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Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea (now Niš, Serbia), he was the son of Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer of Illyrian origin who had been one of the four rulers of the Tetrarchy. His mother,
Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...
, was a Greek Christian of low birth. Later canonized as a saint, she is traditionally attributed with the conversion of her son. Constantine served with distinction under the Roman emperors
Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
and Galerius. He began his career by campaigning in the eastern provinces (against the Persians) before being recalled in the west (in AD 305) to fight alongside his father in Britain. After his father's death in 306, Constantine became emperor. He was acclaimed by his army at Eboracum ( York, England), and eventually emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors
Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...
and Licinius to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324. Upon his ascension to emperor, Constantine enacted numerous reforms to strengthen the empire. He restructured the government, separating
civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and military authorities. To combat inflation, he introduced the solidus, a new gold coin that became the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. The
Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...
was reorganized to consist of mobile units () and garrison troops () which were capable of countering internal threats and
barbarian invasions The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
. Constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the Roman frontiers—such as the Franks, the
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
, the Goths and the Sarmatians—and resettled territories abandoned by his predecessors during the Crisis of the Third Century with citizens of Roman culture. Although Constantine lived much of his life as a
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
and later as a catechumen, he began to favor Christianity beginning in 312, finally becoming a Christian and being baptised by either
Eusebius of Nicomedia Eusebius of Nicomedia (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος; died 341) was an Arian priest who baptized Constantine the Great on his deathbed in 337. A fifth-century legend evolved that Pope Saint Sylvester I was the one to baptize Constantine, but this ...
, an
Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
bishop, as attested by many notable Arian historical figures, or Pope Sylvester I, which is maintained by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and the
Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
. He played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313, which declared tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire. He convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 which produced the statement of Christian belief known as the
Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
. The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
was built on his orders at the purported site of Jesus' tomb in Jerusalem and was deemed the holiest place in all of Christendom. The papal claim to
temporal power Temporal power is a term of art in medieval and early modern political philosophy to refer to worldly power, as contrasted with spiritual power. * The temporal power (simply), the state (polity) or secular authority, in contrast to the Church or sp ...
in the High Middle Ages was based on the fabricated Donation of Constantine. He has historically been referred to as the "First Christian Emperor" and he did favor the Christian Church. While some modern scholars debate his beliefs and even his comprehension of Christianity, he is venerated as a
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
in
Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, and he did much for pushing Christianity towards the mainstream of Roman culture. The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of the Roman Empire and a pivotal moment in the transition from
classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...
to the Middle Ages. He built a new imperial residence at the city of
Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
and renamed it New Rome, later adopting the name
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
after himself, where it was located in modern Istanbul. It subsequently became the capital of the empire for more than a thousand years, the later Eastern Roman Empire often being referred to in English as the '' Byzantine Empire'', a term never used by the Empire, invented by German historian '' Hieronymus Wolf''. His more immediate political legacy was that he replaced Diocletian's Tetrarchy with the ''de facto'' principle of
dynastic succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Constantinian dynasty. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and for centuries after his reign. The medieval church held him up as a paragon of virtue, while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference and the symbol of
imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...
legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his reign with the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Trends in modern and recent scholarship have attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship.


Sources

Constantine was a ruler of major importance and has always been a controversial figure. The fluctuations in his reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but they have been strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period and are often one-sided; no contemporaneous histories or biographies dealing with his life and rule have survived. The nearest replacement is Eusebius's ''
Vita Constantini ''Life of Constantine the Great'' ( grc-gre, Βίος Μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου; la, Vita Constantini) is a panegyric written in Greek in honor of Constantine the Great by Eusebius of Caesarea in the 4th century AD. It was never ...
''—a mixture of eulogy and
hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
written between 335 and circa 339—that extols Constantine's moral and religious virtues. The ''Vita'' creates a contentiously positive image of Constantine, and modern historians have frequently challenged its reliability. The fullest secular life of Constantine is the anonymous '' Origo Constantini'', a work of uncertain date which focuses on military and political events to the neglect of cultural and religious matters.
Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Cr ...
' ''
De mortibus persecutorum (''On the Deaths of the Persecutors'') is a hybrid historical and Christian apologetical work by the Roman philosopher Lactantius, written in Latin sometime after AD 316. Contents After the monumental Institutiones Divinae, Divine Institutes, t ...
'', a political Christian pamphlet on the reigns of
Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
and the Tetrarchy, provides valuable but tendentious detail on Constantine's predecessors and early life. The
ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor


