Editing Constantine the Great (section)

=== Later rule ===

==== Foundation of Constantinople ====
{{further|New Rome}}
[[File:Silver medallion of Constantine I, AD 330.jpg|right|thumb|Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople]]
[[File:Glittica romana, costantino e la tyche di costantinopoli, sardonice IV sec.JPG|thumb|4th century sardonyx cameo with Constantine and the Tyche of Constantinople<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hPX7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=The Early Reception and Appropriation of the Apostle Peter (60-800 CE): The Anchors of the Fisherman |date=2020-03-17 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-42568-2 |page=36 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Diocletian had chosen ''Nicomedia'' in the East as his capital during the Tetrarchy<ref>Sherrard, ed. Krieger, ''Byzantium'', Silver Burdett Company, Morristown, NJ, 1966 p. 15.</ref>—not far from Byzantium, well situated to defend Thrace, Asia, and Egypt, all of which had required his military attention.<ref>Sinnigen & Boak, ''A History of Rome to A.D. 565'', 6th ed., Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1977 pp. 409–10.</ref> Constantine had recognised the shift of the empire from the remote and depopulated{{why?|date=July 2024}} West to the richer cities of the East, and the military strategic importance of protecting the Danube from barbarian excursions and Asia from a hostile Persia in choosing his new capital<ref>Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1988, p. 40.</ref> as well as being able to monitor shipping traffic between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.<ref>Sherrard, ed. Krieger, ''Byzantium'', Silver Burdett Company, Morristown, NJ, 1966 p. 18.</ref> Licinius' defeat came to represent the defeat of a rival centre of pagan and Greek-speaking political activity in the East, as opposed to the Christian and Latin-speaking Rome, and it was proposed that a new Eastern capital should represent the integration of the East into the Roman Empire as a whole, as a centre of learning, prosperity, and cultural preservation for the whole of the Eastern Roman Empire.<ref>Gilbert Dagron, ''Naissance d'une Capitale'',  24.</ref> Among the various locations proposed for this alternative capital, Constantine appears to have toyed earlier with [[History of Sofia|Serdica]] (present-day [[Sofia]]), as he was reported saying that "''Serdica is my Rome''".<ref>[[Petrus Patricius]] ''excerpta Vaticana'', 190: Κωνσταντίνος εβουλεύσατο πρώτον εν Σαρδική μεταγαγείν τά δημόσια· φιλών τε τήν πόλιν εκείνην συνεχώς έλεγεν "η εμή Ρώμη Σαρδική εστι."</ref> Sirmium and [[Thessalonica]] were also considered.<ref>Ramsey MacMullen, ''Constantine'', [[Routledge]] ed., 1987, 149.</ref> Eventually, however, Constantine decided to work on the Greek city of [[Byzantium]], which offered the advantage of having already been extensively rebuilt on Roman patterns of urbanism during the preceding century by Septimius Severus and [[Caracalla]], who had already acknowledged its strategic importance.<ref>Dagron, ''Naissance d'une Capitale'', 15/19.</ref> The city was thus founded in 324,<ref name=Oxf>"Constantinople" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', [[Oxford University Press]], Oxford, 1991, p. 508. {{ISBN|0-19-504652-8}}</ref> dedicated on 11 May 330<ref name=Oxf /> and renamed ''Constantinopolis'' ("Constantine's City" or [[Constantinople]] in English). Special commemorative coins were issued in 330 to honour the event. The new city was protected by the relics of the [[True Cross]], the [[Rod of Moses]] and other holy relics, though a [[Cameo (carving)|cameo]] now at the [[Hermitage Museum]] also represented Constantine crowned by the [[tyche]] of the new city.<ref>[http://www.hermitagerooms.com/exhibitions/Byzantium/sardonyx.asp Sardonyx cameo depicting constantine the great crowned by Constantinople, 4th century AD] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316221103/http://www.hermitagerooms.com/exhibitions/Byzantium/sardonyx.asp |date=16 March 2006 }} at "The Road to Byzantium: Luxury Arts of Antiquity". ''The Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House'' (30 March 2006&nbsp;– 3 September 2006).</ref> The figures of old gods were either replaced or assimilated into a framework of [[Christian symbolism]]. Generations later there was the story that a [[Vision (spirituality)|divine vision]] led Constantine to this spot, and an angel no one else could see led him on a circuit of the new walls.<ref>Philostorgius, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' 2.9.</ref> The capital would often be compared to the 'old' Rome as ''Nova Roma Constantinopolitana'', the "New Rome of Constantinople".<ref name="macmullen" /><ref>According to the ''Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum'', vol. 164 (Stuttgart: A. Hiersemann, 2005), column 442, there is no evidence for the tradition that Constantine officially dubbed the city "New Rome" (''Nova Roma'' or ''Nea Rhome''). Commemorative coins that were issued during the 330s already refer to the city as ''Constantinopolis'' (Michael Grant, ''The Climax of Rome'' (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968), 133). It is possible that the emperor called the city "Second Rome" (''Deutera Rhome'') by official decree, as reported by the 5th-century church historian Socrates of Constantinople.</ref>

