Scarcely any object was as ubiquitous in Byzantine culture as the cross. As the symbol of Christ's Passion and ultimate victory over death, the cross is the essential sign of the Christian faith. Yet, the cult of the cross did not flourish until the fourth century, when, in 312, Constantine I had a vision at the battle of the Milvian Bridge. According to Eusebius, the fourth-century historian and contemporary of Constantine, the emperor beheld in the sky a luminous cross inscribed EN TOYTCO NIKA (by this conquer). Following his victory, Constantine appropriated the sign of the cross for imperial usage. In the middle of the fourth century, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (ca. 349-386), referred to the existence of the relics of the original cross of Christ, the "True Cross," and toward the end of that century the pilgrim Egeria venerated the Holy Wood as part of the rituals of Holy Friday. About this time, Helena, the mother of Constantine I, became associated in legend with the finding of...

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