What's in a dream? Scriptural parallels in Lactantius' accounts of the visions of Constantine and Licinius

In his De mortibus persecutorum, Lactantius ascribes similar visionary experiences to the emperors Constantine and Licinius before the decisive battles of their respective civil wars, which has raised questions as to the genuineness of Lactantius’ reporting, as well as Constantinian and Licinian motivations. Seldom considered, however, is how Lactantius constructs these vision narratives using commonplace literary motifs. This paper examines Lactantius’ use of one motif in particular, scriptural parallel, by which he provides his vision narratives with Christian significance.