge,
Although Constantine had around 160,000 legionaries from the western provinces, he had only brought
around 40,000 soldiers across the Alps into Italy and it is likely that he lost many soldiers
during the campaign, leaving him with no more than 25,000. His force was divided into four
categories: elite Praetorian and Scutarii guardsmen, some of which had proclaimed him
Emperor in York, legions, and auxilia forces from the Germans and Britons. Constantine’s
left wing, closest to the river, was manned by a strong two division cavalry force whereas
his right was weaker. On the morning of the 28th of October 312,
Maxentius led his armies across a boat bridge and formed up on a plain near Tor Di Quinto,
while Constantine’s forces organised opposite them The plain at Tor Di Quinto was situated
at a bend in the Tiber which meant that both armies had their backs to the river. The Constantinian
infantry had arrayed itself in a traditional two-line battle formation, with a small reserve
force in the rear, whereas the Maxentian infantry formed up in two defensive square formations,
due to the limited space available on his section of the field. Maxentian believed that
the impossible nature of retreat would make his troops fight better.
Constantine himself opened the battle, charging with his elite first cavalry division into
the enemy vanguard and routing it almost instantly. This charge was seen as the signal for his
first line of infantry to charge the front enemy square, manned by Maxentius’ Praetorians
and veterans. Both sides threw their javelins, charged at one another in a shield wall and
drew their swords for the melee. Maxentius’ hardened frontline troops held
firm and could not be dislodged initially, leading to both sides suffering casualties.
On Constantine’s left, it looked as if the Maxentian cavalry would collapse quickly,
but it was steadied by the reserves. On the right, the second Constantinian cavalry division
charged and scattered the small Maxentian cavalry force, then pursued them towards the
Milvian bridge to cut off the enemy’s retreat. Back on the left flank, Maxentius’ reserves
were only a momentary reprieve as Constantine readied his cavalry once again. He then charged
at this weak point. Under this overwhelming pressure, the Maxentian cavalry collapsed
and left the defensive square vulnerable, which was surrounded by Constantine’s forces.
The remainder of Maxentius’ horsemen, as well as the unengaged second square of fresh
recruits turned and fled towards the bridge, which became crammed with frantic and fleeing
soldiers. Maxentius himself was caught up in the rout of his own army, attempted to
swim across the Tiber and drowned along with many of his men, while many more were butchered
on the banks. To the north, the trapped and surrounded Praetorian square decided to take
a last stand against Constantine’s forces. Unlike the rest of Maxentius’ army, which
fled and were slaughtered with their backs to the Tiber, the Praetorians were spared
by Constantine, who admired their courage. Overall casualties are unknown, but the short
length of the battle seems to indicate that the Constantinian army only suffered light
casualties, whereas Maxentius’ army suffered greatly in its defeat.
The day after the battle, the defeated Maxentius’ corpse was found on the riverbank. Constantine
entered Rome and claimed the entirety of the West for himself. At the same time, his ally
Licinius would defeat Maximinus to claim the the East in 313. However, the alliance between
the two was not to last. After Licinius began to persecute Christians in his new realm,
Constantine attacked and defeated him at the Battle of Chrysopolis in 324, reuniting the
Empire in his name. From this point, The Roman Empire would increasingly become a Christian
realm, disregarding the pagan gods of its past.
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