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Constantine I ‘The Great’
–
Roman Emperor
: 307-337 A.D. –
Founding of New Roman Capital Constantinople Commemorative
Bronze AE3 19mm (2.16 grams) Constantinopole mint circa 330-333 A.D.
Reference: RIC 63 (VII, Constantinople)
CONSTANTINOPOLI – Constantinopolis helmeted, laureate bust left, holding scepter
over shoulder.
No legend Exe: CONSZ – Victory standing left on galley prow, holding spear and
shield.
* Numismatic Note: Commemorates founding of Constantinople as new Roman
capital by Constantine I the Great.
By circa 330 A.D., Constantine the Great completed his new
capital for the Roman empire called Constantinople. For this momentous
occasion, he issued two commemorative coin types, one celebrating Rome and the
other Constantinople. The type that
commemorated Rome
had the
personification of Rome, Roma with the inscription VRBS ROMA and the founders of
Rome, Romulus and Remus on the reverse suckling the she-wolf. The type that
commemorated Constantinople
had
the personification of Constantinople on the obverse and Victory on a galley
sailing with a shield. This was a great way for Constantine the Great to pay
homage to both Rome and Constantinople.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Constantinople was founded by the
Roman emperor
Constantine I
on the site of an already
existing city,
Byzantium
, settled in the early days of Greek
colonial expansion, probably around 671-662 BC. The site lay astride the land
route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean
, and had in the
Golden Horn
an excellent and spacious harbour.
Emperor
Constantine II
presents a
representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an
enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic.
St Sophia
, c. 1000
Constantine had altogether more colorful plans. Having restored the unity of
the Empire, and being in course of major governmental reforms as well as of
sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that
Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and
hence from the armies and the Imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable
playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been the capital of the state
for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that
the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, he identified the
site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit,
readily defended, with easy access to the
Danube
or the
Euphrates
frontiers, his court supplied from
the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries
filled by the wealthiest provinces of the Empire.
Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330.
Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and
ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet initially
Constantine’s new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed
a proconsul
, rather than an
urban prefect
. It had no
praetors
,
tribunes
quaestors. Although it did have
senators, they held the title clarus, not
clarissimus
, like those of Rome. It also
lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply,
police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts or other public works. The new
programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors
and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the Empire and moved to the
new city. Similarly, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon
to be seen in its squares and streets. The Emperor stimulated private building
by promising householders gifts of land from the Imperial estates in
Asiana and
Pontica
, and on 18 May 332 he announced that,
as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the
time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117
distribution points around the city.
Augustaeum. The new senate-house (or Curia) was
housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was
erected the
Great Palace
of the emperor with its imposing
entrance, the Chalke
, and its ceremonial suite known as the
Palace of Daphne
. Nearby was the vast
Hippodrome
for chariot-races, seating over
80,000 spectators, and the famed
Baths of Zeuxippus
. At the western entrance to
the Augustaeum was the
Milion
, a vaulted monument from which distances
were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire.
From the Augustaeum led a great street, the
Mese
(Greek: ÎœÎση [Οδός] lit. “Middle
[Street]”), lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city
and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the
Praetorium
or law-court. Then it passed through
the oval
Forum of Constantine
where there was a second
Senate-house and a
high column
with a statue of Constantine
himself in the guise of
Helios
, crowned with a halo of seven rays and
looking towards the rising sun. From there the Mese passed on and through the
Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and finally up the Seventh Hill (or
Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the
Constantinian Wall
. After the construction of
the
Theodosian Walls
in the early 5th century, it
would be extended to the new
Golden Gate
, reaching a total length of seven
Roman miles
.
In
ancient Roman religion
, Victoria was the
personified
goddess of victory. She is the
Roman equivalent
of the
Greek goddess
Nike
, and was associated with
Bellona
. She was adapted from the
Sabine
agricultural goddess
Vacuna
and had a
temple
on the
Palatine Hill
. The goddess
Vica Pota
was also sometimes identified with
Victoria.
