Medieval historians falsely claimed to have found the tombs and epitaphs of Constantius I at Trier and of Maximian at Marseille. On an ancient clay bowl a modern art dealer forged an inscription about Constantine and his wife, Fausta.

After Constantine was buried in Constantinople in 337, the senate at Rome voted to deify him. In inscriptions his sons, the new senior emperors Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans, advertised their descent from deified Constantine and deified Constantius I. Legends claimed that Constantine had once seen a cross in the sky, accompanied by a caption, “conquer in this.” This exhortation became common in inscriptions.

Although emperor for over thirty years (306-337), Constantine always shared imperial rule with colleagues, first fellow Tetrarchs, then his sons. During his reign he traveled thousands of miles along the northern and eastern frontiers. But he still relied on senators and municipal notables as administrators. Cities flourished, and traditional cults were still common. Inscriptions provide the most revealing evidence about provinces, cities (including Rome), senators, local notables, and cults.

This chapter looks at a series of English poets who have identified Pindar as a poet of freedom – both metrical and political – before turning to some modern Greek poets who have been influenced by this aspect of the English Pindaric tradition. Among the poets discussed are Abraham Cowley, Thomas Gray, A. E. Stallings, Andreas Kalvos, and Angelos Sikelianos.

After defeating Licinius in 324, Constantine ruled as senior emperor with his sons and a nephew as junior emperors. In the eastern provinces dedications honored the emperors. At Orcistus in Phrygia a famous set of inscriptions commemorated Constantine’s patronage. Dedications celebrated the emperor’s support in the new capital of Constantinople, as well as at Ephesus, Antioch, and Athens. At Aksum in Ethiopia inscriptions celebrated the victories of king Ezana.

At Rome dedications honored Maxentius, a usurping emperor. But after Constantine’s victory in 312, dedications and statues of Constantine honored his assistance. One prominent commemorative monument was the famous Arch of Constantine. Other dedications celebrated Helena, Constantine’s mother, as well as prominent senators and their careers in the imperial administration. In catacombs and cemeteries many epitaphs remembered Christians, and Constantine funded the construction of the Church of St. Peter.

This chapter discusses Latin and vernacular homilies for Rogation and Ascension, spanning from the early to the late Anglo-Saxon period, as well as clerical and lay religious practices associated with Rogation days. It analyses the conventional and formal ways of teaching theology to the spatial and ritual practices of Rogationtide liturgy. The chapter also analyses the popular religious rituals and beliefs about the importance of the land and its boundaries. It discusses the formal teaching of theology, in both vernacular and Latin homilies by two authoritative preachers, Bede and Ælfric, to show how Rogationtide homilies teach specific Ascension doctrines. Formal preaching and popular religious rituals represent different aspects of the entire spectrum of Anglo- Saxon religious culture. Anglo-Saxon theologians agreed with their lay constituents that earth could be charged with divine power: any contact relic involving soil is a 'proper' Christian version of the same phenomenon.

Before 324 the dominant emperors in the Balkan and eastern provinces were Galerius, Maximinus, and Licinius. In honor of their benefactions, cities erected dedications and statues. Inscriptions also indicated that the senior emperors introduced new honorific titles to placate dissatisfied junior emperors. In Asia Minor some epitaphs celebrated Christian notables and their families.