Peter Leithart observes in Defending Constantine:
If David Petraeus had recommended a surge in Iraq had recommended a surge in Iraq based on an eclipse or a sign in the heavens, he would have been forced into psychiatric treatment, followed by early retirement. Constantine, though, was a fourth-century Roman who, like everyone else in his time, believed that the gods guide humanity with signs and portents. He saw something, something he interpreted as a sign that committing himself to the God of the Christians would give him victory (79).