Unlike the Greek
Nike
, the goddess Victoria (Latin
for “victory”) was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected
in her honor. When her statue was removed in 382 CE by Emperor
Gratianus
there was much anger in Rome. She was
normally worshiped by
triumphant
generals returning from war.
Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such
as
chariot races
, Victoria was a symbol of victory
over death and determined who would be successful during war.
Victoria appears widely on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other
arts. She is often seen with or in a
chariot
, as in the late 18th-century sculpture
representing Victory in a
quadriga
on the
Brandenburg Gate
in
Berlin
, Germany; “Il Vittoriano”
in Rome has two.
Winged figures, very often in pairs, representing victory and referred to as
“victories”, were common in Roman official iconography, typically hovering high
in a composition, and often filling spaces in
spandrels
or other gaps in architecture. These
represent the spirit of victory rather than the goddess herself. They continued
to appear after Christianization of the Empire, and slowly mutated into
Christian angels
.
In
Greek mythology
,
Nike
was a goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and
Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when
the
god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.
Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.
Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.
Constantine the Great (Latin:
Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus;
27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine I or Saint
Constantine, was
Roman Emperor
from 306 to 337. Well known for
being the first Roman emperor to
be converted
to
Christianity
, Constantine and co-Emperor
Licinius
issued the
Edict of Milan
in 313, which proclaimed
tolerance of all religions
throughout the
empire.
Maxentius and
Licinius
during civil wars. He also fought
successfully against the
Franks
,
Alamanni
,
Visigoths
, and
Sarmatians
during his reign — even resettling
parts of Dacia
which had been abandoned during the
previous century. Constantine built a new imperial residence at
Byzantium
, naming it
New Rome
. However, in Constantine’s honor,
people called it
Constantinople
, which would later be the
capital of what is now known as the
Byzantine Empire
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, as he was originally named, was born in the
city of Naissus,
Dardania
province of
Moesia
, in present-day
Niš,
Serbia
, on 27 February of an uncertain year,
probably near 272.
His father was
Flavius Constantius
, a native of
Dardania
province of Moesia (later
Dacia Ripensis
). Constantius was a tolerant and
politically skilled man. Constantine probably spent little time with his father.
Constantius was an officer in the Roman army, part of the Emperor
Aurelian
‘s imperial bodyguard. Constantius
advanced through the ranks, earning the
governorship
of
Dalmatia
from Emperor
Diocletian
, another of Aurelian’s companions
from
Illyricum
, in 284 or 285.Constantine’s mother
was
Helena
, a
Bithynian
woman of low social standing.It is
uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine
Helena gave birth to the future emperor
Constantine I
on 27 February of an uncertain
year soon after 270 (probably around 272). At the time, she was in
Naissus
(Niš,
Serbia
). In order to obtain a wife more
consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before
289, when he married
Theodora
, Maximian’s daughter.(The narrative
sources date the marriage to 293, but the
Latin panegyric
of 289 refers to the couple as
already married). Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of
Diocletian
at Nicomedia, where Constantine grew
to be a member of the inner circle. Helena never remarried and lived for a time
in obscurity, though close to her only son, who had a deep regard and affection
for her.
She received the title of
Augusta
in 325 and died in 330 with her son
at her side. She was buried in the
Mausoleum of Helena
, outside
Rome on the
Via Labicana
. Her
sarcophagus
is on display in the
Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum
, although the
connection is often questioned, next to her is the sarcophagus of her
granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance). The elaborate reliefs contain
hunting scenes. During her life, she gave many presents to the poor, released
prisoners and mingled with the ordinary worshippers in modest attire.
Constantine received a formal education at Diocletian’s court, where he
learned Latin literature, Greek, and philosophy.
On 1 May 305, Diocletian, as a result of a debilitating sickness taken in the
winter of 304–5, announced his resignation. In a parallel ceremony in Milan,
Maximian did the same. Lactantius states that Galerius manipulated the weakened
Diocletian into resigning, and forced him to accept Galerius’ allies in the
imperial succession. According to Lactantius, the crowd listening to
Diocletian’s resignation speech believed, until the very last moment, that
Diocletian would choose Constantine and
Maxentius
(Maximian’s son) as his successors.
