Constantine Prepares by Prayer, Licinius by Divination

He also took the priests of God with him. He was fully convinced that now, if ever, he needed the power of prayer, and he thought it right that they should be constantly near him and around him, as the most trustworthy guardians of the soul.

Now the tyrant came to understand that Constantine’s victories over his enemies were won for him by no other means than the help of God, that the men just mentioned were constantly with him and around him, and besides this, that the symbol of the suffering that brings salvation went in front of both the emperor himself and his whole army. He laughed at these precautions, as might be expected, mocking and abusing the emperor with blasphemous words. [a]

For his part, he gathered around himself Egyptian diviners and soothsayers, together with sorcerers and enchanters, and the priests and prophets of those he imagined to be gods. Then, after offering the sacrifices he thought the occasion called for, he asked how far he could count on a successful end to the war. They answered with one voice that he would certainly defeat his enemies and triumph in the war. The oracles everywhere held out the same prospect to him in abundant and elegant verses. The soothsayers assured him of favorable omens from the flight of birds; the priests declared that the same was shown by the movements of the entrails of their sacrificed animals. Lifted up by these false assurances, he boldly advanced at the head of his army and made ready for battle. [b]