Modern sources

* Alföldi, Andrew. ''The Conversion of Constantine and Pagan Rome''. Translated by Harold Mattingly. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Paperback * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mattingly, David. ''An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire''. London: Penguin, 2007. * * Odahl, Charles Matson. ''Constantine and the Christian Empire''. New York: Routledge, 2004. Hardcover Paperback * * * Paperback * Pohlsander, Hans.
Constantine I (306 – 337 A.D.)
" ''De Imperatoribus Romanis'' (2004b). Retrieved 16 December 2007. * Paperback * * * Scheidel, Walter. "The Monetary Systems of the Han and Roman Empires". In Scheidel, ed., ''Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, * * * * * Udoh, Fabian E. "Quand notre monde est devenu chretien", review, ''Theological Studies'', June 2008 * Veyne, Paul. ''L'Empire Gréco-Romain'', Paris: Seuil, 2005. * Veyne, Paul.''Quand notre monde est devenu chrétien'', Paris: Albin Michel, 2007. * Warmington, Brian. "Some Constantinian References in Ammianus." In ''The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus'', edited by Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, 166–177. London: Routledge, 1999. * * * * Wienand, Johannes (ed.). ''Contested Monarchy. Integrating the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century AD''. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2015. * * * *


Further reading

* Arjava, Antii. ''Women and Law in Late Antiquity''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. * * * * Cowan, Ross (2016).
Milvian Bridge AD 312: Constantine's Battle for Empire and Faith
'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. * * Fourlas, Benjamin (2020). "St Constantine and the Army of Heroic Men Raised by Tiberius II Constantine in 574/575. Some Thoughts on the Historical Significance of the Early Byzantine Silver Hoard at Karlsruhe". ''Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums'' 62, 2015 ublished 2020 341–375. * Harries, Jill. ''Law and Empire in Late Antiquity''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Hardcover Paperback * Hartley, Elizabeth. ''Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor''. York: Lund Humphries, 2004. . * Heather, Peter J. "''Foedera'' and ''Foederati'' of the Fourth Century." In ''From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms'', edited by Thomas F.X. Noble, 292–308. New York: Routledge, 2006. Hardcover Paperback * Leithart, Peter J. Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom. Downers Grove: IL, InterVarsity Press 2010 * MacMullen, Ramsay. ''Christianizing the Roman Empire A.D. 100–400''. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 1984. * MacMullen, Ramsay. ''Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. * Percival J
On the Question of Constantine's Conversion to Christianity
, Clio History Journal, 2008 * * Velikov, Yuliyan (2013). ''Imperator et Sacerdos''. Veliko Turnovo University Press. (in Bulgarian)


External links


Complete chronological list of Constantine's extant writings
(archived 19 February 2013) * * Letters of Constantine




Encyclopædia Britannica, Constantine I
* Henry Stuart Jones (1911). " Constantine (emperors)". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 6. (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press. pp. 988–992. *Charles George Herbermann and Georg Grupp (1908). "
Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
BBC North Yorkshire's site on Constantine the Great

Constantine's time in York on the 'History of York'

Commemorations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine 01 272 births 337 deaths 3rd-century births 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Roman consuls 4th-century Roman emperors Ancient Romans in Britain Angelic visionaries Burials at the Church of the Holy Apostles Byzantine saints Christian royal saints City founders Constantinian dynasty Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Deified Roman emperors Filicides Flavii Gothicus Maximus Greek people Illyrian emperors Illyrian people Military saints People from Niš Sons of Roman emperors Tetrarchy Valerii