Constantine I

272 – 337 · Generation III · Emperor (r. 306–337) · Constantinian

Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity and the founder of Constantinople, the city that would be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over a thousand years. He was born at Naissus, modern Niš, on 27 February 272, the son of Flavius Constantius, an army officer who became one of the four rulers of the Tetrarchy, and of Helena, a woman of low birth later venerated as a saint. He served under Diocletian and Galerius in the east before joining his father in Britain in 305.

When his father died in 306, the army at Eboracum, modern York, proclaimed him emperor. In 312 he defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, and in 324 he overcame Licinius to rule the whole empire alone. He disbanded the Praetorian Guard, separated civil from military command and introduced the solidus, a gold coin that remained a standard for more than a thousand years.

He began to favour Christianity in 312. The Edict of Milan of 313 ended its persecution, and in 325 he summoned the First Council of Nicaea, which produced the Nicene Creed. He had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built in Jerusalem. On the site of Byzantium he built a new imperial city, dedicated on 11 May 330 and named Constantinople after him.

His family life had a dark side. In 326 he had his eldest son Crispus put to death and, weeks later, his wife Fausta killed in an overheated bath, for reasons historians still debate. He was finally baptised by Eusebius of Nicomedia, and he died on 22 May 337, leaving the empire to his sons and replacing the Tetrarchy with rule by a dynasty.

Place in the family

• The archive records 5 of his descendants, across 2 generations.

One of 11 people of Constantinian (246–366) in this archive. The house that founded Constantinople and ruled from it.

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Parents

• Constantius I (250 – 306)
• Helena (246 – 330)

Siblings

• Julius Constantius (290 – 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

Sources

1. Constantine the Great · Wikipedia
2. Helena, mother of Constantine I · Wikipedia