HOW A METEORITE MADE CHRISTIANITY A WORLDWIDE RELIGIOUS POWER

Okay, perhaps it’s a stretch to compare the impact of a meteorite with the flapping of a butterfly’s wings. In this concrete case, we’re talking about a chunk of rock more than 30 feet across that was descending at a speed of almost 4,500 miles per hour when it slammed into what is now the central Italian region of Abruzzo in AD 312. The impact killed no one and did not even affect the weather, and the event might have been forgotten by history if not for a man who looked up at the sky at that time. His name was Constantine I, later to be known as Constantine the Great. In October of 312 he was commanding an army stationed near the gates of Rome— and preparing himself for the final battle to take the city. Since February he’d been waging war against his rival, Marcus Aurelius Maxentius, across northern Italy. The men were the last two of originally four emperors struggling for control of Rome. And though Constantine’s army had just 40,000 soldiers, he managed to score important victories over the 100,000 men of Maxentius. But as he prepared for the final battle, Constantine’s hopes were fading fast. Maxentius’s army and the defenses of Rome seemed too strong to overcome. But then Constantine saw the meteorite, a blazing light in the form of a cross. And in 2003, a team of scientists led by Swedish geologist Jens Ormö finally found what they believe is the crater that resulted from the meteorite impact. Their theory: The fiery rock had come down at an oblique angle, causing it to leave behind a long trail. Constantine viewed the event as an omen and had his soldiers put the sign of the cross on their shields. The next day, October 28, 312, Maxentius’s troops stormed out of the city walls to meet Constantine’s men on the open battlefield. Historians believe Maxentius was planning to encircle his enemy— but the plan failed. Instead, the two forces met in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, where Constantine was able to trap the enemy between his army and the Tiber River. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber that day— and Constantine became the sole ruler of Rome. However the significance of the battle extends far beyond Constantine’s victory over a superior army: Constantine dedicated his triumph to the Christian God, and during the next 25 years of his reign he assiduously promoted Christianity. With his help, it would eventually develop into a world religion.