==== Religious policy ====
{{Main|Religious policies of Constantine the Great}}
{{further|Constantinian shift|Constantine the Great and Christianity|Constantine the Great and Judaism}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix   = [[Saint]]
| name               = Constantine the Great
| resting_place      = [[Constantinople]]
| feast_day          = 21 May
| venerated_in       = {{plainlist|
*[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
<!-- Talk in talk page before adding Latin Catholicism or Roman Catholicism. -->
*[[Eastern Catholic Church]]{{efn|Constantine is not revered as a saint but as "the great" in the [[Latin Catholic Church]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Constantine the Great |publisher=New Advent |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=14724&cid=30276&ecid=30276&crid=0 |title=St. Constantine |work=FaithND |publisher=University of Notre Dame |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] such as the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Ukrainian Catholic Church]] may revere him as a saint.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stconstantine.org/OurParish/OurPatronSaint/index.php |url-status=dead |title=Saint Constantine the Great |publisher=Saint Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225192016/http://www.stconstantine.org:80/OurParish/OurPatronSaint/index.php |archive-date=25 February 2020}}</ref>}}
*[[Oriental Orthodoxy]]
*[[Anglican Communion]]
*[[Lutheran Church]]}}
| image              = Byzantinischer Mosaizist um 1000 002.jpg
| imagesize          = 250px
| caption            = [[Mosaic]] in the [[Hagia Sophia]], section: Maria as patron saint of Constantinople, detail: [[donor portrait]] of Emperor Constantine I with a model of the city
| titles             = Emperor and Equal to the Apostles
| major_shrine       = [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], Constantinople
}}
[[File:Constantine burning Arian books.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Constantine burning books by Arian heretics ('Heretici Arriani'), from a 9th-century manuscript now in [[Vercelli]]]]
Constantine was the first emperor to stop the persecution of Christians and to legalise Christianity, along with all other religions/cults in the Roman Empire. In February 313, he met with Licinius in Milan and developed the Edict of Milan, which stated that Christians should be allowed to follow their faith without oppression.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowder |first=Diana |title=The Age of Constantine and Julian |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |year=1987 |isbn=9780064906012 |pages=28 |language=English}}</ref> This removed penalties for professing Christianity, under which [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|many had been martyred previously]], and it returned confiscated Church property. The edict protected all religions from persecution, not only Christianity, allowing anyone to worship any deity that they chose. A similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, senior emperor of the Tetrarchy, which granted Christians the right to practise their religion but did not restore any property to them.<ref>See Lactantius, ''De Mortibus Persecutorum'' 34–35.</ref> The Edict of Milan included several clauses which stated that all confiscated churches would be returned, as well as other provisions for previously persecuted Christians. Some scholars think that Helena adopted Christianity as an adult, and according to Eusebius she was converted by Constantine,{{sfn|Young|2006|p=6 and n. 24}} but other historians debate whether Constantine adopted his mother Helena's Christianity in his youth or whether he adopted it gradually over the course of his life.<ref>R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz, ''Medieval Worlds'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 55.</ref>

