Constantine's basilica gave Rome's Christians a new focus for devotion. It stood for over a thousand years, until it was rebuilt during the Renaissance. Jesus said that Peter would be the rock on which his church was built. Constantine's basilica literally fulfilled that prophecy. Over the centuries, St Peter's was to become the cornerstone of the Catholic Church and the headquarters for an empire of Christian souls. But when Constantine commissioned it, it was still an act of wishful thinking. Constantine's St Peter's promoted Rome as a Christian centre. But he died leaving a hybrid holy city, part Christian, but part pagan. The temples of the old gods still dominated the skyline. Pagans still dominated the city. Constantine's divine gamble now lay in the hands of Rome's new high priests. It was now down to the Popes, Rome's Bishops, to really make Rome Christian.


康斯坦丁的巴西利卡给了罗马基督徒们一个新的祈祷中心。它矗立达一千多年，直到文艺复兴时代得到重建为止。耶稣说过彼得将成为他教会赖以依靠的基石。康斯坦丁的巴西利卡确实实现了这个预言，（圣彼得大教堂建于圣彼德墓穴的正上方）。多少个世纪过去了，圣彼得大教堂成为了天主教会的基石，以及基督教精神帝国的总部。但是当康斯坦丁委托艺术家建造它时，这些还仅仅是一厢情愿。康斯坦丁的圣彼得大教堂促使罗马成为了基督教的中心。但在他死的时候，留下的是一座教派混合的圣城，一部分是基督教的，但另一部分却是异教徒的。上古之神的庙宇依然映满天际。异教徒依然统治着罗马城。康斯坦丁的神圣一赌现在交由罗马的新主教们来完成，它现在被传承给了教皇——罗马的主教，真正地使罗马城基督教化了。