ABSTRACT
After his victory over Maxentius, Constantine entered Rome, but he remained only 10 weeks. Within days, not only had he made contact with the church but had made a large donation of imperial property, and the planning of the Lateran church was begun. 1 This involved input from the local church, so Constantine’s people must have met with Bishop Miltiades’ people and worked out the details. Miltiades’ staff was probably led by the future bishop, Mark, for the imperial letter of the following year calling for an ecclesiastical court to meet in Rome to examine the accusations of the North African Donatists was addressed ‘to Miltiades, bishop of the Romans, and to Mark’. 2 In October 313 Miltiades presided over the hearing. When the Donatists appealed the verdict, Constantine arranged for a second hearing in the autumn of 314, this one at Arles where the emperor was then residing. Its decisions were forwarded to Rome, specifically addressed to Sylvester, who had in the meantime succeeded Miltiades. 3
