Constantine the Emperor

By: David Potter

Narrated by: Phil Holland

This year Christians worldwide will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of Constantine's conversion and victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. No Roman emperor had a greater impact on the modern world than did Constantine. The reason is not simply that he converted to Christianity but that he did so in a way that brought his subjects along after him. Indeed, this major new biography argues that Constantine's conversion is but one feature of a unique administrative style that enabled him to take control of an empire beset by internal rebellions and external threats by Persians and Goths. The vast record of Constantine's administration reveals a government careful in its exercise of power but capable of ruthless, even savage actions. Constantine executed (or drove to suicide) his father-in-law, two brothers-in-law, his eldest son, and his once beloved wife. An unparalleled general throughout his life, even on his deathbed he was planning a major assault on the Sassanian Empire in Persia. Alongside the visionary who believed that his success came from the direct intervention of his God resided an aggressive warrior, a sometimes cruel partner, and an immensely shrewd ruler. These characteristics combined together in a long and remarkable career, which restored the Roman Empire to its former glory. Beginning with his first biographer Eusebius, Constantine's image has been subject to distortion.

More recent revisions include John Carroll's view of him as the intellectual ancestor of the Holocaust (Constantine's Sword) and Dan Brown's presentation of him as the man who oversaw the reshaping of Christian history (The Da Vinci Code). In Constantine the Emperor, David Potter confronts each of these skewed and partial accounts to provide the most comprehensive, authoritative, and readable account of Constantine's extraordinary life.

©2013 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Excellent.

A very good review of the documents coming down to us through the centuries. The material is excellent, the reading of it a little monotone. But that did not lessen the value of the book.

Informative, but boring

The narration is so unbelievably monotone the entire book it is so hard to maintain attention, and easy to miss important details. The way it sounds in the sample listening is exactly how it sounds the ENTIRE READING… with little/ no inflection. 🤮 The information provided is abundant… impossible to memorize, but very informative. The book starts with emphasis on how Constantine changed the world… yet I ended the book not clear exactly how so. It’s less of a story and more of an account or deposition.

What a great emperor, administrator, and champion

Narrator best ever. The subject looms gigantic in history of conquest, court reform, military acumen, and of course Christianity. He wrote the Nicene Creed!

Historically is was great.

So much information here to digest. Storyline rambled at times...then it would cycled back around. I'd love to see this book in a movie.

Great Book, Terrible Narration

The reading could not have been more robotic or monotonous. It really does a disservice to the book.