Just cause and terrorism

People associate religious violence with Islam but the notion of fighting a 'just war' dates back a long way. 

When Rome was sacked  the Visigoths in AD 410 ...

The Sack of Rome by the Barbarians in 410 by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre

Many Romans attributed the Fall of Rome to the tolerance and later adoption of a pacifist religion: Christianity. 

But the shift towards Christianity began with a war:  

According to tradition, Emperor Constantine faced Maxentius, a serious rival to the throne, on a bridge across the Tiber in AD 312.

Constantine looked up at the sun and saw a Christian symbol, a cross of light above it. 
He ordered his soldiers to write Chi-Rho, the first two letters of Christ's name on their shields

Chi-Rho the first 2 letters of Christ in Greek

. Constantine's army won the battle and he attributed his success to divine intervention, refusing to honour the Roman gods on his return. 





A year later, in AD 313, Emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the the Edict of Milan, granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. 

Later, Constantine's new Eastern capital, Constantinople had Christian churches built within the city walls, paid for by taxes on non-Christians. 
Ultimately this shift in attitude led to the adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman empire, declared by edict in AD 380

Then in AD 410 Rome was invaded and people blamed religion. But St Augustine wrote City of God in AD 426 to counter the belief that Christianity had been the cause of the Fall of Rome and to put the case for a ' just war'. To be continued...