Il testo di Lattanzio e di Eusebio

That Constantine and Licinius enacted an edict in Milan cannot be denied. Its peculiarity in comparison with Galerius’ edict was an economic issue, i.e. the restitution of the real estates confiscated from Christian churches during the persecution; its enforcement must have proven to be a very difficult legal case. A comparison between Lactantius’ and Eusebius’ versions shows, alongside some minor differences, that only the Latin text contains the Hermetic expression "summa divinitas" followed by "cuius religioni liberis mentibus obsequimur". Lactantius reports the text published by Licinius in Nicomedia on the 13th of June 313, whereas the text given by Eusebius is most likely the one exposed in Caesarea few months later. The sentence, which could sound as a too open – and therefore impolitic – declaration of Christian faith, had been probably expunged meanwhile. Shortly after, the edict of Milan became a cumbersome text doomed to oblivion, as it opposed both the enforcement of a Christian orthodoxy and the extinction of classical cults.