Chapters
| Names | Gaius Flavius Valerius Constantinus |
|---|---|
| Ruled as | Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantinus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus |
| Reign | 25 July 306 – 22 May 337 CE |
| Born | 27 February 280 CE |
| Died | 22 May 337 CE |
Constantine I was born on February 27, around 280 CE, in the Roman province of Moesia Superior in the city of Naissus, today’s Serbian Niš.
A great reformer and at the same time an emperor who was baptized. He was the son of Emperor Constantius I Chlorus, co-ruler of Maximian in the western part of the empire, and of Helen. He was called by his contemporaries: Constantine I (among Western Christians), Constantine the Great or Saint Constantine (among Eastern-Orthodox Christians).
Youth
As a well-born child with great prospects, he received a thorough and extensive education. He learned to express himself perfectly in Greek and Latin and was very well versed in philosophy. He served in the Diocletian court in Nicomedia. In 306 CE, young Constantine left the court of Galerius in Nicodemia to join his father, who was planning a campaign against the Picts in today’s Scotland. He met him at Gesoriacum in northern Gaul.
The unexpected death of Father Constantine on June 25, 306 at Eburakum caused unrest in the British army. The soldiers of the beloved commander and commander showed loyalty to his son, calling him successor and august of the western part of the empire. This event was a contradiction of the stabilized and confirmed tetrarchy in 305 CE, because the successor or Caesar could only be appointed by Augustus, who was Constantius. Constantine, realizing the not entirely legal power, asked Augustus in the east, Galerius, to recognize him as his father’s successor. However, Galerius guaranteed him only the title of Caesar of the West, and he named Augustus Severus II.
As the new lord of Gaul and Britain, he left the island and crossed the mainland to face the Franks in 306 CE, who wanted to take advantage of the fragile domestic situation of the empire. Their troops, however, were quickly routed and pushed across the Rhine, and the kings of the Franks: Askaris and Merogaises were captured, which proved Constantine’s outstanding military skills. The young commander, in order to tame the barbarians, led another campaign the same year, this time against the Brukters, on today’s German-Dutch border. The quick and well-conducted action allowed him to achieve another extraordinary victory. All fighting in this region was fought until the beginning of 307 CE, when Constantine was recalled from the Rhine and had to take one side in the internal conflict.
Constantine made every effort to remain neutral and not take sides. In the spring of 307 CE he was visited by the former Augustus of the western part of the country, Maximian, the father of the self-proclaimed Caesar in Rome, Maxentius. On his behalf, he made an alliance offer against Severus and Galerius. Under it, Constantinemarried Maximin’s daughter Fausta and was awarded the title of Augustus. However, the newly received rank ceased to apply as early as 308 CE, when the Diocletian, Maximin and Galerius conferences took place in Carnuntum on the Danube. There, Maksymin was forced to abdicate and pledged not to try to gain power once again.
In 309 CE, Constantine set off on an expedition across the Rhine against the Franks, but the unexpected, another usurpation of Maximino in the city of Arelate, in the south of Gaul, forced him to react. At the head of the army, he headed south to Masilia (Massilia) where he managed to capture the city and capture Maximinus. The one, hungry for power, planned the murder of Constantine, which, however, was avoided in advance. Maksymin, as a provocateur, was killed.
Immediately after the events in southern Gaul, he set off north in order to eliminate the threat posed by the Germans, which, however, turned out to be false. Instead, he went to the temple of an old Celtic deity. There, in 310 CE, according to reports, the god himself was to appear to him.
Civil war
Politica