Constantine the Great

**Constantine I** (27 February 272 – 22 May 337 AD) was a Roman emperor from 306 until he died. He was emperor for longer than any other emperor since Augustus, the first emperor. He was the first ruler of the Roman Empire to be a Christian. He made the old city Byzantium into a new, larger city: Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). The city's name means "City of Constantine" in Greek. He was the son of the emperor Constantius I, and members of their Constantinian dynasty controlled the empire until 364.

Six years after Constantine became Emperor, he had to fight a civil war with his rival Maxentius. A major battle of this war was the Battle of Milvian Bridge, (which is a bridge over the Tiber River.) It is believed that before the battle, Constantine saw a cross in the sky with the words . Because of this, he ordered his soldiers to draw Christian symbols on their shields. Constantine went on to win the battle and later on won the war.

## Early life 
Constantine (; ) was born in Naissus (Niš, Serbia). He was born on 27 February. The *Calendar of Philocalus* and the works of the Latin writer Polemius Silvius both say Constantine was born in 272 or 273. The Latin historian Eutropius wrote the same information. However, the Greek historian and bishop Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Constantine was born around the year 285.

Constantius and the other *caesar* Galerius each became *augustus* (a more senior Roman emperor) on 1 May 305. Maximinus Daza and Valerius Severus each became *caesar*.

## Emperor years (306-337) 
### 306–310 
The *Consularia Constantinopolitana* says that Constantius I died on 25 July 306 in Eboracum (York, England). This stopped people from punishing Christians, who had often been martyred, or killed for their faith. It also returned the property which had been taken away from them. In 311, Galerius had made a similar edict, though it did not return any property to them. In pagan Rome before this, it had been against the law to practise Christianity, and Christians had often been tortured or killed.  Constantine protected them.  He went on to organize the whole Christian Church at the First Council of Nicea, even though he himself did not get baptized until near the end of his life.

Constantine did not support Christianity alone.  After winning the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he built the Arch of Constantine to celebrate, but the arch was decorated with pictures of sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, or Hercules.  It had no Christian symbolism.  In 321, Constantine said that Christians and non-Christians should all join the "day of the sun" (the eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped him introduce). His coins also had symbols of the sun-cult until 324. Even after pagan gods disappeared from the coins, Christians symbols never appeared on the coin, either. Even when Constantine dedicated the new city of Constantinople, he was wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem.

## Notes
## References 
## Other websites 
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*Letters of Constantine: Book 1 , Book 2 , & Book 3 
*Encyclopaedia Britannica, Constantine I
*12 Byzantine Rulers  by Lars Brownworth of Stony Brook School (grades 7–12). 40 minute audio lecture on Constantine.
*Constantine I in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
*Constantine the Great A site about Constantine the Great and his bronze coins emphasizing history using coins, with many resources including reverse types issued and reverse translations.
*House of Constantine bronze coins Illustrations and descriptions of coins of Constantine the Great and his relatives.
*BBC North Yorkshire's site on Roman York, Yorkshire and Constantine the Great 
* This list of Roman laws of the fourth century shows laws passed by Constantine I relating to Christianity.
* Professor Edwin Judge discusses Constantine's legacy for a Centre for Public Christianity vodcast 
* Constantine's time in York on the 'History of York'