Customer Reviews

The Age of Constantine the Great

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This is a good treatment of the time from Diocletian to Constantine (actually shortly before and shortly after those landmark reigns). The book will be profitable to all readers, but it will be most valuable to those who already know at least a little of Rome's history. Certain background is presumed, and some important events are merely glossed over rather than treated in depth. This isn't really a drawback -- not every book can be a comprehensive history; some have to look in more detail at certain aspects!

Burckhardt is at his best in describing the state of paganism and of the arts in this age. He really comes alive here.

One drawback is the very "19th century" feel -- e.g., certain events or behaviors are sweepingly and uncritically characterized as due to race or gender. Another is that, in discussing Constantine and the Church, it seems clear that Burckhardt doesn't want Constantine to be a Christian, and this may cloud some of the presentation and interpretation.

But, overall, a good treatment. Don't read it for a biography of Constantine -- you'll be disappointed.

This is one of the most helpful resources for Roman and Byzantine history I have come across. Burckhardt seems to follow a precise timeline and his transitions from ruler to ruler are flawless. I would not recommend trying to read this book straight through as it is quite dense but all the information presented is necessary. This book is a great tool for memorizing rulers by personal characteristics and historic legacies and I have used it as a reference for many college research papers. If you are looking for a historical analysis of this period I would definitely pick this up.

Don't bother with this one. Burckhardt was a 19th century academic with an ax to grind against Constantine and a mission to rehabilitate the Christian-persecuting Diocletian. He pursues both of those ends with blind and tedious enthusiasm.

The book takes about 240 pages just to get to Constantine at all, as Burckhardt loses his focus amid 60 page digressions on pagan practices in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Perhaps most annoyingly, the modern translator has seen fit to strip out all of Burckhardt's references which makes the book into an unverifiable manifesto as opposed to a serious scholarly work.

There are much better and more accessible works out there on Constantine and his times than this one, such as Constantine and the Christian Empire, just to give one example. Or, if you prefer to go straight to the primary source, try: The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine: From AD 306 to 337 (Christian Roman Empire Series, vol. 8).