The Christogram and the Labarum

• ABOUT:
  • 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia: (Read with caution)
  • Sozomen: Ecclesiastical History, 1, iii: Constantine's vision. ---SPL
  • Sozomen: Ecclesiastical History, 1, iv: His adoption of the Cross as a standard. ---SPL

  • Erika Dinkler-von Schubert: CTAYPOC: Vom "Wort von Kreuz" zum Kreuz-Symbol, (1995). In D. Mouriki et al., eds., Byzantine East, Latin West, Princeton University Dept. of Art and Archaeology, 1995. Very interesting history of the XP ligature, which was used to mean "time" (chronos) or "100 men" (hekatontarchia) in imperial Roman texts before Constantine, and of the barred-rho, now usually read as XP but originally abbreviating the -taur- in stauros ("cross").