[[File:Sylvester I and Constantine.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Pope Sylvester I]] and Emperor Constantine]]
Constantine possibly retained the title of ''[[pontifex maximus]]'' which emperors bore as heads of the ancient Roman religion until [[Gratian]] renounced the title.<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gratian-Roman-emperor Gratian]" Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 3 February 2008.</ref><ref name=livius>[https://www.livius.org/pn-po/pontifex/maximus.html Pontifex Maximus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303013139/http://www.livius.org/pn-po/pontifex/maximus.html |date=3 March 2013 }} Livius article by Jona Lendering retrieved 21 August 2011.</ref> According to Christian writers, Constantine was over 40 when he finally declared himself a Christian, making it clear that he owed his successes to the protection of the Christian High God alone.<ref>[[Peter Brown (historian)|Peter Brown]], ''The Rise of Christendom'' 2nd edition (Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2003) p. 60.</ref> Despite these declarations of being a Christian, he waited to be baptised on his deathbed, believing that the baptism would release him of any sins he committed in the course of carrying out his policies while emperor.{{sfn|Drake|2000|p= 395}} He supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy (such as exemption from certain taxes), promoted Christians to high office, and returned property confiscated during the long period of persecution.<ref>R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz, ''Medieval Worlds'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) pp. 55–56.</ref> His most famous building projects include the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] and [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]]. In constructing the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Constantine went to great lengths to erect the basilica on top of [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]]'s resting place, so much so that it even affected the design of the basilica, including the challenge of erecting it on the hill where St. Peter rested, making its complete construction time over 30 years from the date Constantine ordered it to be built.

Constantine might not have patronised Christianity alone. A [[Arch of Constantine|triumphal arch]] was built in 315 to celebrate his victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge which was decorated with images of the goddess [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]], and sacrifices were made to pagan gods at its dedication, including [[Apollo]], [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], and [[Hercules]]. Absent from the arch are any depictions of Christian symbolism. However, the arch was commissioned by the Senate, so the absence of Christian symbols may reflect the role of the [[Curia]] at the time as a pagan redoubt.<ref>Robin Lane Fox, ''apud'' Jonathan Bardill, '' Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age''. Cambridge University Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-521-76423-0}}, p. 307, note 27.</ref>

In 321, he legislated that the ''venerable Sunday'' should be a day of rest for all citizens.<ref>''[[Codex Justinianeus]]'' 3.12.2.</ref> In 323, he issued a decree banning Christians from participating in state sacrifices.<ref>''[[Codex Theodosianus]]'' 16.2.5.</ref> After the pagan gods had disappeared from his coinage, Christian symbols appeared as Constantine's attributes, the chi rho between his hands or on his labarum,<ref>Cf. Paul Veyne, ''Quand notre monde est devenu chrétien'', 163.</ref> as well on the coinage.<ref name="ramsey">R. MacMullen, "Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D. 100–400, Yale University Press, 1984, p. 44, {{ISBN|0-300-03642-6}}</ref> The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the emperor to have great influence and authority in the early Christian councils, most notably the dispute over Arianism. Constantine disliked the risks to societal stability that religious disputes and controversies brought with them, preferring to establish an orthodoxy.<ref>Richards, Jeffrey. ''The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752'' (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) 14–15; ''The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752'' (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) 15.</ref> His influence over the Church councils was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy, and uphold ecclesiastical unity; the Church's role was to determine proper worship, doctrines, and dogma.<ref>Richards, Jeffrey. ''The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752'' (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) pp. 15–16.</ref>

North African bishops struggled with Christian bishops who had been ordained by Donatus in opposition to [[Caecilianus|Caecilian]] from 313 to 316. The African bishops could not come to terms, and the Donatists asked Constantine to act as a judge in the dispute. Three regional Church councils and another trial before Constantine all ruled against Donatus and the [[Donatism]] movement in North Africa. In 317, Constantine issued an edict to confiscate Donatist church property and to send Donatist clergy into exile.<ref>Frend, W.H.C., "The Donatist Church; A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa," (1952 Oxford), pp. 156–162.</ref> More significantly, in 325 he summoned the First Council of Nicaea, most known for its dealing with Arianism and for instituting the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |title=Byzantium |year=1996 |isbn=0394537785 |edition=First American |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |pages=54–57 |oclc=18164817}}</ref> He enforced the council's prohibition against celebrating the Lord's Supper on the day before the Jewish [[Passover]], which marked a definite break of Christianity from the Judaic tradition. From then on, the solar [[Julian calendar]] was given precedence over the lunisolar [[Hebrew calendar]] among the Christian churches of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/25023.htm |title=Church Fathers: Life of Constantine, Book III (Eusebius), chapter 18 |website=New Advent}}</ref>

