![]() The fluctuations in his reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. Trends in modern and recent scholarship have attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship.Ĭonstantine was a ruler of major importance and has always been a controversial figure. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his reign with the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. 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 legitimacy and identity. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and for centuries after his reign. His more immediate political legacy was that he replaced Diocletian's Tetrarchy with the de facto principle of dynastic succession by leaving the empire to his sons and other members of the Constantinian dynasty. 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. He built a new imperial residence at the city of Byzantium and renamed it New Rome, later adopting the name Constantinople after himself, where it was located in modern Istanbul. 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 to the Middle Ages. While some modern scholars debate his beliefs and even his comprehension of Christianity, he is venerated as a saint in Eastern Christianity, and he did much for pushing Christianity towards the mainstream of Roman culture. He has historically been referred to as the "First Christian Emperor" and he did favor the Christian Church. The papal claim to temporal power in the High Middle Ages was based on the fabricated Donation of Constantine. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on his orders at the purported site of Jesus' tomb in Jerusalem and was deemed the holiest place in all of Christendom. He convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 which produced the statement of Christian belief known as the Nicene Creed. He played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313, which declared tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire. Constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the Roman frontiers-such as the Franks, the Alemanni, the Goths and the Sarmatians-and resettled territories abandoned by his predecessors during the Crisis of the Third Century with citizens of Roman culture.Īlthough Constantine lived much of his life as a pagan 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, an Arian bishop, or by Pope Sylvester I, which is maintained by the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Roman army was reorganized to consist of mobile units ( comitatenses) and garrison troops ( limitanei) which were capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. 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. He restructured the government, separating civil and military authorities. ![]() Upon his ascension to emperor, Constantine enacted numerous reforms to strengthen the empire. He eventually emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324. ![]() After his father's death in 306, Constantine was acclaimed as imperator by his army at Eboracum ( York, England). 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 the province of Britannia. Constantine served with distinction under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Galerius. Later canonized as a saint, she is traditionally attributed with the conversion of her son. His mother, Helena, was a Greek woman of low birth and a Christian. 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. He was the first emperor to convert to Christianity. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337. Constantine I ( / ˈ k ɒ n s t ən t aɪ n/ KON-stən-tyne, also / ˈ k ɒ n s t ən t iː n/ KON-stən-teen Latin: Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Classical Latin: Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος, translit.
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