Constantine the Great

Constantine was born in Naissus around 285 CE. In 293 CE he became a member of the court of Diocletian. When his father died in 306 CE, Constantine took his place as Augustus. His peers tried to force him to give up his title as Augustus and go back to being a Caesar, but he refused.

In 312 CE, Constantine invaded Italy. During his march to Rome, he claimed to have a vision of the sun with the Chi-Ro shining above it. The Chi-Ro is a divine symbol of Christ, so he had all of his soldiers paint it on their shields. They then battled an army with thousands of soldiers, and surprisingly overpowered them.


Constantine attributed this victory to the Chi-Ro he saw before the battle. He then thought of himself as an emperor of the Christian people. He soon became a dominant leader in Rome, and ordered that authorities stop executing the Christians. For a while, he was not familiar with Christian beliefs, but he learned as time went on. He often tried to solve disputes peacefully. However, at time he became increasingly brutal, and even persecuted the ‘wrong type’ of Christians.

For many years, Constantine only ruled the western half of Rome. While he didn’t force Christianity onto any citizens, he appointed Christian officials and was involved with the Christian church. In the east, however, the second emperor Licinius adamantly opposed the religion. There were several confrontations between the east and west, ultimately ending with Constantine defeating Licinius and becoming the single emperor of Rome.

As the emperor of Rome, he enforced many new laws. First he banned Pagan practices and built Christian churches. He implemented a harsh tax system, ruled that any girl who eloped would be burned alive, and sentenced rapists and their women victims to death. Despite these ruthless laws, Constantine still ruled as a Christian.

Toward the end of his life, Constantine planned to invade Persia. He wanted to be baptized along the way, in the river of Jordan where Jesus was baptized. However, he became sick in 337 CE and never made it to the river. Instead, he asked the bishop of Nicomedia, Eusebius, to baptize him on his deathbed.

For more information, follow this link:
http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/constantine-index.html