Policy of Toleration and Restitution Publicized (Edict of Milan)

Law made victories last. In 313, Constantine and Licinius announced a policy that did not merely tolerate Christians—it guaranteed their free exercise and ordered the restitution of church properties. Lactantius preserves the Latin text Licinius posted; Eusebius gives Greek versions. Between them the policy speaks clearly: restore to the churches “those things which they formerly possessed… whether gardens or buildings or whatever they may be” [3].

Governors in cities like Aquileia, Thessalonica, and Carthage received copies and instructions. They were to return properties at once, without payment demands, and to record the transfers. The sound of law replaced the clash of shields: clerks scratching copy letters, town heralds reading edicts in fora, litigants presenting deeds pulled from wax tablets and linen wrappings [3].

The policy’s scope was empire-wide. From Milan and Nicomedia, the language traveled by relay riders across the Alpine passes into Gaul and down the Adriatic to Africa. In Rome, where Maxentius’s confiscations had bitten deep, congregations reclaimed houses and gardens. In Asia, bishops regained halls in which to hear disputes and collect alms. The color of this change was practical—fresh plaster on reclaimed walls, chalk marks on ledgers—rather than ceremonial [3].

The text itself is careful. It does not denounce temples or require conversions. It places Christian freedom within a general principle of religious liberty, arguing that such freedom will benefit the “tranquility of our times.” That legal framing let Constantine pair patronage with prudence, avoiding needless provocation while reshaping the religious landscape [3].

Letters followed money. Soon Constantine would send bishops funds to build and repair churches, urging them on with language Eusebius happily preserved. The 313 policy was the hinge: from being allowed to meet to being encouraged—and paid—to build [5][3].