Constantine made some new laws regarding the Jews; some of them were unfavourable towards Jews, although they were not harsher than those of his predecessors.<ref name="Goldsworthy187">Cf. Adrian Goldsworthy, ''How Rome Fell'', 187.</ref> It was made illegal for Jews to seek converts or to attack other Jews who had converted to Christianity.<ref name="Goldsworthy187" /> They were forbidden to own Christian slaves or to [[brit milah|circumcise]] their slaves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stemberger |first=Gunter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXuxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |title=Jews and Christians in the Holy Land |publisher=A&C Black |year=1999 |pages=37–38 |isbn=978-0-567-23050-8 |quote=If a Jew has bought and circumcised a Christian slave or one belonging to any other religious community, he may under no circumstances keep the circumcised person in slavery; rather, whoever suffers such a thing shall obtain the privilege of freedom.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schäfer |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tdKCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA182 |title=The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |page=182 |isbn=978-1-134-40317-2 |quote=Constantine forbade the circumcision of Christian slaves, and declared any slave circumcised despite this prohibition a free man}}</ref> On the other hand, Jewish clergy were given the same exemptions as Christian clergy.<ref name="Goldsworthy187" /><ref>Cameron, 107.</ref>

==== Administrative reforms ====
[[File:Gold coin pendant BM.JPG|thumb|right|Hexagonal gold pendant with double [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]] of Constantine the Great in the centre, AD&nbsp;321, now in the [[British Museum]]]]
Beginning in the mid-3rd century, the emperors began to favour members of the [[Equites|equestrian order]] over senators, who had a monopoly on the most important offices of the state. Senators were stripped of the command of legions and most provincial governorships, as it was felt that they lacked the specialised military upbringing needed in an age of acute defense needs;<ref>Christol & Nony, ''Rome et son Empire'', 241.</ref> such posts were given to equestrians by Diocletian and his colleagues, following a practice enforced piecemeal by their predecessors. The emperors, however, still needed the talents and the help of the very rich, who were relied on to maintain social order and cohesion by means of a web of powerful influence and contacts at all levels. Exclusion of the old senatorial aristocracy threatened this arrangement.

In 326 Constantine reversed this pro-equestrian trend, raising many administrative positions to senatorial rank and thus opening these offices to the old aristocracy; at the same time, he elevated the rank of existing equestrian office-holders to senator, degrading the equestrian order in the process (at least as a bureaucratic rank).<ref>As equestrian ''order'' refers to people of equestrian ''census'' that had an actual position in the state bureaucracy, thousands of whom had no state function; cf. [[Claude Lepelley]], "Fine delle' ordine equestre: le tappe delle'unificazione dela classe dirigente romana nel IV secolo", IN Giardina, ed., ''Società romana e impero tardoantico'', Bari: Laterza, 1986, V. 1, quoted by Carrié & Rouselle, p. 660.</ref> The title of ''perfectissimus'' was granted only to mid- or low-level officials by the end of the 4th century.

By the new Constantinian arrangement, one could become a senator by being elected [[praetor]] or by fulfilling a function of senatorial rank.<ref>Christol & Nony, ''Rome et son Empire'', 247; Carrié & Rousselle ''L'Empire Romain'', 658.</ref> From then on, holding actual power and social status were melded together into a joint imperial hierarchy. Constantine gained the support of the old nobility with this,<ref>Carrié & Rousselle ''L'Empire Romain'', 658–59.</ref> as the Senate was allowed to elect praetors and [[quaestor]]s in place of the usual practice of the emperors directly creating magistrates (''adlectio''). An inscription in honour of [[Praefectus urbi|city prefect]] [[Ceionius Rufius Albinus|Ceionius Rufus Albinus]] states that Constantine had restored the Senate "the ''[[auctoritas]]'' it had lost at Caesar's time".<ref>{{citation |title=Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae |url=http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_de?p_belegstelle%3DCIL%2B06%252C%2B01708%26r_sortierung%3DBelegstelle |access-date=5 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720213655/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_de?p_belegstelle=CIL%2B06%2C%2B01708&r_sortierung=Belegstelle |archive-date=20 July 2012}}; {{citation |author=Carrié & Rousselle |title=L'Empire Romain |page=659}}</ref>