It was not to be: Constantius and Galerius were promoted to Augusti, while
Severus
and
Maximin
were appointed their Caesars
respectively. Constantine and Maxentius were ignored.
Constantine recognized the implicit danger in remaining at Galerius’ court,
where he was held as a virtual hostage. His career depended on being rescued by
his father in the west. Constantius was quick to intervene. In the late spring
or early summer of 305, Constantius requested leave for his son, to help him
campaign in Britain. After a long evening of drinking, Galerius granted the
request. Constantine’s later propaganda describes how he fled the court in the
night, before Galerius could change his mind. He rode from
post-house
to post-house at high speed,
hamstringing
every horse in his wake.By the
time Galerius awoke the following morning, Constantine had fled too far to be
caught. Constantine joined his father in
Gaul
, at Bononia (Boulogne)
before the summer of 305.
From Bononia they crossed the
Channel
to Britain and made their way to
Eboracum
(York),
capital of the province of
Britannia Secunda
and home to a large military
base. Constantine was able to spend a year in northern Britain at his father’s
side, campaigning against the
Picts
beyond
Hadrian’s Wall
in the summer and autumn.
Constantius’s campaign, like that of
Septimius Severus
before it, probably advanced
far into the north without achieving great success. Constantius had become
severely sick over the course of his reign, and died on 25 July 306 in
Eboracum
(York).
Before dying, he declared his support for raising Constantine to the rank of
full Augustus. The
Alamannic
king
Chrocus
, a barbarian taken into service under
Constantius, then proclaimed Constantine as Augustus. The troops loyal to
Constantius’ memory followed him in acclamation. Gaul and Britain quickly
accepted his rule; Iberia, which had been in his father’s domain for less than a
year, rejected it.
Constantine sent Galerius an official notice of Constantius’s death and his
own acclamation. Along with the notice, he included a portrait of himself in the
robes of an Augustus. The portrait was wreathed in
bay
. He requested recognition as heir to his
father’s throne, and passed off responsibility for his unlawful ascension on his
army, claiming they had “forced it upon him”.Galerius was put into a fury by the
message; he almost set the portrait on fire. His advisers calmed him, and argued
that outright denial of Constantine’s claims would mean certain war.Galerius was
compelled to compromise: he granted Constantine the title “Caesar” rather than
“Augustus” (the latter office went to Severus instead). Wishing to make it clear
that he alone gave Constantine legitimacy, Galerius personally sent Constantine
the emperor’s traditional
purple robes
. Constantine accepted the
decision. Constantine’s share of the Empire consisted of Britain, Gaul, and
Spain.
Because Constantine was still largely untried and had a hint of illegitimacy
about him, he relied on his father’s reputation in his early propaganda: the
earliest panegyrics to Constantine give as much coverage to his father’s deeds
as to those of Constantine himself.
Constantine’s military skill and building projects soon gave
the panegyrist the opportunity to comment favorably on the similarities between
father and son, and Eusebius remarked that Constantine was a “renewal, as it
were, in his own person, of his father’s life and reign”. Constantinian coinage,
sculpture and oratory also shows a new tendency for disdain towards the
“barbarians” beyond the frontiers. After Constantine’s victory over the
Alemanni, he minted a coin issue depicting weeping and begging Alemannic
tribesmen—”The Alemanni conquered”—beneath the phrase “Romans’ rejoicing”.There
was little sympathy for these enemies. As his panegyrist declared: “It is a
stupid clemency that spares the conquered foe.”
