Constantine I widely known as Constantine the Great was a Roman Emperor that became the first Roman Emperor to declare his religion as Christianity. Constantine led the Roman Empire from 313 – 337 A.D. until his death in May of 337 A.D. Constantine played a great role in the history of Christianity and the creation of a new capital in the Roman Empire – Constantinople.
Born around 280 AD and died around 337 AD Constantine the Great was the son of a high ranking army officer who reached the rank of a deputy emperor serving the leading emperor of the West Roman Empire. Constantine’s father Constantius assumed control over a large part of the Roman after succeeding to the position of deputy emperor. This allowed for Constantine to gain enormous amounts of power and influence after his father passed away.
After taking the place of his father, Constantine went into a series of civil wars with the other leaders of the Roman Empire. Constantine defeats the other ruler of the Western Roman Empire become fully in control. Constantine then defeats Licinius the sole ruler of the Eastern
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He fought in the name of God and had faith. The religious views in the Roman Empire was polytheistic and after the passing of Jesus Christ, Christians were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire. When Constantine converted the religion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, it was a turning point for the Christian religion. This was the time of early Christianity and by declaring Christianity as his religion Constantine made the Roman Empire a place where Christians could live knowing that the Emperor was also with them, a fellow Christian. The city that Constantine decided to become the new capitol for the Roman Empire was Constantinople, named after Constantine himself. Constantinople was a Christian capitol for this new religion he decided on as the religion of his
When Constantine was battling for control of Rome, he prayed for divine interference and saw a cross, the sign of Christianity. He put a cross on all of his soldiers, and they were victorious, with Constantine crediting his triumph to the Christian God. After Constantine took power in 313 AD, he announced the end of Christians persecutions. Later, in AD YEAR, Constantine converted, and Christianity grew faster than ever. Of all factors that influenced Christianity development, Constantine’s conversion was one of the most important, because he made it acceptable.
While Constantine I ruled the Roman Empire, Christianity became the overriding faith of Rome. 5 While Constantine I had been exposed to Christianity during childhood through his mother, Helena, he was never a true believer. Many Christian sources write that Constantine received a revelation in 312 before the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
The new faith that brought a message and established the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the faith that Constantine adopted as a child from his mother. Christianity during Constantine’s reign established much dominance over other religions and was the main reason for influence of the Christian. Christianity in the Roman world had many perils from gladiatorial battles, to forms of charity which affected the Roman world for good (McGiffert, 34). Charity became with
Constantine roll the roman empire from 306 through 337 c e. Under his rule as emperor he decreed that anyone involved in growing, preparation, and transportation best food and other essentials now have careers as farmers. During the civil war in 312 CE Roman Emperor Constantine wonder or question what God would bring him victory. The day before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine looked up to the sky and saw the Christian cross. He also had a dream that told him that he was going to won the way, but he had to fight under labarum. Constantine was Rome's first Christian emperor.
Nothing that Constantine the Great did shows his ability more clearly than his seizing upon the site of old Byzantium for the location for his new capital. The place was admirably sited for an imperial residence, being over against Asia which the Persians were threatening, and in easy touch with the Danube, where the Northern Barbarians were always swarming… (Sozomen)
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.
Constantine the Great was the emperor of Rome and was the Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. During his reign he was the first Christian Emperor; and in various different ways, Constantine changed the lives of his people. Constantine kept his empire stable and his people from turning on him by allowing Christianity in the empire, conquering and gaining more land, and lastly creating Constantinople.
