Constantine I the Great

Constantine the Great Saint Constantine Constantine I Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Μέγας
Marble head representing Emperor Constantine the Great, at the Capitoline Museums
57th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign	25 July 306 AD – 29 October 312 AD (Caesar in the west; self-proclaimed Augustus from 309; recognized as such in the east in April 310.) 29 October 312 – 19 September 324 (Undisputed Augustus in the west, senior Augustus in the empire.) 19 September 324 – 22 May 337 (As emperor of whole empire.)
Predecessor	Constantius I
Successor	Constantine II Constantius II Constans
Born	27 February c. 272 Naissus, Moesia Superior, Roman Empire (present-day Niš, Serbia)
Died	22 May 337(337-05-22) (aged 65) Nicomedia, Bithynia, Roman Empire
Burial	Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople
Spouse	Minervina Fausta
Issue	Constantina Helena Crispus Constantine II Constantius II Constans
Full name Flavius Valerius Aurelius
Dynasty	Constantinian dynasty
Father	Constantius Chlorus
Mother	Helena
Religion	Nicene Christianity Roman Religion (previously)

Constantine the Great (Latin: Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus;Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Μέγας; 27 February c. 272 AD – 22 May 337 AD), also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine (in the Orthodox Church as Saint Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles), was a Roman Emperor of Illyrian-Greek origin from 306 to 337 AD. He was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer, and his consort Helena. His father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under Emperors Diocletian and Galerius. In 305, Constantius raised himself to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia (Britain). Constantine was acclaimed as emperor by the army at Eboracum (modern-day York) after his father's death in 306 AD, and he emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against Emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of both west and east by 324 AD.

As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. The government was restructured, and the civil and military authorities were separated. A new gold coin was introduced to combat inflation known as the solidus. It became the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years.