The Senate as a body remained devoid of any significant power; nevertheless, the senators had been marginalised as potential holders of imperial functions during the 3rd century but could dispute such positions alongside more upstart bureaucrats.<ref>Carrié & Rousselle, ''L'Empire Romain'', 660.</ref> Some modern historians see in those administrative reforms an attempt by Constantine at reintegrating the senatorial order into the imperial administrative elite to counter the possibility of alienating pagan senators from a Christianised imperial rule;<ref>Cf. Arnhein, ''The Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman Empire'', quoted by Perry Anderson, ''Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism'', 101.</ref> however, such an interpretation remains conjectural, given the fact that we do not have the precise numbers about pre-Constantine conversions to Christianity in the old senatorial milieu. Some historians suggest that early conversions among the old aristocracy were more numerous than previously supposed.<ref>Carrié & Rousselle, p.657 citing T.D. Barnes, "Statistics and the Conversion of the Roman Aristocracy", ''Journal of Roman Studies'', 85, 1995.</ref>

Constantine's reforms had to do only with the civilian administration. The military chiefs had risen from the ranks since the [[Crisis of the Third Century]]<ref>Cf. Paul Veyne, ''L'Empire Gréco-Romain'', 49.</ref> but remained outside the Senate, in which they were included only by Constantine's children.<ref>Christol & Nony, ''Rome et son Empire'', 247.</ref>

==== Monetary reforms ====
[[File:Nummus of Constantine (YORYM 2001 10313) obverse.jpg|thumb|left|A [[nummus]] of Constantine]]
In the 3rd century the production of [[fiat money]] to pay for public expenses resulted in [[Crisis of the Third Century#Economic impact|runaway inflation]], and Diocletian tried unsuccessfully to re-establish trustworthy minting of silver coins, as well as silver-bronze "[[Billon (alloy)|billon]]" coins (the term "billon" meaning an alloy of precious and base metals that is mostly base metal). Silver currency was overvalued in terms of its actual metal content and therefore could only circulate at much discounted rates. Constantine stopped minting the Diocletianic "pure" silver ''[[argenteus]]'' soon after 305, while the "billon" currency continued to be used until the 360s. From the early 300s on, Constantine forsook any attempts at restoring the silver currency, preferring instead to concentrate on minting large quantities of the gold [[solidus (coin)|solidus]], 72 of which made a pound of gold. New and highly debased silver pieces continued to be issued during his later reign and after his death, in a continuous process of retariffing, until this "billon" minting ceased in 367, and the silver piece was continued by various denominations of bronze coins, the most important being the ''[[centenionalis]]''.<ref>Walter Scheidel, "The Monetary Systems of the Han and Roman Empires", 174/175.</ref>

These bronze pieces continued to be devalued, assuring the possibility of keeping fiduciary minting alongside a gold standard. The author of ''[[De rebus bellicis|De Rebus Bellicis]]'' held that the rift widened between classes because of this monetary policy; the rich benefited from the stability in purchasing power of the gold piece, while the poor had to cope with ever-degrading bronze pieces.<ref>''De Rebus Bellicis'', 2.</ref> Later emperors such as [[Julian (emperor)|Julian the Apostate]] insisted on trustworthy mintings of the bronze currency.<ref>Sandro Mazzarino, according to Christol & Nony, ''Rome et son Empire'', 246.</ref>

Constantine's monetary policies were closely associated with his religious policies; increased minting was associated with the confiscation of all gold, silver, and bronze statues from pagan temples between 331 and 336 which were declared to be imperial property. Two imperial commissioners for each province had the task of getting the statues and melting them for immediate minting, with the exception of a number of bronze statues that were used as public monuments in Constantinople.<ref>Carrié & Rousselle, ''L'Empire Romain'', 245–246.</ref>