This declaration was a precursor to the manipulation of religion as a means to acquire wealth, enhance social and political power, and as a method of societal control; a manipulation that would only grow and continue in coming centuries. Constantine understood that by getting people to believe that there was only one true and worthy God to worship and obey, convincing them to obey and worship only one worthy and true earthly leader, was entirely feasible. Implementing this religion upon his people was a self-serving attempt at coming to be an all-powerful, rightful and ruling God on earth: a concept later defined as “divine right” by successive emperors (Lundskow, 2008, 72). Abrupt social changes occurred under the rule of Constantine, and this aided with the people’s ready reception of and conversion to the Christianity. Pagan practices, although still in existence, were becoming out-dated and society was open to the idea of a religion that was a more accurate reflection of their current lifestyle; Christianity responded accordingly to this desire. Similarly, to the Emperor, not every individual was particularly overcome by everlasting faith in Christianity. Rather, its social advantages and opportunity for economic advancement proved to be the deciding factors for most. The people’s acceptance of Christianity is attributable to Constantine’s political ascension to power, which in turn is attributable to a multitude of subsequent worldly leaders embracing the Christian faith to push their own personal
According to Constantine’s Porphyry Column, “Constantine brutally murdered his son and wife.” These acts were directly against the Christian church, which gave the people of the Roman Empire an inaccurate portrayal of the word of God. Many historians also believe that Constantine’s acceptance of Christianity was rooted in his hatred for the Jewish People. He used his negativity of Judaism as a way to promote his new laws. Many of his new laws had Christian Characteristics. He believed that these new laws would help him to dominate his people. Despite the fact that he gave Christians legal freedom to practice their religion, he made them feel subordinate. This is a crucial flaw in the strategy of Constantine. It removes the genuine nature of his acceptance. Because of this his actions are viewed as blasphemy rather than something to be celebrated. This is largely due to the fact that he accepted Christianity in the Roman Empire for selfish reasons. Because of his violent methods and selfish ruling, Constantine hurt Christianity’s image among the Roman people.
Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, or Constantine, is commonly referred to as the fist Christian emperor of the Roman Empire and as the defender of Christianity. Such grand titles are not necessarily due for the reasons that people commonly think of them today.
For my adaptive leadership assignment I decided to write about Constantine. He was born in Naissus, Moesia Superior (modern day Serbia) on 27 February in roughly AD 285. His parents, Flavius Valerius Constantius was an army officer of Rome and his mother, Helena. (Constantine I Biography) After his father death it was known that Constantine was going to be the next Roman emperor, but he was ravenous about ruling the whole four sections of Rome. He was a great military commander that he ended up winning most of his battles. One of his greatest battles was against Maxentius at the Battle of the, Milvian Bridge in AD 312 with the largest army. Constantine claimed that an image of a cross or a Christian God appeared in the sky signifying that
Diocletian did not entirely trust Constantius, and held Constantine as a hostage in his court to ensure first-rate performance from Constantius. Despite this Constantine remained a distinguished court member, fighting for Diocletian, as well as for Galerius in Asia. He battled the barbarians of Danube in 296, fought the Persians in Syria and Mesopotamia in 297, 298, and 299. Constantine returned to Nicomedia in the spring of 303, to find the beginnings of Diocletian’s “Great Persecution”, beginning to take place. The Great Persecution brought about the demolition of the new church in Nicomedia, the imprisonment of priests, the deprivation of authoritative ranks from Christians, and the destruction of many churches and scriptures. On May 1, 305 Diocletian announced his resignation because of a crippling illness he developed during the previous winter. Galerius was chosen as his imperial successor. It did not take Constantine long to recognize the immediate danger in remaining in the east. Constantius made the request of Galerius to allow his son to leave the east to help him campaign in Britain. Galerius granted the request, and during the summer of 305 Constantine joined his father in Gaul. Constantine campaigned at his father’s side for a year in Northern Britain, before his father became very ill. Over the course of his campaign, Constantius’s health quickly declined, and he
In addition, there were prominent figure during this time that also aided in the growth of Christianity. One person who aided to the growth of Christianity was Constantine. Constantine was a Emperor of the Western Roman Empire and was the first emperor to publicly convert to Christianity in 312 AD. Constantine conversion was prompted before going into war he was Alerted by a vision that the Christian God is on his side, Constantine
After his father’s death in 306, the Gaul army hailed Constantine as their ruler. After five years as the emperor of Gaul, Constantine invaded Italy. After defeating the Roman army, Constantine entered Rome as the ruler of the western half of the empire. In 313, Constantine issued