In 310, a dispossessed and power-hungry Maximian rebelled against Constantine
while Constantine was away campaigning against the Franks. Maximian had been
sent south to Arles with a contingent of Constantine’s army, in preparation for
any attacks by Maxentius in southern Gaul. He announced that Constantine was
dead, and took up the imperial purple. In spite of a large donative pledge to
any who would support him as emperor, most of Constantine’s army remained loyal
to their emperor, and Maximian was soon compelled to leave. Constantine soon
heard of the rebellion, abandoned his campaign against the Franks, and marched
his army up the Rhine. At Cabillunum (Chalon-sur-Saône),
he moved his troops onto waiting boats to row down the slow waters of the
Saône
to the quicker waters of the
Rhone
. He disembarked at
Lugdunum
(Lyon).Maximian
fled to Massilia (Marseille),
a town better able to withstand a long siege than Arles. It made little
difference, however, as loyal citizens opened the rear gates to Constantine.
Maximian was captured and reproved for his crimes. Constantine granted some
clemency, but strongly encouraged his suicide. In July 310, Maximian hanged
himself.
The death of Maximian required a shift in Constantine’s public image. He
could no longer rely on his connection to the elder emperor Maximian, and needed
a new source of legitimacy.In a speech delivered in Gaul on 25 July 310, the
anonymous orator reveals a previously unknown dynastic connection to
Claudius II
, a third-century emperor famed for
defeating the Goths and restoring order to the empire. Breaking away from
tetrarchic models, the speech emphasizes Constantine’s ancestral prerogative to
rule, rather than principles of imperial equality. The new ideology expressed in
the speech made Galerius and Maximian irrelevant to Constantine’s right to rule.
Indeed, the orator emphasizes ancestry to the exclusion of all other factors:
“No chance agreement of men, nor some unexpected consequence of favor, made you
emperor,” the orator declares to Constantine.
A gold multiple of “Unconquered Constantine” with
Sol
Invictus, struck in 313. The use of Sol’s image appealed to both the
educated citizens of Gaul, who would recognize
in it Apollo’s patronage of
Augustus
and the arts; and to Christians, who found solar monotheism less
objectionable than the traditional pagan pantheon.
The oration also moves away from the religious ideology of the Tetrarchy,
with its focus on twin dynasties of
Jupiter
and
Hercules
. Instead, the orator proclaims that
Constantine experienced a divine vision of
Apollo
and
Victory
granting him
laurel wreaths
of health and a long reign. In
the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to
whom would be granted “rule of the whole world”, as the poet Virgil had once
foretold. The oration’s religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in
Constantine’s coinage. In his early reign, the coinage of Constantine advertised
Mars
as his patron. From 310 on, Mars was
replaced by
Sol Invictus
, a god conventionally identified
with Apollo.
By the middle of 310, Galerius had become too ill to involve himself in
imperial politics. His final act survives: a letter to the provincials posted in
Nicomedia on 30 April 311, proclaiming an end to the persecutions, and the
resumption of religious toleration. He died soon after the edict’s proclamation,
destroying what little remained of the tetrarchy. Maximin mobilized against
Licinius, and seized Asia Minor. A hasty peace was signed on a boat in the
middle of the Bosphorus. While Constantine toured Britain and Gaul, Maxentius
prepared for war.He fortified northern Italy, and strengthened his support in
the Christian community by allowing it to elect a new
Bishop
of
Rome
,
Eusebius
.
Constantine’s advisers and generals cautioned against preemptive attack on
Maxentius; even his soothsayers recommended against it, stating that the
sacrifices had produced unfavorable omens. Constantine, with a spirit that left
a deep impression on his followers, inspiring some to believe that he had some
form of supernatural guidance, ignored all these cautions. Early in the spring
of 312,Constantine crossed the
Cottian Alps
with a quarter of his army, a
force numbering about 40,000.The first town his army encountered was Segusium (Susa,
Italy
), a heavily fortified town that shut its
gates to him. Constantine ordered his men to set fire to its gates and scale its
walls. He took the town quickly. Constantine ordered his troops not to loot the
town, and advanced with them into northern Italy.
