Constantine, Roman Emperor - Professional Endeavors and Influence on Historic Events - Coursework Example

Introduction This is a very well know man who is among the great men that lived in the era of Italian Renaissance before 1500. He was a man who was best known for his position as a Christian in the Roman Empire. He was also known as the great Constantine, Saint Constantine, and Constantine 1. He is the man that is best known for his efforts to eradicate the persecutions, which were done by his predecessor Diocletian. He was the man that issued the Milan edit of the year 313, a declaration that proclaimed some tolerance of the Christian religion throughout the whole empire. In his time, he actually defeated the two famous empire leaders by the name Licinius and Maxentius, which happened during the period of civil war (Michael, 1994). He not only defeated those two but also the famous Alamanna, Franks, Sarmatians and Visigoths. He was also known to resettle the part of the famous Dacia that got abandoned the century before. It was during his era that he managed to make transformation in the ancient Greek. This is whereby the colony of the Byzantium was transformed into residential new imperial. The new residential town was renamed Constantinople and it actually became the capital city of the eastern part of the Roman Empire for more than a decade. This man is well known in the history for making so many changes in the world. This is because he was a leader of so many historic events ranging from politics, religion and even military. However, his great impact was felt in the religious sector (Michael, 1994). Bibliography Constantine who is also called Valerius Constantinus Flavius was born in the year 271. His birth was in the city known as Moesia a military city. He was born to a man called Flavius Constantinus who lived in the military city. Constantinus was a very skilled young man in terms of tolerance and politics and he was said to have spend very little time during his young age with his father. His father was in the Roman Empire as an officer. Later he rose in ranks and became the governor of Dalmatia. His mother was called Helen who was said to have originated in the Bithynian Greek but a very humble origin. There is no clear record as to whether she was a legal wife or just a concubine to the great leader. During the year 293, the empire was divided into two by Diocletian. This meant that there was need for two casers to rule over the eastern and the western empires. The father of Constantine was the first one to be appointed .it should be noted that the tetrarchy despite the overtones of the meritocratic retained the privileges of hereditary. his son Constantine left Balkanes to the court of the Diocletian. There he lives as his only father’s presumptive heir. It was in the Eastern Empire at Diocletian’s court, where he received formal education. He was educated in the Greek, Latin literature and philosophy. The environment in that place of Nicomedia was very sociable since he got a chance to interact with the other learned people (William, 1996). He got an opportunity to grow and mix with both Christian and pagan intellectuals. He was to attend lectures in the Lactantius, which was the best Latin Christian city. It very unfortunate that he could not attend it because the father was not trusted, so Constantine was rather held as a hostage. This act was used as a tool to ensure he grew up with the best behaviour. He grew up as very prominent member in the court. He is known to have been very aggressive in fighting for the Galerius and Diocletian where he served in a number of tribunates. While there, he was known to campaign mainly against the barbarians in the year 296 in Danube. He also fought under the ruler ship of Diocletian of Syria the Persians. His victory by the year 305 made him to be one of the most powerful tribunes of the time. He returned to the Eastern from the Nicomedia whereby he was able to witness one of the greatest period of Christian persecution in the year 303. He was actually at the palace the day the massagers were sent to make inquiries about the Christians those days. It was in the year 303, 23rd February that the destruction oft the famous new church of Nicomedia was ordered by Diocletian. The scriptures were set ablaze and all the treasures in it were seized. What followed that was even worse. This is because all the reaming scriptures were destroyed and all the Christians were denied chances to take any leadership position (Llyod, 2008). During that period, he wrote some writing whereby he described himself as one of the greatest opponents of the Christian persecutor perpetuator. It was in the year 305 May, that Diocletian announced his resignations. This was due to a long illness. Professional endeavors and Influence on Historic events After Constantine realized it was dangerous for him to remain a hostage in the Galerious court, he felt that he can only be rescued by his father in the west for the sake of his career. This then led his gather request for is son’s leave to go home (Elizabeth et el., 2006). The reason being that he wanted his son to help him in his campaign in the Great Britain. When he was granted the freedom, he actually few at night to ensure that there was no change of mind. His first achievement was in his help to his father to campaign against the picts, which was such a great success. In the year 306, January 25 his father died. By the time he was dying, he declared that he had raised his son to be able to take up the rank of an Augustus. His rule was gladly accepted. During his father’s service Constantine was declared the new Augustus. He immediately took over the domain of his father, which he had only ruled for less than a year. He actually commended the