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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ003125S
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00:44 He merged them into an Empire that lasted for centuries
01:02 This is historic, a story of romance, intrigue, power, 01:09 and conquest. 01:21 This is the town of Nis, right in the heart of Serbia. 01:26 and it's a very old town. In ancient times the Romans 01:31 called it Naissus and it was right here some 1700 years ago 01:36 that a baby was born under a cloud of illegitimacy 01:40 to a very humble and insignificant village girl. 01:44 And that baby would grow up to rule an empire and completely 01:49 transform the world. 01:51 And this is the ancient land of Israel 01:54 2,500 kilometers away where another even better-known baby 02:00 was born some 2,000 years ago to another humble village girl. 02:05 and that baby also grew up to completely change the planet 02:10 undeniably to an extent unmatched by any other child in history. 02:17 In this series, we'll be looking at these two incredible men 02:21 men in whose shadow we still live today. 02:23 Their fingerprints are all over the world. In fact, 02:28 they've shaped the way we live, the way we think, 02:31 and the way we believe. 02:33 This is their story. It's a story of how their lives were 02:38 destined to cross and come together in an explosive 02:41 clash of empires. Empires that span the ages and know 02:46 no boundaries. This clash of empires still reverberates 02:51 around our world today. 03:16 Let's start with the first of these powerful men. 03:19 You may have heard his name though you might not know much 03:22 about why he matters. His name was Constantine, 03:27 Constantine the Great. 03:30 In the year A.D. 271 a tired Roman military tribune 03:36 Flavius Claudius Constantinus led his men back from fighting against 03:40 the Sarmatia's, a large confederation of 03:43 ancient Persians that had been slowly making their way westward 03:47 for several centuries. 03:49 Eventually with the help of Germanic tribes like the Goths 03:53 they started pushing into Roman territory, something the 03:57 Roman Empire couldn't allow. 04:00 Constantinus was a great Roman commander and he had defeated 04:05 the enemy decisively and on his way back he traveled the road 04:10 that brought him through Naissus, present-day Nis, 04:13 one of the oldest cities in the Balkins. It's often called 04:17 the Gate of East and West because it's located at the 04:21 crossing of important roads that connect Europe with 04:24 the Middle East and Asia. 04:26 It was the crossroads between the east and the west 04:30 and was an ideal place to rest at least for a night. 04:34 And back then when Constantinus stopped for the night 04:39 it was already a thriving center with numerous houses, buildings 04:43 and crucially and Inn. And this Inn becomes very important 04:49 to our story. You see rank and file soldiers probably 04:53 spent the night in a field next to the village 04:55 but not an important officer like Constantinus, oh no, 05:00 he secured lodgings at that local Inn, probably the best one 05:04 in town. There he could get a meal, a good night's sleep, 05:09 and something else that soldiers sometimes look for when they 05:13 are in town, a little company for the evening. 05:16 According to the story, Constantine asked the local 05:21 Innkeeper to find a female companion for the night, 05:25 now that might not be an unusual request 05:28 but how the Innkeeper responded was highly unusual. 05:33 The Innkeeper must have certainly been impressed 05:37 by Tribune Constantinus Flavio's because he did the unthinkable, 05:43 he sent for his 16-year-old virgin daughter 05:47 her name was Helena. 05:50 While he was sleeping later that night Constantinus 05:54 experienced a guilty conscience about what he had done. 05:58 His bad dreams that night made him fear that he'd offended 06:02 the gods because of what he'd done with young Helena. 06:06 And so early the next morning he quickly packed up 06:10 and wasted no time in leaving town and returning to his men. 06:15 But just before he left, as if to make amends 06:19 he gave the Innkeeper his purple officers cape 06:23 which had a buckle with his initials on it. 06:25 And he told him to keep his daughter safe and that if she 06:29 bore a child, to protect that child as the apple of his eye. 06:34 And then Constantinus turned and left, probably thinking 06:39 that he would never see the young woman again. 