Constantine the Great

Legalized Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople, reshaping the Roman Empire.

Life

Raised to power in turbulent times

Constantine was born in what is now Serbia; his father was the western Caesar in the Tetrarchy. After the Crisis of the Third Century, Diocletian stabilized the empire with the Tetrarchy, but its mechanism for passing on power was fragile. In 306 CE his father died of illness in Britain, and the army proclaimed him Augustus, after which he was drawn into a long civil war.

Milvian Bridge and Milan

In 312 CE he defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, reportedly after seeing a vision of the cross before the battle. The next year he and Licinius jointly issued the Edict of Milan, granting Christianity legal status. In 324 CE he defeated Licinius and reunified the empire; the next year he convened the Council of Nicaea to settle doctrinal disputes, and in 330 CE he moved the capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople.

Reforms and a new capital

He reformed the currency and administration and widened the separation of civil and military functions, and he turned Christianity from a persecuted minority into a state-supported religion, profoundly influencing relations between church and state in Europe thereafter. He was ruthless throughout his life, having his eldest son and his wife put to death, and he was not baptized until his deathbed; later ages have long debated the motives behind his faith.

Legacy

Constantine is a pivotal turning-point figure in European history. He turned Christianity from a persecuted religion into a faith supported by the empire, beginning the tradition of union between church and state, and Eastern Orthodoxy venerates him as a saint "equal to the apostles." The Constantinople he built endured for more than a thousand years as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. But the sincerity of his faith has long been disputed, with Gibbon and others holding that he acted mostly from political calculation; his execution of his eldest son Crispus and his wife Fausta is also a dark side of his reign.

Major works & achievements

• Issued the Edict of Milan with Licinius, granting toleration to Christianity
• Convened the Council of Nicaea
• Moved the capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople
• Issued the gold solidus, a coin whose value stayed stable for centuries

Did you know? The "Donation of Constantine," a document circulated in the Middle Ages, was shown to be a forgery by the scholar Lorenzo Valla in the 15th century.

Key dates

• 306Proclaimed emperor by the army in Britain
• 312Wins the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
• 313Issues the Edict of Milan with Licinius
• 321Makes Sunday a public day of rest
• 324Defeated Licinius and reunified the empire
• 325Convened the Council of Nicaea
• 330Moves the capital to Constantinople
• 337Baptized on his deathbed, and died soon after