Above : Statue of Emperor Constantine

 For many years after the full development of their Empire, the Romans remained Pagan. The Christian religion, however, had steadily advanced, despite the most fearful persecutions, until it permeated all the Roman dominions. With the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (a.d. 312) it had become the official religion of the Empire, and soon it completely supplanted the old Paganism. Accepted and practised throughout all the Roman territories, Christianity now spread from the Caspian to the Irish Sea.