St. Constantine the Great

Constantine the First Christian Roman Emperor

Whatever your opinion of Constantine, it’s a historical fact that Christianity was spread to more souls by Constantine than by Saint Paul himself. This is why the Eastern Churches hail him as the “Thirteenth Apostle.” Since we live in times of political and ecclesiastical ambiguity, here are 41 facts about Constantine to help you see that God can use imperfect politicians to bring about great good:

1.) Constantine the Great was born about 274 CE and died 337 CE.

2.) He was a Roman Emperor for 31 years from 306-337 CE.

3.) Constantine the Great was the first Roman ruler to be converted to   Christianity.

4.) In 330, he founded Constantinople, now known as İstanbul, as a capital of the Roman Empire.

5.) Constantinople remained the seat of the Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman until 1453.

6.) He was born in Nis, now part of Serbia and Montenegro,

7.) Constantine’s complete name is Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus. He is also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine.

8.) His father is Constantius I (Constantius Chlorus), a former military commander, who divorced his first wife Helena to marry Theodora, the daughter of  Emperor Maximian, and together they had six children. 

9.) Constantine’s mother is Helena who became Saint Helena, and Constantine was her only son.

10.)  His father, Constantius, became co-emperor in 305 CE but died the following year.

11.) Upon the death of Constantius in 306 CE, Constantine was proclaimed emperor by his troop.

12.) For almost 20 years, he fought his rivals for the throne and finally established himself as sole ruler in 324 CE.

13.) Constantine was a solar henotheist early in his life – meaning he believed that the Roman sun god, Sol, was the visible manifestation of an invisible “Highest God” (summus deus), who was the principle behind the universe.

14.)  In 312 CE, on the eve of a battle against Maxentius, his rival in Italy, Constantine is reported to have dreamed that Christ appeared to him and told him to inscribe the holy sign ΧΡ, the first two letters of the Greek word ΧΡΙSΤΟS (Christos), on the shields of his troops.

15.) The next day he is said to have seen a cross superimposed on the sun and the words “in this sign, you will be the victor” (usually given in Latin, in hoc signo vinces).

16.) Constantine then defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, near Rome and he Senate hailed the victor as the savior of the Roman people.

17.) Through the Edict of Milan, which was issued in 313 CE, persecutions of the Christians ended. This edict mandated the toleration of Christians.

18.) As guardian of Christianity, the church was then given legal rights and large financial donations by Constantine.

19.) Administrative reforms introduced by Constantine include the separation of civil and military authority.

20.) During his reign, the central government was run by Constantine and his council, known as the sacrum consistorium.

21.) The powers of the Senate were given back and new gold coins (solidi) were issued and remained the standard of exchange until the end of the Byzantine Empire.

22.) Constantine built churches in the Holy Land, where his mother St. Helena is said to have found the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified.

23.) Constantine the Great fell ill in April 337 CE and died one month later on May 22, 337 CE.

24.) He was baptized shortly before his death by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia (now İzmit, Turkey).

25.) Although he was already a complete Christian by the time of the council at Nicaea in 325 CE, he still tolerated paganism among his subjects.

26.) The Arch of Constantine, a triumphal arch situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill in Rome, was erected to commemorate his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312.

27.) In June 326, Constantine had his eldest son Crispus, by Minervina, seized and put to death by "cold poison" at Pola (now Pula, Croatia).  Crispus was 21 years old at his death and had the title of Caesar, being appointed the titular ruler of Gaul.

28.)  In July 326, Constantine had his wife, the Empress Fausta, killed at the behest of his mother, Helena. Fausta was left to die in an over-heated bath.

29.) At the time of the executions of Crispus and Fausta, it was commonly believed that the Empress Fausta was either in an illicit relationship with Crispus or was spreading rumors to that effect.

30.) The Byzantine Empire considered Constantine its founder and the Holy Roman Empire reckoned him among the venerable figures of its tradition. 

31.)  He was divorced and remarried, having divorced his first wife Minervina to marry his second wife Fausta.

32.)    During his early life, the Roman Empire was divided into a Tetrarchy of four emperors: two senior emperors with the title “Augustus” and two junior emperors with the title “Caesar.” Constantine’s father Constantius was the “junior emperor” or “Caesar” of the Western half of the Empire.

33.)    Constantine spent his early life held captive in the East (away from his father in the West) by the senior emperor Augustus Diocletian (a great persecutor of Christians). Constantine escaped the Eastern emperors by night and fled to his father. It is said that he hamstrung every horse along the way so that he would not be caught! Constantine joined his father Constantius in York in Britain. His father died in 306 and his son Constantine was acclaimed “Augustus” or senior emperor of the Western Roman Empire by his soldiers.

34.)    But Constantine needed to prove his title. Before defeating Maxentius in AD 312, Constantine saw the cross in the sky above the sun with the words “in touto nika” or,  “In this sign, conquer.” Lactantius (who tutored his sons) says Constantine was instructed to conquer under the sign of the cross during a dream. Eusebius records that it happened during the day at noon and that all the troops saw it. Either way, Constantine is said to have placed the sign of the cross or a Chi Rho on the shields of his men. Scholar Peter Weiss suggests the public “sun miracle” happened in Gaul in AD 310 and the dream happened in AD 312 before the Battle at the Milvian Bridge. That in AD 310, Constantine began to shift to monotheism based on “Sol Invictus” and that by AD 312, this monotheism had become (or was becoming) Christian monotheism.

35.)    Constantine legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, but he began to remove pagan symbols from imperial coins beginning around the year AD 318. He gave the Lateran Palace to the bishop of Rome in AD 324. His conversion seems gradual and is in full display after about 10-12 years of rule.

36.)    Constantine didn’t likely convert for political reasons as most high school history teachers will tell you. The demographics were against him. It is estimated that in AD 312, Christians composed only 10-15% of the Roman Empire’s population and fell into the lowest levels of education, wealth, and political power. The influence, wealth, and political power were still held by those checking the box labeled: “Jupiter, et al. Give me that old school Roman religion.”

37.)    In AD 325, he called the first Catholic and Ecumenical Council of Nicea, which condemned the heresy of Arius who falsely teaching that the Son of God was created and not eternally begotten of the Father.

38.)    Constantine left three living sons (each born from Fausta):

            Constantine II (Catholic and anti-Arian). The first born.

            Constantius II (Semi-Arian). The most powerful and through his influence, Semi-Arian theology spread.

            Constans (Catholic and anti-Arian and anti-Donatist). Constans was rumored to be a man of unnatural vices, openly preferring his select bodyguard. As a result,  he lost the support of the legions and was forced to flee for his life.   As he was trying to reach Hispania, supporters of General Magnentius cornered him in a fortification in Helena (now Elne) in the eastern Pyrenees of southwestern Gaul,  where he was killed after seeking sanctuary in a church.  A prophecy at his birth had said Constans would die in the arms of his grandmother. His place of death happens to have been named after St. Helena, the mother of Constantine and his own grandmother, thus realizing the prophecy.

39.)    Constantine did not divide the Roman Empire into “East and West.” That had already been accomplished fully by Diocletian. Constantine, in a sense, reunited the entire Roman Empire under himself as one household or oecoumenos.

40.)    Constantine fell ill and personally selected the Semi-Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia to baptize him just days before his death. He died on Pentecost AD 337.

41.)  His Feast day is May 21.