According to Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin. 1. ii. c. 45) the emperor prohibited, both in cities and in the country, the abominable acts or parts of idolatry. Socrates (1. i. c. 18) and Sozomen (1. ii. c. 4, 5) have represented the conduct of Constantine with a just regard to truth and history, which has been neglected by Theodoret (1. v. c. 21) and Orosius (vii. 28).
Tum deinde (says the latter) primus Constantinus justo ordine et pio vicem vertit edicto; siquidem statuit citra ullam hominum caedem,
paganorum templa claudi.