Did a meteor over central Italy in AD 312 change the course of
Roman and Christian history?
....
It was just before a decisive battle for control of Rome and the
empire that Constantine saw a blazing light cross the sky and
attributed his subsequent victory to divine help from a Christian
God.
The story I heard does not contradict, but does not require a meteor
at the time of the battle.
What I heard is that Maxentius and Constantine were fighting, as the
BBC article said. Maxentius had his clan and the support of the
Mithraic elements in the army. These made for a powerful group.
Constantine needed allies and put together a coalition that included
Christians.
During, or before the battle, Constantine had to pay a considerable
political price to his new allies, the Christians. He did this by
finding some clouds in the sky, and saying that they formed the shape
of a cross. If he won, therefore, he would support those who favored
the cross over those who favored the Mithraic emblems (which may have
been horns, but which by that time were, I think, lightning bolts).
(It is not hard to see a cross in the sky, even if you lack jet
airplane contrails. I have do so. If you were an honest observer
attached to Constantine's camp, and Constantine pointed out the cloud
shapes to you, you would very likely have had to say, `yes, that looks
like a cross to me'. As for the writing -- well, you know how quickly
clouds can change shape. Those amorphous clouds above the cross may
have spelled something out and you did not notice at the time. So you
cannot deny that your physical, here on earth, boss, might have seen a
message.)
Of course, a meteor might have crashed at the right time, and produced
the right visual effects. Perhaps this meteor, like the meteor that
killed the dinosaurs, had a direct effect on us. Or perhaps it
crashed sometime earlier or later and the event was later conflated
with the first.
Also, bear in mind that Constantine was a man of his era. Suppose he
had been leaning towards incorporating Christians in his coalition,
because his enemy had incorporated too many of the lightning bolt
weilding Mithraics.
Then a kiloton meteorite crash, with a cross above it, would surely
have told him that the Christians related to a powerful, albeit
undependable, technology, just like the Mithraics and lightning.
(Leaving aside the belief and cognitive issues, think of the
difference between magic and modern engineering: the former works
sometimes, but not very dependably, unless you help it along quite a
bit, for example by watering your garden yourself; the latter works
more often.)
--
Robert J. Chassell Rattlesnake Enterprises
http://www.rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
http://www.teak.cc [EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