At the approach to the west of the important city of Augusta Taurinorum (Turin,
Italy), Constantine met a large force of heavily armed Maxentian cavalry. In the
ensuing
battle
Constantine’s army encircled Maxentius’
cavalry, flanked them with his own cavalry, and dismounted them with blows from
his soldiers’ iron-tipped clubs. Constantine’s armies emerged victorious. Turin
refused to give refuge to Maxentius’ retreating forces, opening its gates to
Constantine instead.
Other cities of the north Italian plain sent Constantine
embassies of congratulation for his victory. He moved on to Milan, where he was
met with open gates and jubilant rejoicing. Constantine rested his army in Milan
until mid-summer 312, when he moved on to
Brixia
(Brescia).
Brescia’s army was easily dispersed, and Constantine quickly advanced to
Verona
, where a large Maxentian force was
camped. Ruricius Pompeianus, general of the Veronese forces and Maxentius’
praetorian prefect, was in a strong defensive position, since the town was
surrounded on three sides by the
Adige
. Constantine sent a small force north of
the town in an attempt to cross the river unnoticed. Ruricius sent a large
detachment to counter Constantine’s expeditionary force, but was defeated.
Constantine’s forces successfully surrounded the town and laid siege. Ruricius
gave Constantine the slip and returned with a larger force to oppose
Constantine. Constantine refused to let up on the siege, and sent only a small
force to oppose him. In the desperately fought
encounter
that followed, Ruricius was killed
and his army destroyed.Verona surrendered soon afterwards, followed by
Aquileia
, Mutina (Modena),
and
Ravenna
. The road to Rome was now wide open to
Constantine.
Maxentius prepared for the same type of war he had waged against Severus and
Galerius: he sat in Rome and prepared for a siege. He still controlled Rome’s
praetorian guards, was well-stocked with African grain, and was surrounded on
all sides by the seemingly impregnable
Aurelian Walls
. He ordered all bridges across
the Tiber
cut, reportedly on the counsel of the
gods, and left the rest of central Italy undefended; Constantine secured that
region’s support without challenge. Constantine progressed slowly along the
Via Flaminia
, allowing the weakness of
Maxentius to draw his regime further into turmoil. Maxentius’ support continued
to weaken: at chariot races on 27 October, the crowd openly taunted Maxentius,
shouting that Constantine was invincible. Maxentius, no longer certain that he
would emerge from a siege victorious, built a temporary boat bridge across the
Tiber in preparation for a field battle against Constantine. On 28 October 312,
the sixth anniversary of his reign, he approached the keepers of the
Sibylline Books
for guidance. The keepers
prophesied that, on that very day, “the enemy of the Romans” would die.
Maxentius advanced north to meet Constantine in battle.
Maxentius organized his forces—still twice the size of Constantine’s—in long
lines facing the battle plain, with their backs to the river. Constantine’s army
arrived at the field bearing unfamiliar symbols on either its standards or its
soldiers’ shields. Constantine was visited by a dream the night before the
battle, wherein he was advised “to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields
of his soldiers…by means of a slanted letter X with the top of its head bent
round, he marked Christ on their shields.” Eusebius describes the sign as
Chi
(Χ) traversed by
Rho
(Ρ): ☧, a symbol representing the first two
letters of the Greek spelling of the word Christos or Christ.
Constantine deployed his own forces along the whole length of Maxentius’
line. He ordered his cavalry to charge, and they broke Maxentius’ cavalry. He
then sent his infantry against Maxentius’ infantry, pushing many into the Tiber
where they were slaughtered and drowned. The battle was brief: Maxentius’ troops
were broken before the first charge. Maxentius’ horse guards and praetorians
initially held their position, but broke under the force of a Constantinian
cavalry charge; they also broke ranks and fled to the river. Maxentius rode with
them, and attempted to cross the bridge of boats, but he was pushed by the mass
of his fleeing soldiers into the Tiber, and drowned.
In Rome
Constantine entered Rome on 29 October.He staged a grand
adventus
in the city, and was met with
popular jubilation. Maxentius’ body was fished out of the Tiber and decapitated.