06:42 But what Constantinus didn't know was that 16-year-old Helena 06:47 was in fact pregnant. In due course, she gave birth to a son 06:52 who she named Constantine which means, little Constantinus. 06:57 However, his father had no idea little Constantine existed 07:03 and we don't know whether the boy knew who his father was 07:06 either. 07:08 While Constantine the peasant boy was growing up in 07:12 sleepy Naissus, his father's life was taking a turn for the better. 07:15 Constantinus now 33 years old was summoned by the 07:21 Roman emperor Carus and told that he was to be appointed 07:24 the governor of Dalmatia, a region located in Modern Day 07:29 Croatia. This was a huge promotion for Constantinus 07:34 because Dalmatia was a key Roman territory. 07:37 Through it, the empire controlled the flow of trade 07:41 between east and west. 07:43 To be governor was an appointment where 07:46 you could easily get rich, it meant that Constantia's 07:50 was on the way up and going places. 07:53 This could have been it for Helena and Constantine, 07:56 a peasant mother and her child. People like them had no way 08:01 of contacting the elite of Roman society is like Constantia's. 08:05 There was a vast social gulf between them that couldn't be 08:10 bridged. But when Constantine was nine years old 08:14 something happened that changed the course of history. 08:18 It was chance, or maybe it wasn't. A group of Roman Calvary 08:24 stopped to spend the night at that same Village Inn 08:27 at Naissus and in the morning when they came out to the barn 08:32 they found young Constantine teasing their horses 08:35 they were so angry at this audacious peasant boy 08:39 that they started to beat him. His mother now in her mid-20's 08:44 heard the commotion and came rushing out of the house 08:48 and into the barn yelling at the soldiers STOP IT! 08:52 don't you know who this is? He's the son of the governor. 08:56 The soldiers looked at her stunned and then 09:00 started laughing. How could this peasant woman's son belong to 09:04 the Roman Governor? Do you take us for fools they said? 09:09 She replied with, I swear by the gods that I am telling 09:13 the truth and then she told them the story. 09:16 When she had finished to prove it she ran back to the house 09:20 and brought back the officers cape that Constantinus 09:24 had given her all those years ago. 09:27 Imagine the panic men must have felt when they saw 09:31 the governor's initials on the buckle. 09:33 They had indeed been beating the governor's son. 09:37 However instead of keeping quiet about it, 09:40 the soldiers did the right thing, they went and told 09:44 the governor that he had a son in the village of Naissus 09:47 and they told him that the boy was the spitting image 09:50 of his father. 09:52 Well, the governor could have been annoyed or he could have 09:55 been delighted, in fact, he was delighted and he sent for 10:00 Helena and for his son. Helena now was 26 years old 10:04 and she and the boy were welcomed into the home of 10:07 the governor with open arms. 10:10 This must have been a huge culture shock for this 10:13 woman and son from the small village. 10:15 They only knew the small world and hard life of Naissus 10:20 and now, they were in a palace with marble columns, gardens 10:25 and luxurious baths. They had landed in the highest circles 10:30 of Roman society. 10:33 Flavio's Constantinus even found Helena attractive enough 10:37 to consider marrying her. However Roman law didn't allow 10:42 Constantinus to marry a peasant woman as his full wife 10:45 the social divide was simply too great. But the law allowed 10:50 for a lesser form of marriage called matrimonium concubinato. 10:55 This kind of marriage also gave his son the full legal rights 10:59 due to a son, particularly the rights of inheritance 11:04 so that's what Constantinus did. 11:06 Constantinus also decided that his new family needed to 11:10 come up to standard in certain areas like education, 11:14 they were illiterate and could only speak the local language 11:18 and no Latin or Greek. So Constantinus quickly appointed 11:23 tutors to start the work of teaching them both to read 11:27 and write. They both progressed in their studies, 11:30 the boy Constantine in particular took quickly to 11:34 education and well he might, because he grew up to become 11:39 emperor and receive the name Constantine the Great. 