[Alberta's Child]

It really only becomes central to Western Civilization with the Emperor Constantine. In 313 he signed the Edict of Milan that allowed Christians to practice their faith without fear in the Roman empire.

Constantine's role was much bigger than that. For one thing, the Edict of Milan covered most or all religions -- not just Christianity. But Christianity flourished largely because Constantine himself adopted it as his own faith, and he ordered the Christian leadership to seat the Council of Nicaea to develop a unified doctrine regarding the Divinity of Christ.

[Jack Black]

Constantine's role was much bigger than that.

I agree. My main point was that Western Civilization predates Christianity by a long, long time. And that even after Christianity came to Rome there were parts of Europe that were not Christian for almost 1,000 years. Some had quite developed civilizations, and a huge impact on European History.

I still think Constantine's greatest achievement is the founding on Constantinople (now Istanbul).