Book Description

1,700 years ago, the emperor Constantine marched on Rome to free Italy from the tyrant Maxentius and reunify the Roman Empire. The army marched from Gaul in the spring of AD 312 and fought its way across the Empire. The defining moment of the campaign was the battle of the Milvian Bridge. This highly illustrated book examines how Maxentius's poor choice of battleground ultimately doomed his army to defeat. Forced back toward the river by Constantine, the prospect of death by drowning caused panic to tear through Maxentius's army, who broke and fled for the bridge of boats. Constantine pressed his advantage and broke through the Praetorian rear guard, forcing even more fleeing troops onto the already overcrowded bridges, which foundered and plunged thousands of soldiers, including Maxentius himself, into the waters. Constantine was victorious--and his march into Rome marked the first step in the conversion of the Roman Empire into a Christian state.