The Constantinian Labarum and the Christianization of Roman Military Standards

Serrano del Pozo, Joaquin 2021. The Constantinian Labarum and the Christianization of Roman Military Standards. Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture 15 , pp. 37-64. 10.18573/jlarc.117

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Abstract

In this paper I will address the labarum, a war standard introduced by Constantine the Great, and the problem of the Christianization of the Roman military signs between Constantine’s reign (306-377 AD) and the Theodosian period (379-457). Many scholars have referred to the labarum, but usually indirectly when discussing Constantine’s conversion. There are several open questions and gaps in our knowledge regarding this emblem, and I will attempt to answer some of them. First, this paper refers briefly to the precedents of military and religious standards in Antiquity and Pagan Rome. Then, it explores the origins, form, function and meaning of the labarum under Constantine and his successors through the literary and iconographic sources. The labarum started as symbol of victory granted by an ambiguous “supreme divinity”, and towards the last decades of Constantine’s reign the interpretation of it as a Christian apotropaic sign became dominant. Constantine’s successors used the labarum as a declaration of continuity, and the standards caused controversy under Julian the Apostate. Finally, this paper addresses the transformation of the standard under the house of Theodosius. I argue that in this period the cross surpassed the Chi-Rho symbol and the labarum-cross became the main banner of the Christian Roman Empire.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	1754517X
Funders:	National Agency of Research and Development (ANID) of the Chilean Ministry of Science and the Global Research Scholarship
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 December 2021
Date of Acceptance:	20 December 2020
Last Modified:	23 May 2023 16:56
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/146136

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