The Battle of Hastings

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, crossing the River Tiber into Rome, on October 28th 312 C.E. / A.D., was a battle for control of the city and, therefore, the whole of the western Roman Empire. It was fought between the forces of Constantine I (also known as Constantine the Great) and Maxentius, both rival claimants to the position of "Augustus", or senior emperor, of the Western empire, under the complicated 4-emperor system of the time (the "Tetrarchy").

The battle was a turning point for Constantine. It was a decisive victory for his 90,000+ infantry and 8,000 cavalry. Maxentius, who had chosen to give battle at the bridge, lost his life there. In fact, Maxentius had ordered the destruction of the actual wooden bridge to deny access to Constantine's troops. His own troops had created a replacement crossing to be constructed and this is known to have been a pontoon bridge, probably of the type Roman armies are known to have created by lashing boats together and covering them with planks. Maxentius could therefore have controlled the crossing and removed it if necessary. Unfortunately, it is probable that Maxentius positioned his troops with their back too close to the river. After Constantine's cavalry had destroyed Maxentius's cavalry, his infantry attacked, inflicting heavy losses on the defenders. Although Maxentius's Praetorian Guard remained to fight on the northern bank of the river, most of the army tried to flee across the floating pontoon bridge. The bridge was overwhelmed and collapsed. Maxentius found himself forced into the River Tiber. It is unclear if his horse threw him or he tried to swim to safety, but his body was found after he drowned.

Constantine entered Rome in triumph on October 29th. He went on to become the sole Emperor of the whole Roman Empire from 324 until his death in 337. As a result of his later edicts and reforms allowing religious tolerance, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge is also considered a turning point in the history of Christianity. It is believed that before the battle, Constantine experienced visions in which Jesus Christ told him to use the sign of a cross, which he is said to have seen as a light in the sky, against his enemies. In the visions, the Greek words "Εν Τούτῳ Νίκα" (tr. In this sign, conquer) appeared in the sky with the cross. The historian Eusebius, in his "Life of Constantine", claims that he heard about the visions from the Emperor himself. It is well documented that Constantine had military standards (known in Latin as "Labarum") created for his troops which carried the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (the letters Chi and Rho), designed as a device resembling a cross.

The battle has been popularised in art throughout history. Paintings often depict the battle, representing the cross in the sky, as seen in the vision, often accompanied by the Latin rendering of Constantine's motto, "in hoc signo vinces".

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