biggest Roman Empire that time. This is because it consisted of the Britain, Spain and Gaul. He remained in Britain especially the diocese of the northwestern. One of the greatest achievements during that time was the accomplishment of the military bases that were under construction. These were projects started by his father (Edwards, 2006) .He also ordered the roads to be repaired. He is also remembered for capturing two of the greatest kings of that time named Merogaisus and Ascaric who were fed to the beast together with their solders. He was also credited for expanding the Trier. This is whereby he was involved in the strengthening of the walls of the city all round. The min significant feature of the achievement is that he was able to fortify the gate and the walls. Further, he built an expansion of the palace in the northern side. He was also known to be in the frontline to sponsor so many buildings, which took place in the Gaul region. He actually took after his father in the decisions of tolerating the Christian religion. He was not a Christians yet but he thought it was fair enough for him to give the Christians a chance to practice their religion. He was actually excluded from the list of the great Christian persecutors. This is because he brought to an end the issue of Christian persecution (Elizabeth, et el, 2006). As if that was not enough, he went ahead and restored to the Christians all what they had lost during that particular period. One of the challenges that he was going through at that particular moment was the issue of illegitimacy. However, he attained his great fame by riding on his father’s achievements. He was also very much privileged by the fact that he was very well trained in military issues. It was due to that many people were able to connect whim with his father. He also attempted to seize the Maxentius Empire (Llyod, 2008). This is one of the rulers who never acknowledged the leadership of Constantine. Reason being that he felt he was without roots. There was a great conflict between the two but the great Constantine won the battle in the year 312. He had a very large territory to rule and he so he decided to share it with Lucinius in the year 324. He also seized the Balkans and the Greeks region. It was at that point the Roman Empire was once again under the ruler ship of one man. Constantine is also well known for using his great power to promote the religion of Christianity (Newman, 2010). He actually went ahead and made Christianity the state religion. He then confiscated all the treasures of the temples and then built new churches for the people. He eventually gained much interest in the issue of church and then started participating in the church councils at the place called Arles in the year 324 to 325. He was even baptized in his deathbed. In his lifetime, he was also celebrated for not building so many structures but also for being nominated as the most famous arch of the Constantine. The senate as a celebration did the nomination for his conquers to the Maxentius. Another very great achievement he did during his lifetime was the transformation of the city of Greek to the capital of the Constantinople in the year 330 (Edwards, 2006). Besides the fact that he was able to reunite the empire to be under the leadership of one person, he was also remembered for his great military achievements and victories. Some of these victories are in the years 306-308 when he won over Alamanni and Frank, the year 313-314 when he won over the franks once more, in the year 332; he also won over the Visigoths. He is also known as the founder of the Roman holy Empire. He was also known as a great warrior in the days who won against the heathens. He was also known to resettle the part of the famous Dacia that got abandoned the century before. It was during his era that he managed to make transformation in the ancient Greek (John, 1971). This is whereby the colony of the Byzantium was transformed into residential new imperial. The new residential town was renamed Constantinople and it actually became the capital city of the eastern part of the Roman Empire for more than a decade. This man is well known in the history for making so many changes in the world. This is because he was a leader of so many historic events ranging from politics, religion and even military. However, his great impact was felt in the religious sector. It should be noted that he matched against the great leader Maxentius who had a great multitude of warrior that amounted to 190,000 while he only had 25,000. He was credi5ted for his great courage in facing the challenge. However, he won the battle without ant hesitations. Conclusion Constantine the great is one of the men that have really achieved very great results in the world. His impact was not only in the areas of military but also in the religious sector. He is known to be the man who brought to end the issue of Christian persecution as well as greatly supported the restoration of the Christian religion including building of new churches and restoration of all what they had lost (John, 1971). Reference Edwards, L. (2006). Constantine the great: The union of the state and the church. New York: John Wiley & sons. Elizabeth, H., Jane, H. & Martin, H. (2006). Constantine the great: York’s Roman empire. California: Cengage Learning EMEA John, H. (1971). Constantine the great. California: Cengage Learning EMEA Llyod, B. (2008). Constantine the great. London: Kogan Page Publishers Michael, G. (1994). Constantine the great: the man and his times. London: Kogan Page Publishers Newman, H. (2010). Constantine the great: A tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. William, L. (1996). A dictionary of general bibliography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More