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This famous decree made Christianity one of the Empires officially tolerated religions
这条赦令宣布基督教在罗马帝国合法化，
and it officially permitted Christians to serve in public life.
正式允许基督教徒在公共生活担任职务。
After Licinius broke with Constantine and fought against Constantine for control of the Empire,
后来两人爆发了冲突，李锡尼乌斯和君士坦丁争夺帝国统治权，
he Licinius that is, resumed persecuting Christians.
李锡尼乌斯重新开始迫害基督教徒。
Constantine's defeat of Lucinious in 324 established him permanently as sole ruler of the Roman world,
324年，君士坦丁打败李锡尼乌斯，君士坦丁成为了帝国的唯一统治者，
in turn Constantine established Christianity once more and for all as a legitimate Roman religion, with his official, personal blessing as sole Emperor.
由此，君士坦丁作为唯一的统治者，再次个人正式认可，把基督教确立为罗马的合法宗教。
As sole Emperor Constantine reserved the right to get involved in church matters, such as the Arian controversy.
作为唯一的皇帝，君士坦丁保留了参与宗教事务的权力，例如阿里乌斯教派事件。
At the synod of Nicaea in 325, even though he wasn't baptised himself,
325年，在尼西亚城的宗教大会上，虽然君士坦丁自己没有接受洗礼，
Constantine compelled the Christian bishops to select the so called orthodox view that God the father and Christ the son were of exactly the same substance.
即却迫使基督教主教选择了所谓的正统观点：圣父和圣子就是同一个神。
This was against the so called Arian view that God the father and Christ the son were merely "similar" substance.
这和阿里乌斯教的观点不同阿里乌斯教认为圣父和圣子仅仅是“相似”。
In Constantine's defence though, Christian theological disputes often threatened the peace of the Empire,
站在君士坦丁的角度，这可以理解。基督教的神学分歧经常威胁到帝国的和平稳定，
especially when they lead to rioting and especially over matters that we would consider, well not worth dying over,
特别是这些争端会引发暴乱 而这些争论在我们看来，根本就不值得为此据死力争。
but the streets of the eastern Empire's great cities were chocked by Christian's brawling to the death
然而事实上，东罗马帝国的街头到处都是基督教徒
over whether Christ the son was of the same substance as God the father or whether he was merely similar.
为了圣父和圣子到底是同一个神，或者是“相似”的神而互相激烈的争吵。
Obviously the Christians could persecute each other even worse than the Pagans did.
显而易见，基督教徒互相残害起来会比异教徒对他们的残害更加血腥残酷。
When Constantine founded his second Rome on the former site of Byzantium in 330 BC the city known as Constantinople or Istanbul or Constantinople was intended as a Christian community,
君士坦丁把“第二罗马”建造在公元前330年的拜占庭遗址，新城叫做君士坦丁堡，或伊斯坦布尔。君士坦丁堡目的就是做为基督教城市。
although Christianity was still not the Empire's only official religion,
尽管基督教当时并不是罗马帝国的唯一的官方正式宗教，
Constantine likely saw it moving in that direction.
但是君士坦丁希望基督教朝着积极的方向发展。
Baptised at last upon his deathbed in 337 AD, Constantine left the Empire to his three sons.
君士坦丁在337年去世时接受洗礼，把帝国留给了三个儿子。
