ABSTRACT
In the immediate aftermath of his victory over Maxentius, Constantine traveled to Milan, where he met Licinius. There the two men cemented their alliance with the betrothal of Constantine’s oldest half-sister, Constantia, to the Augustus of the Balkans, and, it seems, Constantine introduced his prospective brother-in-law to the mysteries that he had discovered on the campaign just passed.1 As Constantia herself was a Christian, it may have been desirable that Licinius make some sort of pro-Christian demonstration in the coming year, and he could derive benefit from it that went beyond making his wife and her family happy. Although Galerius had ended the persecution, he had not restored confiscated property to Christian ownership, and the lot of the Christian community was especially harsh in the portion of Maximinus. Generosity to Christians enabled Licinius to draw a distinction between himself and his rival.
