Note 24 — Chapter XI · THE CHURCH UNDER CONSTANTINE

There is a mediæval legend that Constantine had been advised by the pagan priests to cure his leprosy by bathing in the blood of three thousand children, and that he was about to immolate that number for the purpose, when, his pity being aroused by the despair of their mothers, he forbade the sacrifice. That this is a pure invention is patent, for Constantine was a just and merciful man, even before his conversion, and, when he came to Rome, was familiar with the tenets of Christianity and well disposed to embrace them.