who is constantine the great
His father, Constantius, was a member of an important Roman family. His mother, Helena, was the daughter of an innkeeper. In 293 the emperor Diocletian made Constantius caesar, or emperor, of Gaul and Britain. Young Constantine was kept at the court of Galerius, the Eastern emperor, virtually as a hostage. He escaped in 305 and joined his father. Constantius died the next year, and the army hailed Constantine as caesar.