==== Executions of Crispus and Fausta ====
{{multiple image|total_width=350
|image1=Crispus.jpg
|caption1=Gold coin of Constantine's eldest son [[Crispus]], who was executed by his father
|image2=P1070865 Louvre tête de Fausta Ma4881 rwk.JPG
|caption2=Bust of Constantine's wife [[Fausta]], in the [[Louvre]], Paris
}}
Constantine had his eldest son Crispus seized and put to death by "cold poison" at Pola ([[Pula]], Croatia) sometime between 15 May and 17 June 326.<ref>Guthrie, 325–326.</ref> In July, he had his wife Empress Fausta (stepmother of Crispus) killed in an overheated bath.<ref>Guthrie, 326; Woods, "Death of the Empress", 70–72.</ref> Their names were wiped from the face of many inscriptions, references to their lives were eradicated from the literary record, and their memory was condemned. Eusebius, for example, edited out any praise of Crispus from later copies of ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'', and his ''[[Life of Constantine|Vita Constantini]]'' contains no mention of Fausta or Crispus.<ref>Guthrie, 326; Woods, "Death of the Empress", 72.</ref> Few ancient sources are willing to discuss possible motives for the events, and the few that do are of later provenance and are generally unreliable.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Roman Empire |date=2008 |publisher=MobileReference.com |isbn=978-1-60501-314-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62Qf64DdGu0C |access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref> At the time of the executions it was commonly believed that Empress Fausta was either in an illicit relationship with Crispus or was spreading rumours to that effect. A popular myth arose, modified to allude to the [[Hippolytus of Athens|Hippolytus]]–[[Phaedra (mythology)|Phaedra]] legend, with the suggestion that Constantine killed Crispus and Fausta for their immoralities;<ref name="GUTH326.7">Guthrie, 326–27.</ref> the largely fictional ''Passion of Artemius'' explicitly makes this connection.<ref>''Art. Pass'' 45; Woods, "Death of the Empress", 71–72.</ref> The myth rests on slim evidence as an interpretation of the executions; only late and unreliable sources allude to the relationship between Crispus and Fausta, and there is no evidence for the modern suggestion that Constantine's "godly" edicts of 326 and the irregularities of Crispus are somehow connected.<ref name="GUTH326.7" />

Although Constantine created his apparent heirs "caesars", following a pattern established by Diocletian, he gave his creations a hereditary character, alien to the tetrarchic system: Constantine's caesars were to be kept in the hope of ascending to empire and entirely subordinated to their augustus, as long as he was alive.<ref>Christol & Nony, ''Rome et son Empire'', 237/238.</ref> Adrian Goldsworthy speculates an alternative explanation for the execution of Crispus was Constantine's desire to keep a firm grip on his prospective heirs, this—and Fausta's desire for having her sons inheriting instead of their half-brother—being reason enough for killing Crispus; the subsequent execution of Fausta, however, was probably meant as a reminder to her children that Constantine would not hesitate in "killing his own relatives when he felt this was necessary".<ref>Cf. Adrian Goldsworthy, ''How Rome Fell'', 189 & 191.</ref>

==== Later campaigns ====
{{multiple image|align=left
|image1=Costantino nord-limes png.PNG
|width1=216
|caption1=The northern and eastern frontiers of the Empire in the time of Constantine, with the territories acquired in the course of entire reign
|image2=Medallion of Constantine I (obverse).png
|width2=142
|caption2=Gold medallion struck at [[Nicomedia]] in 335–336 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his rule
}}
Constantine considered Constantinople his capital and permanent residence. He lived there for a good portion of his later life. In 328, construction was completed on [[Constantine's Bridge (Danube)|Constantine's Bridge]] at ''[[Sucidava]]'', (today [[Corabia|Celei]] in [[Romania]])<ref>Madgearu, Alexandru
(2008). Istoria Militară a Daciei Post Romane 275–376. Cetatea de Scaun. {{ISBN|978-973-8966-70-3}}, pp. 64–126.</ref> in hopes of reconquering [[Roman Dacia|Dacia]], a province that had been abandoned under Aurelian. In the late winter of 332, Constantine campaigned with the [[Sarmatians]] against the [[Goths]]. The weather and lack of food reportedly cost the Goths dearly before they submitted to Rome. In 334, after Sarmatian commoners had overthrown their leaders, Constantine led a campaign against the tribe. He won a victory in the war and extended his control over the region, as remains of camps and fortifications in the region indicate.<ref>Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 250.</ref> Constantine resettled some Sarmatian exiles as farmers in Illyrian and Roman districts and conscripted the rest into the army. Constantine reconquered the South of Dacia and the new frontier in Dacia was along the wall and ditch called [[Brazda lui Novac]] line supported by new ''[[castra]]''.<ref>Madgearu, Alexandru(2008). Istoria Militară a Daciei Post Romane 275–376. Cetatea de Scaun. {{ISBN|978-973-8966-70-3}}, pp. 64–126.</ref> Constantine took the title ''Dacicus maximus'' in 336.<ref>Odahl, 261.</ref>

