Constantine’s key campaign came in 312, as he confronted forces led by Maxentius (d. 312), the son of another member of the first Tetrarchy. From his base in Gaul, Constantine marched on Rome. Before a major battle at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine supposedly received a heavenly sign indicating Jesus Christ and the Christian god were on his side. After his victory at the bridge, Constantine began to promote Christianity.
With imperial backing, Christians were soon free to worship openly, ending centuries of government restrictions on their faith. Along with his own personal belief in Christ, Constantine saw that this religion had social and political value. In his History of Rome, Michael Grant argues that the emperor and his aides believed the Christians “possessed universal aims and efficient, coherent organization that, in the long run, could unite the various conflicting peoples and classes of the empire in a single, all-embracing harmony.” Shortly before his death in 337, Constantine was baptized, which made him an official member of the Christian Church. Because of Constantine’s support of their religion, early Christian writers named him “the Great.” In today’s Greek Orthodox religion, this first Christian emperor of Rome is considered a saint.
With his victory over Maxentius, Constantine was the unchallenged ruler of the western half of the empire. The east was ruled by Licinius (c. 263-325), and in 316 the two rulers fought one another, with neither able to win a clear victory. They called a truce, but in 324 they battled again. This time Constantine defeated Licinius. For the first time in almost 100 years, Rome had a single, powerful emperor.
Constantine ruled the Roman Empire until his death in 337. He continued some of the reforms Diocletian had begun, such as trying to curb inflation and collect more taxes. In the military, he increased the number of Germans fighting for Rome in the provinces. Constantine also encouraged the idea of setting up imperial residencies throughout the empire. The members of the Tetrarchy lived in the regions they governed, since they could direct military operations more easily in the provinces than they could from Rome. Constantine also decided to build a new capital city in Byzantium, a Greek town on the Black Sea in what is now Turkey.
The Council of Nicaea
Constantine took an active role in the Christian Church's early rules and beliefs. In 325, he summoned more than 300 bishops to the town of Nicaea, in what is now Turkey. Constantine wanted to end disagreements between the church leaders over official interpretations of the New Testament. He sided with the bishops who argued that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit were three separate beings but each consisted equally of the same holy substance—forming a holy trinity. Other bishops, led by Arius, argued that Jesus was different from God and lesser than him in ultimate power. With Constantine's support, the first theory was accepted as the church's official belief, although for decades Arius and his supporters continued to challenge it. The creed, or statement of belief, that came out of the Nicaea conference is called the Nicene Creed. It remains at the heart of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and several other Christian churches.
The “New Rome,” as it was called, was renamed Constantinople. Its location, at a spot where Europe and Asia meet, made the new city a center for world trade. Like Rome, Constantinople was built on seven hills. Unlike the first capital, however, Constantine’s new city had a deep natural harbor. In some ways, the emperor tried to recreate the old ways of Rome. The poor citizens received free grain, as earlier Romans had, and some senators move to Constantinople. Although the city of Rome remained important, imperial concerns began to focus more on the eastern half of the empire.
World History
