Brown says Constantine was over 40, had most likely been a traditional polytheist, and was a savvy and ruthless politician when he declared himself a Christian. His first step after conquering was to eclipse the memory of Maxentius, which he did by filling the center of Rome with monuments such as the Triumphal Arch and the Arch of Constantine. These monuments contain no reference to Christianity. However, in 312, Constantine ordered a statue of himself and Bardill quotes Eusebius as saying Constantine determined his statue should have "a trophy of the Savior's Passion to be set up beneath the hand of his own statue—indeed, he ordered them to place him in the most frequented spot in Rome, holding the saving sign in his right hand." Some time after 324, he wrote to the king of Persia, Shapur II: "Him I call upon with bended knee, shunning all abominable blood and hateful odors [of pagan sacrifice]."