11:44 His ideas and bold decisions shaped and transformed 11:48 the world forever be making him a true Game Changer. 11:53 Although the duties and responsibilities as Emperor 11:59 took him away Constantine never forgot his hometown. 12:04 During his reign Naissus developed into a cultural 12:08 economic and military center based around a luxurious 12:12 Roman Palace decorated with magnificent mosaics and 12:16 monuments. He often resided here and attended 12:20 to state affairs including the passing of several 12:23 important laws. The Imperial Residence was also used by 12:28 Constantine and six later Roman Emperors as a place of rest 12:31 along their long journeys across the empire 12:34 and also as a place of solitude during preparations for war. 12:39 Today it's called Mediana and is one of most important 12:44 archaeological sites in the region. 12:46 It's covered by a great awning to help preserve and protect it 12:51 archaeologists continue to meticulously uncover 12:54 its treasures and bring it to life once again. 12:57 Remember I said we were going to talk about two of the most 13:02 important men in all of history? Well, I'd like to consider now 13:06 the other one who was to become even more important 13:10 in shaping our civilization than Constantine himself. 13:14 I'd like to start the very center of Imperial Power 13:19 Rome itself. This is Ponte Fabricius. 13:24 It's a bridge that connects two parts of the city of Rome 13:28 over the Tiber River, it's probably the oldest structure 13:32 in the neighborhood because it was built some 60 years 13:36 before the birth of Jesus Christ. 13:38 The fascinating thing about this bridge is that it's been in 13:42 continuous use since it was built until this very day. 13:47 It's a remarkable example of Roman engineering. 13:51 You see, the Romans were builders, they built an entire 13:57 international infrastructure of roads, bridges, aqueducts 14:01 and so on. And all of this helped to weld together 14:05 the massive empire that they had built. 14:08 This empire consisted of hundreds of different cultures 14:12 and nationalities, there were Jews to the east, Barbarians 14:16 to the north and the ancient civilization of Greece, Persia 14:21 and North Africa all in one empire that was remarkably 14:25 stable and peaceful. 14:26 Outside of the Roman Empire there was always the threat 14:31 of some invader or another. 14:33 But within the boundaries of the empire, it was generally safe 14:37 and a pretty good place to live. 14:39 That's if you put aside the brutality of the Romans 14:42 and the slavery and all of that. But that's the price 14:46 you pay for the Pax Romana, the Roman peace. 14:49 In return, from Northern Europe to North Africa and from Spain 14:55 to the far reaches of the Middle East, people could count on 14:59 Roman water, Roman Roads, and Roman Law. 15:03 And compared to most of the societies of the time 15:07 Rome was remarkably tolerant in matters of religion 15:10 people had almost total freedom as to what god they worshiped 15:15 and how. One of the reasons why this vast amalgam 15:19 of cultures worked well for so long was that the Romans 15:24 had a larger than life person at the top and that was 15:28 the Emperor. As long as you respected him, 15:31 all would be well, in fact you could worship whatever god 15:36 you pleased as long as you also respected the deity of the 15:40 emperor. Now of course people knew that the emperor 15:45 wasn't really a god, but that wasn't the point. 15:48 The point was that he represented the authority 15:53 of Rome. It wasn't really a big deal for the people 15:57 of that time. Usually all they had to do was offer a tiny 16:02 pinch of incense to the emperor once in a while on special days 16:06 like his birthday and then you could go back to your normal 16:10 life. But the Jews were an exception they refused to offer 16:16 their worship because their Holy Book forbade Idolatry. 16:20 And they were the only people in the whole empire who actually 16:25 were exempt from offering incense to the emperor. 16:28 That's because the Jews have been very helpful to 16:31 Julius Caesar in the past and in return, he passed laws 16:36 that excused them from sacrificing them to the emperor 16:39 forever. As long as they did one thing and that was to pray 16:44 for the emperor. 