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The
Rise of Constantine the Great
by Steve Haas
In
order to understand Arthur, you have to have a little time-sense. Rome was in
the process of decay; Rome fell to Alaric, the Hun in 403, A.D., and this marked
the effective end of the Eastern Roman Empire, though it continued on in various
forms for a few years after. The story of Arthur is also the story of the fall
of the Roman Empire. I shall give a brief history of THAT as it relates to
Britain (don't worry, I'm not doing a Gibbons here, re-writing 'The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire.' Just insofar as Britain is concerned).
Arthur
lived in the period of 460 to about 540 A.D., so you can see, from these dates,
what was happening in Britain; they couldn’t depend on Rome anymore, and were
on their own, so to speak. Most of this story has to deal with the decline of
Roman power in Britain, and the attempts by the British to defend themselves
without the Imperial Legion.
You
have to understand, also, that Britain was important to Rome; it was the
breadbasket of Gaul (France); it supplied most of the food to support the Roman
Legions who were defending Gaul against barbarian attacks….and Gaul was
important to Britain, because it was the site of most of Rome’s strength. If
Gaul fell, Britain would be isolated. There was a very close relationship here,
and many British rulers had lands in Gaul.
We
shall start the story of Arthur in about 280 A.D. Britain had just recently
become the target for raids by the Angles and the Saxons; these were two
Germanic tribes who lived in and around Denmark. You can look upon them as
Vikings.
In
any case, Britain had no defense against these attacks, from the West. The
Saxons would land a few ships on Britain, each with about 75 men, spend a few
days raiding and, by the time help arrived, would be on their ships heading for
home.
The
Roman response to this was to create a British Navy, the Classis Britannica.
They put a man in charge of this called Mausaeus Carausis, a native of Roman
Belgicum (modern Belgium). He did a good job, but it wasn’t long before there
were charges of collusion with the Anglo-Saxons…and he was dismissed.
Rather
than taking this lying down, he declared himself Emperor, adding the Imperial
names “Marcus Aurelius” to his own…he defeated two Roman Fleets sent
against him and ruled Britain and Northern Gaul from A.D. 287 to A.D. 293.
In
A.D. 293 The Ceasar, or junior Emperor Constantius Chlorus (under the
short-lived political reforms institutued by Emperor Diocletion, Rome was ruled
by four Emperors at this time, two Senior and two Junior Emperors. Constantius
was one of the junior Emperors) finally defeated Carausis in a battle fought
near Bononia Morinorum (Boulogne) in north Gaul. Carausis was assassinated by
his own deputy in charge of finances, Allectus, and this is all we hear from
Carausis.
Constantius
Chlorus then proceeded to go pacify Gaul (which was in turmoil because of all
this fighting), while Alectus returned to Britain and declared HIMSELF Ceasar.
Well, it wasn’t too long before Constantius invaded Britain to attack Alectus
in 296. Alectus was defeated and beheaded.
Britain,
however, was in shambles with all this fighting, and the Picts, in the North,
took advantage of it to invade. They ravaged, pillaged and burned down as far as
Eboracum (York), in Britain, until Constantius led an army against them and
defeated them, decisively, in 306 A.D. Constantius, unfortunately, died at
Eboracum. His troops immediately proclaimed his son, Constantine, Emperor of
Rome, which, though highly illegal under the Diocletion reforms, was highly
popular with the Roman Armies.
Constantine
spent some time in Britain, garrisoning the country against the Barbarians, and
then led his legions out of Britain towards Rome. Civil War followed for many
years, but in 324, Constantine defeated his last rivals and was officially
proclaimed Emperor of Rome.
Constantine
was the last, great Roman Emperor. He stabilized the Empire, and was given the
name ‘the Great’ for his efforts. He ceased the persecution of the
Christians and adopted the Christian religion, himself, making it the official
religion of Rome. His reign was generally peaceful.
However,
a British Army commander had forcefully seized the throne of Rome. He was the
third Britain to declare himself Emperor in a very short period of time. The
Britains remembered the glory of this, and the precedent would be set, to
Britain's misfortune.
King Arthur written by
Steve Haas.
Copyright © 2001 Steve Haas
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