DEO AUCTORE. IDEOLOGÍA DEL PODER EN LA ANTIGÜEDAD TARDÍA

ABSTRACT In this article we follow the power relations between the Church and the Empire during the Late Empire. In this context, although during the 4th and 5th century the Church gained a de facto independence towards the emperor, and even started controlling his legitimacy, the constitution Deo Auctore was an important step towards the establishment of a centralized ideology of power with the Emperor in its axis. En palabras de Evans: "He drew a parallel between the Divine Word -the Logos- as archetype and Constantine as the image of the Logos: thus on one level, the Logos prepared the kingdom of Heaven for the Father, and on a lower level, Constantine led all men on Earth to the Logos. The Christian emperor, unlike his pagan predecessors, could not himself be a god, but he could be redefined as God's vicegerent on Earth, the friend and image of the Logos that was the mediator between God and Creation"'0.