Drake suggests that Constantine’s laws opening up appeals to episcopal courts were motivated not by concern “with the power of the bishop or of the church,” nor with a large effort to ensure the triumph of the church. Those conclusions arise from “the limited perspective imposed by overconcentration on Constantine’s religious beliefs.”
Rather, he was concerned about “the administration of justice” and with the need for “fair and speedy trials.”
Doesn’t this impose the very civil/religious dichotomy that Drake elsewhere rejects? Is it likely that Constantine considered the administration of justice a non -religious legal and political matter?