His head was paraded through the streets for all to see. Unlike his
predecessors, Constantine neglected to make the trip to the
Capitoline Hill
and perform customary
sacrifices at the
Temple of Jupiter
. He did, however, choose to
honor the
Senatorial
Curia
with a visit, where he promised to
restore its ancestral privileges and give it a secure role in his reformed
government: there would be no revenge against Maxentius’ supporters.In response,
the Senate decreed him “title of the first name”, which meant his name would be
listed first in all official documents, and acclaimed him as “the greatest
Augustus”. He issued decrees returning property lost under Maxentius, recalling
political exiles, and releasing Maxentius’ imprisoned opponents.
In the following years, Constantine gradually consolidated his military
superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy. In 313, he met
Licinius
in
Milan
to secure their alliance by the marriage
of Licinius and Constantine’s half-sister
Constantia
. During this meeting, the emperors
agreed on the so-called
Edict of Milan
,officially granting full
tolerance to Christianity and all religions in the Empire.The document had
special benefits for Christians, legalizing their religion and granting them
restoration for all property seized during Diocletian’s persecution.
In the year 320,
Licinius
reneged on the religious freedom
promised by the
Edict of Milan
in 313 and began to oppress
Christians anew, generally without bloodshed, but resorting to confiscations and
sacking of Christian office-holders.That became a challenge to Constantine in
the West, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. Licinius, aided by
Goth
mercenaries
, represented the past and the
ancient Pagan
faiths. Constantine and his
Franks
marched under the standard of the
labarum
, and both sides saw the battle in
religious terms. Outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine’s army
emerged victorious in the
Battle of Adrianople
. Licinius fled across the
Bosphorus and appointed
Martius Martinianus
, the commander of his
bodyguard, as Caesar, but Constantine next won the
Battle of the Hellespont
, and finally the
Battle of Chrysopolis
on 18 September
324.Licinius and Martinianus surrendered to Constantine at Nicomedia on the
promise their lives would be spared: they were sent to live as private citizens
in Thessalonica and Cappadocia respectively, but in 325 Constantine accused
Licinius of plotting against him and had them both arrested and hanged;
Licinius’s son (the son of Constantine’s half-sister) was also killed. Thus
Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
Administrative reforms
Beginning in the mid-3rd century the emperors began to favor members of the
equestrian order
over senators, who had had a
monopoly on the most important offices of state. Senators were stripped of the
command of legions and most provincial governorships (as it was felt that they
lacked the specialized military upbringing needed in an age of acute defense
needs), such posts being 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, and at the same time elevating the rank of already existing
equestrians office-holders to senator, eventually wiping out the equestrian
order—at least as a bureaucratic rank—in the process. One could become a
senator, either by being elected
praetor
quaestors, in place of the usual practice of
the emperors directly creating new magistrates (adlectio).
The Senate as a body remained devoid of any significant power; nevertheless,
the senators, who had been marginalized as potential holders of imperial
functions during the 3rd century, could now dispute such positions alongside
more upstart bureaucrats. 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 Christianized imperial rule..
Constantine’s reforms had to do only with the civilian administration: the
military chiefs, who since the
Crisis of the Third Century
had risen from the
ranks, remained outside the senate, in which they were included only by
Constantine’s children.
.JPG/400px-0_Constantinus_I_-_Palazzo_dei_Conservatori_(2).JPG)
Monetary reforms
After the
runaway inflation of the third century
,
associated with the production of
fiat money
to pay for public expenses,
Diocletian had tried unsuccessfully to reestablish trustworthy minting of silver
and
billon
argenteus
ceased, therefore, 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 good
standard gold pieces—the
solidus
, 72 of which made a pound of gold. New
(and highly debased) silver pieces would continue to be issued during
Constantine’s later reign and after his death, in a continuous process of
retariffing, until this billon minting eventually ceased, de jure, in
367, with the silver piece being de facto continued by various
denominations of bronze coins, the most important being the
centenionalis
. Later emperors like
Julian the Apostate
tried to present themselves
as advocates of the humiles by insisting on trustworthy mintings of the
bronze currency.
