Constantine the Great Was the First Roman

Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and to make Christianity the official religion of Rome. This makes him one of the most important figures in Western history, and in fact, world history. Prior to Constantine's conversion, Christians were widely persecuted throughout the Roman Empire (Herbermann and Grupp). Making Christianity the official religion of Rome led to the downfall of the Roman Empire and the birth of the new Holy Roman Empire. Because of Constantine's conversion, Christianity became a dominant religious, political, and economic world power.

Constantine was born in Naissus, a city in the Moesia Superior region of the Roman Empire. Moesia Superior is modern day Serbia, and Naissus is the modern-day town of Nis. Constantine the Great's father was the Emperor Constantius. Constantine's mother Helena was a commoner but was later named as a Christian saint. Immediately after the death of his father in York, England, Constantine was declared the Caesar of Rome (Herbemann and Grupp). His position in the Roman empire was like that of his father, in the sense that they served during a time when Rome was divided into three separate regions, each with its own Caesar.

As soon as Constantine became Caesar, he embarked on an ambitious political campaign. He fought a rival emperor named Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Maxentius also happened to be Constantine's brother-in-law, as Constantine had married Maxentius's sister Fausta. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge was a symbolic and practical victory for Constantine. It was a practical victory because the defeat of Maxentius established Constantine as the sole Roman Emperor and not just a regional Caesar. The victory at Milvian Bridge also represented the time that Constantine adopted Christianity as his personal faith. Constantine and his soldiers reportedly "observed in broad daylight a strange phenomenon in the sky: a cross of light and the words 'by this sign you will be victor,'" (Pohlsander).

Constantine would not be officially baptized until shortly before his death. However, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge was "among the most decisive moments in world history, while his legalization and support of Christianity and his foundation of a 'New Rome' at Byzantium rank among the most momentous decisions ever made by a European ruler," (Pohlsander). Constantine made it illegal to persecute Christians in the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan in 313.

After his victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine went on to establish Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul) as the new seat of the Roman Empire. Constantine built many Christian structures in Byzantium as well as traditional Roman structures like a hippodrome (Pohlsander). However, the most famous buildings that Constantine built was the Hagia Sophia church.