16:45 But then there was another group of people, the Christians. 16:50 At first glance the Christians and the Jews 16:54 didn't seem that different, in fact, for a while people saw 16:59 Christianity as just one of the various sects of Judaism. 17:03 But the Romans soon found out that with the Christians 17:07 they were dealing with a whole new kettle of fish. 17:10 And it was one they couldn't get their heads around at all. 17:15 You see, you have to try to understand Christianity 17:18 from the Romans point of view. The Romans had no problem with 17:22 all the different religions of the empire, 17:24 to them it was all very logical to understand. 17:28 Each race or country had their own religion, the Romans had 17:33 their own national religion, and so did the Egyptians 17:36 and the Greeks and so on. 17:38 So they could understand that the Jews had their religion. 17:43 These were all legitimate religions because they were 17:46 all ancient beliefs that belonged to a specific culture. 17:50 It was all neat and easy to understand. 17:54 The words the Romans gave to these legitimate religions 17:58 was Religio. Now the word sounds familiar because that's 18:04 where we get the English word Religion from. 18:06 But Christianity was very different, it had just burst 18:12 on the scene seemingly out of nowhere early in the 18:15 first century. It was a faith that didn't belong to any 18:19 specific country or race. 18:21 People everywhere embraced it, it knew no boundaries. 18:25 And the Romans were deeply suspicious of anything 18:28 that wasn't part of the established order like that. 18:31 And because it wasn't rooted in ancient traditions and 18:35 practices, it was filled with what the Romans considered 18:39 foolish ideas. 18:41 It's leader had been executed and the Romans thought that 18:45 anyone who had made a hero out of a man who had been 18:47 crucified by Roman law, let alone call Him God 18:51 had to be both a lunatic and a traitor. 18:54 But the Christians didn't stop there, they went on to say 18:59 that their leader had risen from the dead. 19:01 Now the Romans believed that death was the end, 19:05 no one ever came back from death. It was as we might say it 19:10 scientifically impossible. To them the idea was 19:14 pure nonsense, it wasn't even in their Roman roof, 19:18 and what made it even worse was that these Christians 19:23 said that this crucified criminal was coming back from 19:26 heaven to put an end to the whole Roman Empire 19:29 and establish His own Eternal Kingdom. 19:33 That's what the sacred book the Bible predicted in it's 19:37 prophecy's, it predicted the rise and fall of many 19:41 Empires, including Rome. 19:43 Here's how the prophet Daniel described it in Daniel 7:14. 20:09 And then of course there was the Lord's Prayer that the 20:12 Christians were taught to pray regularly. Here's what it says 20:16 in Matthew 6:9-13. 20:35 To the Roman mind these kinds of ideas were seen as highly 20:40 treasonous in the extreme against the Empire 20:44 after all, the Roman Empire was intended to last forever. 20:50 And then, to make matters worse all sorts of false rumors 20:55 swirled around regarding what Christians believed and 20:58 how they lived. They were accused of the most vile and 21:02 evil practices so this was another problem. 21:06 The Romans had a word for this kind of non-traditional 21:09 and non-racial religion, they called it Superstitio. 21:14 And if that sounds familiar to you, it's because its where 21:18 we get our English word Superstition. 21:21 To the Romans, Christianity wasn't worthy to be classed 21:26 as a proper religion, it was just a lot of crazy 21:30 superstitions. After all, the word was that this new faith 21:35 had been started by some uncivilized and uneducated 21:39 Jewish teacher from the back- water of Palestine to the 21:43 Romans that was laughable in itself. So the Romans considered 21:49 Christianity to be seditious, treasonous against the Empire 21:54 and positively harmful to the moral fabric of society. 21:59 This was a clash of Empires, a clash between Rome and 22:05 Christianity. 22:11 All of which brings us to the other baby who changed the 22:14 world. He too was born under the shadow of the Roman Empire 22:18 He too was born of humble peasant stock in a small village 22:22 no one had ever heard of. 22:24 He too was born under a cloud of illegitimacy, his real father 22:30 was also far more powerful than anyone could have imagined. 