Sanctified by the Blood of Martyrs: The Creation of New Sacred Loci in Scythia Minor During the Early Christian Period (4th Century AD)

There exists an abundant, albeit diverse, body of evidence which describes the transition of various sacred landscape(s) within the Roman Empire following Constantine’s triumphal entry to Rome in AD 312, an act which was commemorated in the form of a triumphal arch. By the 4th century AD, the construction of a monument of this scale or type by victorious emperors had become commonplace; what was unique was Constantine’s association with the god of Christianity. Within a century the Empire, which had been intensely Pagan, would be transformed into one which was predominantly Christian. The western Black Sea, including Scythia Minor,