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Political Genius: credit where it’s due
by finch Tuesday, Jun 19 2007, 8:36pm
international / social/political / opinion/analysis

Few even know her name but she was responsible for the Roman Empire enduring for another fifteen hundred years as a theological empire. Most people and historical texts mistakenly refer to the Roman Emperor Constantine as the person who transformed the militaristic Roman Empire into the Holy Roman Empire, however, he was only a manipulated mommy’s boy.

The flock

The Emperor Constantine was a classic mommy’s boy who murdered his wife on orders from his mother. It was Constantine’s mother who tutored her son and developed the plans for one of the most daring and difficult political revolutions in history, the ideological transformation of the Roman Empire from military to theological. The inversion/conversion from militarism to theocracy is one of the most difficult, daring and boldest political manoeuvres of all time – especially in consideration of hundreds of years of a military social structure and economy.

It was Constantine’s mother who understood the importance of myth and the ‘sacred’ in maintaining social order. In this regard she embarked on a trip to the Middle East to establish the sites which are considered sacred to this day – the tomb of Christ, the location of the hill of his crucifixion and perhaps even the spot of his ascension. Of course she hadn’t a clue as to the veracity of the information she received and the authenticity of these sites but political expediency comes first! She claimed visions and divine intervention assisted her in locating these sites – and so it was and is to this day!

What is remarkable is that history pays little regard to one of the most notable female figures of all time. Every fascist, despotic and theological leader has utilised the methods she developed and refined. [A few hundred years after her successful transformation of Rome another militaristic theocrat by the name of Mohammed utilised similar methods to establish one of the largest groups of followers in history.]

Perhaps it is due to the fact that we consider her a psychopathic personality that we fear her and deny her recognition. We would rather ignore her role in history than give her the credit she deserves; nevertheless, the archetypal sociopathic mother persists in the dark recesses of our cultural consciousness and at times finds expression in popular culture. The Hollywood film “White Heat”, starring James Cagney, is memorable for its famous ending, “Look ma I’m on top of the world” – the film portrays a criminal mother and the criminal son she created and manipulated. Another real life example exists in American modern criminal history, the infamous Ma Barker who led all her sons into a life of crime and eventual destruction. More recently movies such as ‘The Hand that Rocks the Cradle”, reminds us of the power, for good or ill, that women in their role as mothers possess!

So it is fitting that the record is clarified, Constantine was a manipulated mommy’s boy whose relationship with his mother was nothing short of psychiatric – and yet it is he who receives the credit for transforming the Roman Empire!

Constantine’s mother, fascinated by the emerging cult of Christianity, realised people were susceptible to the most impossible stories and fictions and could easily be manipulated once their rational mind was crippled by religion.

Campaign stories of the exploits of famous Roman generals may also have had some influence on the very astute political mind of Helena of Constantinople. A particular account, which may have influenced future rulers was the story of the Roman general who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Imagine his mirth when on entering the Holy of Holies with the High Priests at sword point, [he] discovered it to be virtually empty. To the pragmatic mind of a Roman general the joke was on the Jewish population who slavishly followed a corrupt and decadent priest class. The Romans slaughtered the entire priest class, burned the Temple to the ground and dispersed the population.

The story of how an entire population could be made servile to a class of priests who utilised nothing more substantial than myth, symbolism, ritual and ‘sacred’ law would have been very interesting to a society whose control stemmed from the very expensive militaristic option. It should not be forgotten that the priest class through scribes controlled the flow of information!

Parallels with the mass media and the religious right of today prove that the methods developed by Constantine’s mother are still effective. I recently viewed a video clip of a nihilistic American preacher by the name of John Hagee reassuring his congregation that as America faced the real prospect of nuclear warfare, not to worry because “God was in his heaven and everything would be alright”. The lunacy of this man leading his flock to accept nuclear warfare is astonishing but the stupidity and paralysis of his congregation staggers even the most cynical mind. Constantine’s mother would have understood perfectly why the people look to fantasy and remain completely servile to destructive demagogues like Hagee and others.

Today, many commentators, activists, environmentalists and peacemakers wonder why the people fail to act in the face of the most urgent need. I recommend a research project on a very capable woman of dubious ethical and moral character, Helena of Constantinople – as a female leader and innovator she has not been matched since.