22:35 He too was an unlikely king who changed the world 22:40 forever. His name of course is Jesus. 22:44 Jesus of Nazareth! The very one whom the Christians 22:49 worshiped as God. 22:51 Now, the Christians despite all the false rumors about 22:57 their beliefs were actually good citizens in every sense 23:01 except just for one thing. For them emperor worship 23:06 was out of the question, their worship was reserved for Jesus 23:12 alone. And when it came down to it, to refuse to worship 23:16 the emperor was to reject the authority of the empire 23:19 itself and that made them traitors. 23:22 And as we know, the Romans didn't take kindly to traitors. 23:27 It all came to a head in A.D. 64 when a great fire broke out 23:34 in Rome. The Roman population blamed the mad Emperor Nero 23:38 and Nero blamed the Christians as a convenient scapegoat. 23:43 It's really amazing that this happened only around 33 years 23:48 or so after the crucifixion of Jesus and already Christianity 23:53 had spread from Judea all the way to Rome. 23:56 In just a few years it had reached the very heart 24:01 of the empire. The new religions centered in Jesus Christ 24:06 was capturing the hearts and minds of its citizens 24:09 and its beliefs, values, and principles clashed 24:13 with those of Rome. So it's no wonder that the Romans 24:18 considered Christianity a serious threat to their empire. 24:22 It was feared and hated and its followers were persecuted 24:26 but the problem was the more Christians were persecuted, 24:30 the faster it grew. This truly was a clash of empires, 24:36 the battle lines are set. 24:39 We had the births of two babies with amazing similarities, 24:44 we have two men who are going to rule two great empires 24:47 and in due time their paths are destined to cross. 24:52 And when these two empires collide, the results are 24:58 going to be incredible, they will impact in ways that will 25:02 determine the shape of our very shape of our civilization 25:05 how we act and think. 25:07 We'll continue with the next dramatic chapter in this story 25:11 in our next program. However, you can see the battle lines 25:16 shaping up. Which side, which empire will prove triumphant? 25:21 The Roman Empire or Christianity? 25:24 The empire of this world, or the kingdom of God. 25:28 The answer may surprise you because there's a strange twist 25:32 to this clash of empires there's more than meets the eye. 25:36 Here's what the Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, 13. 26:13 If you've enjoyed today's program on Constantine the Great 26:16 and would like to dig deeper, then I'd like to recommend 26:19 the special gift we have for all our viewers today. 26:23 It's the booklet A Clash of Empires. 26:26 This booklet will share with you the greatest clash of 26:30 empires the world has ever seen. 26:33 This booklet is our gift to you, I guarantee there are 26:36 no costs or obligations whatsoever. 26:39 So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity 26:42 to receive the free gift we have for you today. 26:46 Here's the information you need. 26:49 Phone or text us at 0436.333.555 in Australia or 020.422.2042 27:00 in New Zealand, or visit our website at TiJ.tv 27:05 to request today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally 27:08 free of charge and with no obligation. 27:11 Write to us at GPO Box 274 Sidney NSW 2001, Australia 27:18 or PO Box 76673, Manukau, Auckland 2241, New Zealand. 27:25 Don't delay, call or text us now. 27:31 If you've enjoyed today's journey to Mission Serbia, 27:34 following the footsteps of Constantine the Great, 27:37 and our reflection on the clash between the Roman Empire 27:41 and Christianity. Then be sure to join us again next week 27:45 when we will share another of life's journey's together. 27:50 Let's pray! 27:51 Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you because although 27:57 life is full of difficult choices, you are the one 28:00 who shines the light where there is darkness. 28:03 Help us to choose Jesus and His rule in our lives 28:07 help us to study your word so that we may be strengthened 28:11 and encouraged for our journey through this life. 28:14 We ask this in Jesus name Amen! |
Revised 2021-12-09