October 27, 312
The eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius marked the beginning of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that Constantine and his soldiers had a vision of the Christian God promising victory if they daubed the sign of the Chi-Rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, on their shields. As the Christian Church aligned with the power of the state, it also marked the bend of the early expressions of Christian pacifism.
