About the book: 2014 / In 2013, it was 1700 years since the adoption of the Edict of Milan by the emperors Constantine and Licinius. The book is dedicated to a key period in the history of the Church - the era of the end of persecution and the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire. At the center of these events are the figure of the outstanding Roman emperor Constantine the Great and the Edict of Milan - a document marking the transition of Christianity from the state of a persecuted religion to the state of a permitted religion, with the prospect of becoming the state cult of the Empire. The book presents a historical cross-section of the era in a popular form. Based on a wide range of factual material, a fascinating story is presented of the opposition of the Empire - in the person of its emperors - to the adoption of Christianity, and the gradual awareness of the need to do this. The main characters of the book are the emperors themselves, and the author reconstructs both their worldview and the situations that push them to certain actions. The book makes an attempt to deeply understand the events of 1700 years ago, and this is especially important since the Edict of Milan has been practically not studied in Russian historical science, and the few works on this topic that were written in Russia belong to the pre-revolutionary era and are morally outdated. Recommended to a wide range of readers interested in the history of the Church and the history of Antiquity.