Constantine The Great : Constantine The Great

In 306 C. E Constantine became Emperor of the Rome. In the Roman Empire Constantine was the first Christian Emperor to rule. In 337 Constantine the great died.

Constantine was a very influential leader throughout his life. He was able to accomplish many things, everything from making a major world religion possible, to running a successful empire. It all started when he was born in around 280 CE in Naissus, Moesia, to father Flavius Valerius and mother Helena. His father became Roman emperor in around 305 CE. He was elected to the position of emperor by Maximalla, who was the emperor of Western Rome at the time. While his father was alive, Constantine was sent off to Eastern Rome, where he received a great education and became fluent in both Greek and Latin. This is when most historians agree that he was introduced to Christianity. Constantine then went back to Western Rome where he would take over the position of emperor after his father died. At the age of 57, Constantine got sick and died in Constantinople on May 22, 337 CE. Throughout his whole life, Constantine made many efficacious and influential contributions as a leader, and he was a great example of the Gerstell academy definition of leadership and the Principles and Attributes.

Religions take a hold on societies in different ways. Christianity started as a revitalization movement against the Roman hierarchy, and was comprised of mostly woman and the poor. The Roman Empire took up most of the Mediterranean and North Africa. With the death of Jesus, around 33 CE, came a new, unique, religion that was a spin off of Judaism but they believed that Jesus was the foretold Messiah. Although they were persecuted, Christianity took hold in the ancient world because it offered salvation, was fair to all, and preached love and peace.

Justinian was a powerful emperor, who reconquered previously owned Roman land. During his time of reign, he helped the Byzantine Empire reach its peak in culture and propeserity. Although some see him as deceptive, as it says in document two“ Justinian was crafty, hypocritical, secretive by temperament, and two faced”. Others say he was “similar to God, who rules all” which is said in document three. He left behind what is still remember today. Achievements and accomplishment of Justinian are what is recalled of him. Justinian revived the Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire by preservation of Greco- Roman culture, his legacy was enriching the Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire , glorifying God, and enhancing trade and laws throughout the Byzantine Empire.

The life of Constantine, a Roman emperor from 306 to 337 AD, is explained by two different accounts that differ from each other. The first one that was written by Eusebius in 337 AD states that Constantine is a victorious, pious emperor who helps others and orders the construction of sacred places to honor Christ. The second account was written in 520 AD by Zosimus and it states that Constantine is an impious, arrogant and selfish emperor who is responsible of the Roman Empire’s collapse.

Over the years of ancient civilizations, there have been many great empires. These empires including China, India, Greece, Rome, and Maurya. But, out of all these empires, there lays a question, who was the best emperor of these civilizations? Although some people may believe otherwise, Constantine was the best emperor of Rome since he influenced Christianity on Rome and is considered one of the greatest pivotal figures of European history, even ranked higher than Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and Hitler due to his influence on his own policies. For a start, Constantine the Great began his ruling in 323 after his father, Constantius.

Throughout the first three centuries, Christianity faced persecution from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful and influential empires in history. Nations under the control of the Rome, associated themselves with Roman traditions. Even during the split of the Roman Empire under, persecution remained and old traditions still dominated the areas of the Roman Empire. Constantine, one of the Caesar’s sons from the Tetrarchy, would go on to become emperor of Rome and challenge old beliefs.

Therefore Constantine drastically impacted Christianity in both good and bad

Another reason I chose this topic was because I was interested in impact that Christianity had on the Roman Empire, especially in seeing how Christianity rose from being persecuted to becoming the main religion of the Empire. Additionally, I also wanted to explore any possible correlation between the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Empire. That is the reason that Christianity is the factor in my question as while I believe

To fully comprehend how Constantine veritably changed Rome, as well as how his arts reflect his beliefs and his efforts, one must first know the state of Rome before he came to power. In the third century, Rome had seen its share of trouble, and it was steadily collapsing. Troubles with barbarians, wars in the east, and constant instability in the government were weakening morals, and Rome itself, from the outside, as well as from within. In terms of religion, the Romans thought of it as a government division, placing importance on having the government please the gods. The religion of paganism was essentially shared, and practically the only thing keeping Rome together at that point. It was, however, being challenged by a fairly new, and steadily growing, religion: Christianity. At this time, Christianity was not exactly scrutinized with a positive light by Rome's government: “Under the emperor Diocletian (AD 284-305), the Christians suffered the most serious and prolonged persecution that they had yet faced. Persecution, however, [did not] seem to hinder Christian expansion, which was apparent in the new role religion was playing in politics (Willems, Katharine. “Constantine and Christianity: The Formation of the Christian State Church”)”; basically, Diocletian's government did not trust Christians, and so constantly treated them with hostility. That would

Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman Emperor who reigned between 306 and 337. He was the son of Constantius I, who was appointed Augustus of the western regions of the Roman Empire, under Diocletian’s tetrarchy, and his first wife Helena. He was acclaimed emperor of the Roman army following the death of his father in 306. Following the defeat of his co-emperor Maxentius in 312 at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine became the sole emperor of the Western Roman Empire. His victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge has been credited as the catalyst for his conversion to Christianity and subsequent legislation such as the edict of Milan which allowed Christians the freedom to worship and facilitated

Once Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, the two were linked. Events in the Roman Empire impacted Christianity because Christianity had become a major force in the Empire. The Roman Empire remained a Christian state until it fell in 1453. For 70% of the history of Christianity so far, the Roman Empire has been around to affect it. A combination of timing, government structure and human nature is what allowed the Roman Empire to affect Christianity to the amount that it

As we talked about previously Christians were heavily persecuted throughout the Roman Empire. Although Christianity was growing rapid there was an enormous amount of people that did not like Christians. The citizens of Rome did all that they could to stop the spread of Christianity. The Christians were thrown in jail, spit on, beat, stoned, and killed all because they believed in God. Christianity showed us that when you are living in unbearable situations trust God even if it seems

As the founder of the Christian empire, Constantine began a new era. He was an absolute ruler, and his reign saw the end of the tendency toward despotic rule, centralized bureaucracy, and separation of military and civil powers evolved by Diocletian. Constantine's legal reforms were marked by great

Constantine’s continuous support for Christianity is one of the reasons that it is still a major religion today. I believe that Constantine was a great ruler because of his dedication to the unity of Christianity. Regardless of the different schisms in the religion, Constantine was determined to make Christianity unified. The Edict of Milan shows that Constantine had respect for other religions and allowed them, but preferred Christianity. It also shows that, even