Constantine and his legacy in Christian Archeology

(Vatican Radio) The 16th International Congress on Christian Archeology begins Sunday at the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum” next to St. Peter’s Square. To mark the 17^th century of the 313 Edict of Milan, the theme of the conference is on Constantine and his legacy, and will run until next Saturday.

Professor Olaf Brandt, of the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archeology, organized the conference, and told Vatican Radio the anniversary marks an important turning point for Christian archeology.

“It is only with Constantine that we see what we today call normal church architecture,” said Brandt. “We don’t know any examples of buildings before Constantine which we would recognize today as churches. What we call a church today, as far we know, was born with Constantine.”

There are few Christian buildings from the reign of Constantine still surviving, with the most prominent probably being the Baptistery of the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Rome is also the home of the best preserved remnants of the pre-Constantinian Christian past, although you have to go below ground to see them.

“Tombs,” explained Professor Brandt. “There are many Christian tombs before Constantine, especially the Roman catacombs, which have survived because they are below ground, so there were protected and haven’t been damaged or destroyed as many other tombs. So there we have already in the third century we have tens of thousands of Christians tombs with inscriptions, with Christian art, paintings, and so on. So there we have a quite important material.”

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Olaf Brandt: