Constantine I
272 – 337 · Generation III · Emperor (r. 306–337)
Constantine (AD 272 – 337). Emperor (r. 306–337). Married Fausta around AD 307. First Christian emperor; founded Constantinople. Born at Naissus and acclaimed by his father’s army at York, he fought his way through the civil wars of the Tetrarchy, defeating Maxentius and then Licinius to reunite the empire under one ruler by 324. With the Edict of Milan he helped legalize Christianity, and in 325 he convoked the Council of Nicaea, which produced the Nicene Creed; on his orders the Church of the Holy Sepulchre rose in Jerusalem. He reorganized the government, split civil from military authority, disbanded the Praetorian Guard, introduced the solidus – a gold coin that anchored currencies for a thousand years – and restructured the army into mobile field forces and frontier garrisons. His lasting political bequest was to replace the Tetrarchy with dynastic succession; Eastern Christianity venerates him as a saint.
Parents
- Constantius I (250 – 306)
- Helena (246 – 330)
Siblings
- Julius Constantius (283 – 337) (half)
- Constantia (293 – 330) (half)
Partners
- Married Fausta (289 – 326) in 307 — 4 children together
Children
- Constantine II (316 – 340)
- Constantius II (317 – 361)
- Constans I (320 – 350)
- Helena (326 – 360)
Life
- 272 — Born
- 307 — Married Fausta
- 337 — Died