Constantine’s monetary policy were closely associated with his religious
ones, in that increased minting was associated with measures of
confiscation—taken since 331 and closed in 336—of all gold, silver and bronze
statues from pagan temples, who were declared as imperial property and, as such,
as monetary assets. Two imperial commissioners for each province had the task of
getting hold of the statues and having them melded for immediate minting—with
the exception of a number of bronze statues who were used as public monuments
for the beautification of the new capital in Constantinoplee
Constantinople was founded by the
Roman emperor
Constantine I
on the site of an already
existing city,
Byzantium
, settled in the early days of Greek
colonial expansion, probably around 671-662 BC. The site lay astride the land
route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean
, and had in the
Golden Horn
an excellent and spacious harbour.
Emperor
Constantine II
presents a
representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an
enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic.
St Sophia
, c. 1000
Constantine had altogether more colorful plans. Having restored the unity of
the Empire, and being in course of major governmental reforms as well as of
sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that
Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and
hence from the armies and the Imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable
playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been the capital of the state
for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that
the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, he identified the
site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit,
readily defended, with easy access to the
Danube
or the
Euphrates
frontiers, his court supplied from
the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries
filled by the wealthiest provinces of the Empire.
Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330.
Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and
ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet initially
Constantine’s new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed
a proconsul
, rather than an
urban prefect
. It had no
praetors
,
tribunes
quaestors. Although it did have
senators, they held the title clarus, not
clarissimus
, like those of Rome. It also
lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply,
police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts or other public works. The new
programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors
and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the Empire and moved to the
new city. Similarly, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon
to be seen in its squares and streets. The Emperor stimulated private building
by promising householders gifts of land from the Imperial estates in
Asiana and
Pontica
, and on 18 May 332 he announced that,
as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the
time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117
distribution points around the city.
Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it
the Augustaeum
. The new senate-house (or Curia) was
housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was
erected the
Great Palace
of the emperor with its imposing
entrance, the Chalke
, and its ceremonial suite known as the
Palace of Daphne
. Nearby was the vast
Hippodrome
for chariot-races, seating over
80,000 spectators, and the famed
Baths of Zeuxippus
. At the western entrance to
the Augustaeum was the
Milion
, a vaulted monument from which distances
were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire.
From the Augustaeum led a great street, the
Mese
(Greek: ÎœÎση [Οδός] lit. “Middle
[Street]”), lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city
and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the
Praetorium
or law-court. Then it passed through
the oval
Forum of Constantine
where there was a second
Senate-house and a
high column
with a statue of Constantine
himself in the guise of
Helios
, crowned with a halo of seven rays and
looking towards the rising sun. From there the Mese passed on and through the
Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and finally up the Seventh Hill (or
Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the
Constantinian Wall
. After the construction of
the
Theodosian Walls
in the early 5th century, it
would be extended to the new
Golden Gate
, reaching a total length of seven
Roman miles
.
Later campaigns
Constantine considered Constantinople as his capital and permanent residence.
He lived there for a good portion of his later life. He rebuilt Trajan’s bridge
across the Danube, in hopes of reconquering
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 cost the
Goths dearly: reportedly, nearly one hundred thousand died 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.Constantine resettled some Sarmatian exiles as farmers in
Illyrian and Roman districts, and conscripted the rest into the army.
Constantine took the title Dacicus maximus in 336.
Sickness and deathh
catechumen, and attempted a return to
Constantinople, making it only as far as a suburb of Nicomedia. He summoned the
bishops, and told them of his hope to be baptized in the
River Jordan
, where Christ was written to have
been baptized. He requested the baptism right away. The bishops, Eusebius
records, “performed the sacred ceremonies according to custom”. He chose the
Arianizing bishop
Eusebius of Nicomedia
, bishop of the
city
where he lay dying, as his baptizer. In
postponing his baptism, he followed one custom at the time which postponed
baptism until after infancy. 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.[246]]
Following his death, his body was transferred to Constantinople and buried in
the
Church of the Holy Apostles
there. He was
succeeded by his three sons born of Fausta,
Constantine II
,
Constantius II
and
Constans
. 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
Emperor Julian
.