In the last years of his life, Constantine made plans for a campaign against [[Sasanian Empire|Persia]]. In a letter written to the king of Persia, [[Shapur II|Shapur]], Constantine had asserted his patronage over Persia's Christian subjects and urged Shapur to treat them well.<ref>Eusebius, ''VC'' 4.9ff, cited in Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 259.</ref> The letter is undatable. In response to border raids, Constantine sent Constantius to guard the eastern frontier in 335. In 336, Prince Narseh invaded Armenia (a Christian kingdom since 301) and installed a Persian client on the throne. Constantine then resolved to campaign against Persia. He treated the war as a Christian crusade, calling for bishops to accompany the army and commissioning a tent in the shape of a church to follow him everywhere. Constantine planned to be baptised in the [[Jordan River]] before crossing into Persia. Persian diplomats came to Constantinople over the winter of 336–337, seeking peace, but Constantine turned them away. The campaign was called off, however, when Constantine became sick in the spring of 337.<ref>Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 258–59. See also: Fowden, "Last Days", 146–48, and Wiemer, 515.</ref>

==== Illness and death ====
[[File:Raphael Baptism Constantine.jpg|thumb|''[[The Baptism of Constantine]]'', as imagined by students of [[Raphael]]]]
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|footer=Constantine's sons and successors: [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]], [[Constantius II]], and [[Constans]]
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From his recent illness, Constantine knew death would soon come. Within the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], which he had built in Constantinople, Constantine had secretly prepared a final resting-place for himself.<ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 4.58–60; Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 259.</ref> It came sooner than he had expected. Soon after the Feast of Easter 337, Constantine fell seriously ill.<ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 4.61; Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 259.</ref> He left Constantinople for the hot baths near his mother's city of [[Helenopolis (Bithynia)|Helenopolis]] ([[Altınova]]), on the southern shores of the Gulf of Nicomedia (present-day [[Gulf of İzmit]]). There, in a church his mother built in honour of [[Lucian of Antioch|Lucian the Martyr]], he prayed, and there he realised that he was dying. Seeking purification, he became a [[Catechesis|catechumen]] and attempted a return to Constantinople, making it only as far as a suburb of ''Nicomedia''.<ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 4.62.</ref> He summoned the bishops and told them of his hope to be baptised in the River Jordan, where Christ was written to have been baptised. He requested the baptism right away, promising to live a more Christian life should he live through his illness. The bishops, Eusebius records, "performed the sacred ceremonies according to custom".<ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 4.62.4.</ref> He chose the [[Arianism|Arian]] bishop [[Eusebius of Nicomedia]], bishop of the city where he lay dying, as his baptiser.<ref>Pohlsander, ''Emperor Constantine'', 75–76; Lenski, "Reign of Constantine" (CC), 82.</ref> In postponing his baptism, he followed one custom at the time which postponed baptism until after infancy.{{efn|Because he was so old, he could not be submerged in water to be baptised, and therefore, the rules of baptism were changed to what they are today, having water placed on the forehead alone. In this period infant baptism, though practiced (usually in circumstances of emergency) had not yet become a matter of routine in the west. Thomas M. Finn, ''Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: East and West Syria'' (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1992); Philip Rousseau, "Baptism," in ''Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post Classical World'', ed. G.W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1999).}} It has been thought that Constantine put off baptism as long as he did so as to be absolved from as much of his sin as possible.<ref>{{cite book | last=Amerise | first=Marilena | year=2005 | title=Il battesimo di Costantino il Grande: storia di una scomoda eredità | trans-title=The baptism of Constantine the Great: The story of an uncomfortable legacy | language=it | publication-place=Stuttgart | publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag | series=[[Hermes (classical philology journal)|Hermes: Bulletin for Classical Philology]], supplements | issn=0341-0064 | isbn=978-3-515-08721-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=am2Wv6gxBjEC | oclc=61029662}}<!-- Note: The [https://books.google.com/books?id=am2Wv6gxBjEC&pg=PA4 printed] {{ISBN|3-515-08679-X}} was also used for another work. --></ref> Constantine died soon after at a suburban villa called Achyron, on the last day of the fifty-day festival of [[Pentecost]] directly following Pascha (or [[Easter]]), on 22 May 337.<ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 4.64; Fowden, "Last Days of Constantine", 147; Lenski, "Reign of Constantine" (CC), 82.</ref>

