Constantine's "Crusade"

Basically, I want to know your opinions on what could've happened had Constantine the Great lived long enough to go on his 'crusade' into Sassanid Persia (we assume he lives long enough to see the entire campaign... but also assuming it won't take any longer then ten or so years), complete with baptism in the Jordan and church shaped tents. How would he have done, and what would the effects be on Christianity and the Empire, with such a large (and Christian) expedition? Could it succeed, and if so, how long could Rome keep its supposed conquests after Constantine's death?
 
If Constantine wanted to invade persia he could off. He was emperor of all of rome for 6 years. enough to invade Sassanid Persia.

However, the normal targets for crusades are either Important christian cites ex. Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople (Not exactly what i mean though). Or to expand exisiting cursader states.

There is no need to invade Persia. I think every roman attack on persia was to emanulate Alexander the Great. Constantine would not wish to repeat the legacy of a pagan.
 
If Constantine wanted to invade persia he could off. He was emperor of all of rome for 6 years. enough to invade Sassanid Persia.

However, the normal targets for crusades are either Important christian cites ex. Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople (Not exactly what i mean though). Or to expand exisiting cursader states.

There is no need to invade Persia. I think every roman attack on persia was to emanulate Alexander the Great. Constantine would not wish to repeat the legacy of a pagan.

What if he just wanted to invade the sassanids just to go and create a little chaos
 
If Constantine wanted to invade persia he could off. He was emperor of all of rome for 6 years. enough to invade Sassanid Persia.

However, the normal targets for crusades are either Important christian cites ex. Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople (Not exactly what i mean though). Or to expand exisiting cursader states.

There is no need to invade Persia. I think every roman attack on persia was to emanulate Alexander the Great. Constantine would not wish to repeat the legacy of a pagan.
"Crusade" was in quotes for a reason - he was planning a war against the Persians a couple months before he fell ill and died, with the intent of obviously conquering a lot of territory, and he had wild dreams of creating a huge Christian Empire, unifying Persian Christians and Roman Christians. During this supposed campaign he was going to get baptized in the River Jordan, bring along a bunch of bishops and stuff, and etc. But, he got sick right before, and, realizing he was dying, he decided to get baptized early, and of course died soon after. So the question was: WI he had time to do this campaign against Persia?
 
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as unlikely as i think this is, i think it would be a possibly very effective way to unify the fledgling ununified christians

however against christian thought and doctrine it was. could possibly make war more accepted by christianity (the religion, not the people)
 
Well, what was the Army he was planning to invade with? How many Legions?

Also Constantinople would be perfectly in the middle of this, and If Constantine goes for all of persian arabia, then all Arabia, this butterflies away Islam
 
Well, what was the Army he was planning to invade with? How many Legions?

Also Constantinople would be perfectly in the middle of this, and If Constantine goes for all of persian arabia, then all Arabia, this butterflies away Islam
Er... unsure as to the # of legions. Probably more then Julian the Apostate's force, maybe x that number by 1.5 (so 150,000 men? Probably a little less... 125,000?)? I've never seen a detailed plan, only that it was supposed to be a pretty large operation, well implied that it was going to be probably the largest Roman offensive in Persia for a long time, if not for their entire history. This was more of a passing question on something that I read recently than something I have a ton of knowledge on. Sorry for the lack of details. :eek: Obviously doesn't help the scenario.
 
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Ok! Also could i consult this form and you for ideas?

I got an idea for a POD, Constantine IOTL got sick after easter feasts, lets say that for sake of something to change, it was the food that killed him.

The POD is constantine notices the food tastes bad and doesn't eat it, he doesn't get sick and his campaign goes on
 
Ok! Also could i consult this form and you for ideas?

I got an idea for a POD, Constantine IOTL got sick after easter feasts, lets say that for sake of something to change, it was the food that killed him.

The POD is constantine notices the food tastes bad and doesn't eat it, he doesn't get sick and his campaign goes on
Sounds like a good start... but you probably want to find someone else to be a consultant. As said, this was more a question in passing then something I really know about. My 'expertise' (which isn't really expertise at all, but don't tell anyone!) is more in the Republic; 3rd Century BC stuff, not 4th Century AD stuff. But I'd love to read about it.
 
also where did you find out about this? i need some more general info
I've just been reading Adrian Goldsworthy's How Rome Fell, and he mentioned something on it. Then went to google and wikipedia to pick up a little more info, because he talks about it for only a few paragraphs. I'm sure if you read some book just on Constantine that it'd discuss this in much more detail - it seems to me like it was a big deal to Constantine before he died.
 
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