Constantine Basics
Details on Constantine
Dates: Feb. 27, c. 272/273 - May 22, 337Parents: Constantius I Chlorus and Helena
Place of Birth: Naissus, Moesia Superior
Name: Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus
Wife: Minervina, Fausta
Children: Crispus; Constantine II, Constantius II, Constans, Constantine, Helena
Occupation: Roman Emperor (A.D. 306-337)
Constantine is counted the most important of the later Roman emperors because of:
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Christianity
Constantine was the 1st Roman emperor to support Christianity and become Christian. From the time of Constantine, Christianity became the Roman religion, with a temporary setback when his nephew Julian tried to reinstate the old Roman polytheistic beliefs, which we refer to as paganism. - Tolerance
Constantine proclaimed the Edict of Milan, in 313, granting religious freedom to all. - Symbolism
Constantine was victorious against Emperor Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, which was significant for its Christian symbolism. - Building
Constantine created a new central, Christian city for the Roman Empire at Byzantium (Constantinople [later, Istanbul]).
Family and Birth of Constantine:
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, who became the Emperor Constantine the Great, was born on Feb. 27, c. 280, in Naissus, in the province of Moesia Superior (Serbia) [see map of Macedonia, Moesia, Dacia, and Thracia]. Constantine's mother was named Helena, described as a barmaid, and his father was an officer named Constantius. Constantius would become the Emperor Constantius I (Constantius Chlorus) and Constantine's mother would become famous as the canonized St. Helena. Helena is thought to have found a portion of the cross of Jesus.
Flavia Julia Constantia was one of Constantine's 3 half-sister and 3 half-brothers, the product of his father's marriage to a second woman of less dubious background than Helena's. By the time Constantius became governor of Dalmatia, he required a pedigreed wife, Theodora (Flavia Maximiana Theodora). She was a daughter of Maximian [see Tetrarchy Emperors]. Constantius then shuffled his son Constantine and Helena off to the eastern emperor, Diocletian, in Nicomedia. [Paul Stephenson's Constantine; New York: The Overlook Press (2010).]
Constantine married twice. By the 1st, he had a son Crispus. By the 2nd, Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius II.
In Hoc Signo Vinces:
Constantine the Great Rules Alone:
The first battle between Constantine and Licinus, on July 3-4 of 324, was at Adrianople, in Thrace. Constantine won. Next they fought at sea, in the Hellespont. Constantine's son Crispus was victorious in this encounter with Licinius' admiral Amandus. Licinus surrendered at Chrysopolis on the 18th of September.
Constantine created Constantinople on the site of Byzantium to celebrate his victory. [Stephenson]
Constantine on Heresy:
It was from 325 that Constantine enjoyed sole reign in the Roman empire, having defeated and executed his co-emperor Licinius, who had reneged on the Edict of Milan.
Death of Constantine:
Constantine and Christianity:
Most people consider Constantine a Christian from the Milvian Bridge in 312, but he wasn't baptized until a quarter century later. Today, Constantine wouldn't count as a Christian in many forms of Christianity without the baptism, but it's even less clear in the period of Classical Christianity.
Was Constantine a Christian?
See: "Religion and Politics at the Council at Nicaea," by Robert M. Grant. The Journal of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 1-12