Legacy
The Byzantine Empire considered Constantine its founder and the
Holy Roman Empire
reckoned him among the
venerable figures of its tradition. In the later Byzantine state, it had become
a great honor for an emperor to be hailed as a “new Constantine”. Ten emperors,
including the last emperor of Byzantium, carried the name. Most Eastern
Christian churches consider Constantine a saint (Άγιος Κωνσταντίνος, Saint
Constantine). In the Byzantine Church he was called isapostolos
(Ισαπόστολος Κωνσταντίνος) —an
equal of the Apostles
.
Niš airport
is named Constantine the Great in
honor of his birth in Naissus.
In
Roman mythology
, Victoria was the personification/Goddess of victory.
She is the Roman version of the
Greek goddess
Nike
, and was associated with
Bellona
. She was adapted from the
Sabine
agricultural goddess
Vacuna
and had
a
temple
on the
Palatine Hill
. Her name (in Latin) means victory. Unlike the Greek Nike, Victoria (Latin
for “victory”) was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected
in her honour. When her statue was removed in 382 AD by emperor
Gratianus
there was much anger in Rome. She was normally worshipped by
triumphant
generals returning from war. Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such
as chariot races, Victoria was a symbol of victory over death and determined who
would be successful during war. Appearing on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other arts, Victoria is
often seen with or in a
chariot
. An
example of this is her place upon the
Brandenburg Gate
in Berlin, Germany.
Constantinople was founded by the
Roman emperor
Constantine I
on the site of an already existing city,
Byzantium
,
settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion, probably around 671-662
BC. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from
the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean
, and had in the
Golden
Horn
an excellent and spacious harbour.
Emperor
Constantine II
presents a representation of the city of
Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in
this church mosaic.
St Sophia
, c. 1000
Constantine had altogether more colorful plans. Having restored the unity of
the Empire, and being in course of major governmental reforms as well as of
sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that
Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and
hence from the armies and the Imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable
playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been the capital of the state
for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that
the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, he identified the
site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit,
readily defended, with easy access to the
Danube
or the
Euphrates
frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops
of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the Empire.
Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330.
Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and
ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis.
Yet initially Constantine’s new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome.
It possessed a
proconsul
,
rather than an
urban prefect
. It had no
praetors
,
tribunes
quaestors. Although it did have senators, they held the title clarus,
not
clarissimus
, like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other
administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples,
sewers, aqueducts or other public works. The new programme of building was
carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors and tiles were taken
wholesale from the temples of the Empire and moved to the new city. Similarly,
many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its
squares and streets. The Emperor stimulated private building by promising
householders gifts of land from the Imperial estates in
Asiana and
Pontica
, and
on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be
made to the citizens. At the time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations
a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it
the Augustaeum
. The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the
east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the
Great Palace
of the emperor with its imposing entrance, the
Chalke
, and its
ceremonial suite known as the
Palace of Daphne
. Nearby was the vast
Hippodrome
for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and the famed
Baths of
Zeuxippus
. At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the
Milion
, a
vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman
Empire.
From the Augustaeum led a great street, the
Mese
(Greek: ÎœÎση [Οδός] lit. “Middle [Street]”), lined with colonnades. As
it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed
on the left the
Praetorium
or law-court. Then it passed through the oval
Forum of
Constantine
where there was a second Senate-house and a
high
column
with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of
Helios
, crowned
with a halo of seven rays and looking towards the rising sun. From there the
Mese passed on and through the Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and
finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in
the
Constantinian Wall
. After the construction of the
Theodosian Walls
in the early 5th century, it would be extended to the new
Golden Gate
, reaching a total length of seven
Roman miles
.
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