Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman army officer, and his consort, Helena. His father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in CE. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius. In , Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia modern Great Britain.
As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. The government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation. It would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. As the first Roman emperor to claim conversion to Christianity, Constantine played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in , which decreed tolerance for Christianity in the empire.
In military matters, the Roman army was reorganized to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. Emperor Diocletian tried to bring order by distributing power to a four-ruler tetrarchy that would govern the four quarters of the empire. After the death of his father in A.
He spent the next 18 years battling the three other Roman rulers—his rivals—to become the sole emperor. He defeated one rival, his brother-in-law Maxentius , and gained the mantle of western Roman emperor. But of far greater import was a revelation he experienced before the battle. When he triumphed at Milvian Bridge, he attributed the victory to the god of the Christians.
Regardless, in A. Christianity emerged in the far reaches of the Roman Empire sometime around A. Attracting large crowds throughout his native Galilee in modern-day Israel , he preached a message of forgiveness, love, and renewal. Jesus was arrested on charges of blasphemy and crucified around A. The Bible tells that Jesus rose from the dead three days after his Crucifixion. Constantine assumed sole control over the empire in A. Rome, however, was losing its luster for him. Moreover, from a military standpoint, Constantine realized it would be easier to fend off threats from the east and to protect valuable territory—and granaries—in Egypt if he moved his capital to a more defensible eastern location.
He left Rome for good to build an imperial city that would glorify both his power and his faith. Constantinople modern-day Istanbul , his capital , was dedicated in A. Previously known as Byzantium, it had been under Roman control for well over a century, but Constantine rebuilt and expanded it on a monumental scale.
He tripled the size of the existing city and offered full citizenship and free bread to encourage men of rank to move there with their families. Churches began to punctuate the skyline; Christians were welcomed, and other faiths were generally tolerated. The ascendant Constantinople soon eclipsed Rome. By the time Constantine established his new capital in A.
Roman emperor Septimius Severus destroyed the city in A. He wrote about how God does not allow people "to wander in the shadows" but reveals to them salvation: "I have experienced this in others and in myself, for I walked not in the way of righteousness.
For a decade, though, he wavered. For example, on the Arch of Constantine, which celebrates his Milvian Bridge victory, pagan sacrifices usually depicted on Roman monuments are absent. Then again, there are still no Christian symbols, and Victory and the Sun God are honored. He had no desire to impose his newfound faith as a state religion. Only through the years did his Christian convictions grow. In Constantine triumphed over Licinius and became the sole ruler of the Roman world.
The victory enabled Constantine to move the seat of government permanently to the East, to the ancient Greek city of Byzantium now Istanbul. He enlarged and enriched the city at enormous expense and built magnificent churches throughout the East.
The new capital was dedicated as New Rome, but everyone soon called the city Constantinople. Christians were more populous and vocal in the East than they were in Rome, so during the last 14 years of his reign, "Bullneck" could openly proclaim himself a Christian.
He proceeded to create the conditions we call "state-church" and bequeathed the ideal to Christians for over a thousand years. In the Arian controversy threatened to split the newly united empire. To settle the matter, Constantine called together a council of the bishops at Nicea, a city near the capital. He ran the meeting himself. Presiding at the council, Constantine was magnificent: arranging elaborate ceremony, dramatic entrances and processions, and splendid services.
He was also a gifted mediator, now bringing his skill in public relations to the management of church affairs. Unfortunately he could not follow abstract arguments or subtle issues and often found himself at a great disadvantage at these councils. Constantine waited until death drew near to be baptized as a Christian. His decision was not unusual in a day when many Christians believed one could not be forgiven after baptism. Since the sins of worldly men, especially those with public duties, were considered incompatible with Christian virtue, some church leaders delayed baptizing such men until just before death.
He gave his sons an orthodox Christian education, and his relationship with his mother was generally happy, but he continued to act as a typical Roman emperor. He ordered the execution of his eldest son, his second wife, and his favorite sister's husband.
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