Although Constantine's death follows the conclusion of the Persian campaign in Eusebius's account, most other sources report his death as occurring in its middle. Emperor Julian (a nephew of Constantine), writing in the mid-350s, observes that the Sassanians escaped punishment for their ill-deeds, because Constantine died "in the middle of his preparations for war".<ref>Julian, ''Orations'' 1.18.b.</ref> Similar accounts are given in the ''[[Origo Constantini]]'', an anonymous document composed while Constantine was still living, which has Constantine dying in ''Nicomedia'';<ref>''Origo Constantini'' 35.</ref> the ''Historiae abbreviatae'' of Sextus [[Aurelius Victor]], written in 361, which has Constantine dying at an estate near ''Nicomedia'' called Achyrona while marching against the Persians;<ref>Sextus Aurelius Victor, ''Historiae abbreviatae'' XLI.16.</ref> and the ''Breviarium'' of [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], a handbook compiled in 369 for the Emperor [[Valens]], which has Constantine dying in a nameless state villa in ''Nicomedia''.<ref>Eutropius, ''Breviarium'' X.8.2.</ref> From these and other accounts, some have concluded that Eusebius's ''Vita'' was edited to defend Constantine's reputation against what Eusebius saw as a less congenial version of the campaign.<ref>Fowden, "Last Days of Constantine", 148–49.</ref>

[[File:Sarcophagi Byzantine emperors Istanbul (11).JPG|thumb|left|A fragment of a [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] sarcophagus that is believed to be Constantine's.]]
Following his death, his body was transferred to Constantinople and buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles,<ref>Pohlsander, ''Emperor Constantine'', 75–76.</ref> in a [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry sarcophagus]] that was described in the 10th century by [[Constantine VII|Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]] in the ''[[De Ceremoniis]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |author=A. A. Vasiliev |title=Imperial Porphyry Sarcophagi in Constantinople |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=4 |date=1848 |pages=1+3–26 |url=https://lucazavagno.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/vasiliev.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231151500/https://lucazavagno.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/vasiliev.pdf |archive-date=31 December 2019 |url-status=live |doi=10.2307/1291047 |jstor=1291047}}</ref> His body survived the plundering of the city during the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204 but was destroyed at some point afterwards.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=teyNhL3AuGEC&q=body%20of%20constantine%20the%20great&pg=PA305 |title=Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries |via=Google Knihy |date=1984 |access-date=15 April 2017 |isbn=978-0-88402-101-8 |last1=Majeska |first1=George P |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks }}</ref> A fragment of a sarcophagus that is believed to be Constantine's is currently on display at the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museums]].

Constantine was succeeded by his three sons born of Fausta, Constantine II, [[Constantius II]] and [[Constans]]. His sons, along with his nephew [[Dalmatius]], had already received one division of the empire each to administer as caesars; Constantine may have intended his successors to resume a structure akin to Diocletian's Tetrarchy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edward J. Watts |title=The Final Pagan Generation: Rome's Unexpected Path to Christianity |date=2020 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520379220 |page=83}}</ref> A number of relatives were killed by followers of Constantius, notably Constantine's nephews Dalmatius (who held the rank of caesar) and [[Hannibalianus]], presumably to eliminate possible contenders to an already complicated succession. He also had two daughters, [[Constantina]] and [[Helena (wife of Julian)|Helena]], wife of Emperor Julian.<ref>Pohlsander, ''Emperor Constantine'', 71, figure 9.</ref>