Name: Flavius ??Valerius Aurelius Constantine

Gender: Male

Nationality: Roman Empire

Birth and death years: approximately 280-337 AD

Speciality: Military

Historical evaluation:

Constantine The Great was the emperor who made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. The promulgation of the "Edict of Milan" found a theoretical basis for the monarch. From then on, Christianity became the spiritual pillar of the empire.

Lifetime achievements:

In the summer of 306, Constantine succeeded his father as Augustus (the title of Rome and Europe going west).

In order to establish his dominance in the West, Constantine hired a large number of barbarian soldiers. In 312, in Italy, Constantine defeated the self-proclaimed Caesar Maxentius and entered Rome. , and then Constantine occupied Italy, Spain and other places, becoming Augustus in the West.

However, Christianity was still an illegal religion in the Roman Empire, and various forces were suppressing the development of Christianity. However, the strong attraction of Christianity made it popular in the empire. In order to seek support from the increasingly popular Christianity, Also for the sake of his alliance with another Augustus, Licinius, Constantine decided to meet with him in Milan in 313 and betrothed his sister Constantia to Licinius. Because Licinius's military power was also very strong at that time, and he owned the Balkan Peninsula and Illyria and other places. At the meeting, both parties reached a consensus and signed the famous "Edict of Milan", which is an edict on religious tolerance.

The "Edict" recognizes that Christians have the same right to freedom of belief as other pagans, returns their confiscated churches and church properties, exempts Christian monks from their personal corvee obligations to the country, and stipulates that bishops have The right to judge church cases. From then on, Christianity became the legal religion of the Roman Empire and the spiritual pillar of state power. In 325 AD, Constantine presided over the "Universal Synod" church meeting in Nicaea, formulating a creed that all Christians must abide by: Christ the Son is eternal and is of the same substance as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Because the Arians supported the emperor's powerful government and did not seek the independence of the church, Constantine himself leaned towards the Arians.

After recognizing the status of Christianity, Constantine restored the unity of the Roman Empire in 324 and became the autocratic ruler of the Roman Empire.

In order to stabilize his ruling position, Constantine attempted to replace Diocletian's method of enfeoffing kings with different surnames by enfeoffing kings with the same surname, and pushed the Roman monarchy to a new level. In order to ensure the labor force of large landowners under the slave farming system and the source of income from state taxes. New laws were issued: masters were allowed to kill slaves; slave owners had the right to turn slaves and their children into slaves again; captured slaves who tried to escape were banished to the mines, and the legs of escaped slaves could be cut off; poor people were allowed to be sold His children are slaves. She also stipulated that those who harbor other slave farmers should be heavily fined, and the escaped slave farmers should be shackled and returned to their original place of residence; the children of slave farmers cannot leave their father's land, and daughters cannot be with slave farmers on other people's territory. Marriage; slave farmers were not allowed to marry free people, could not join the army at will, could not sue their masters, and the law did not recognize slave farmers as having property rights. During the reign of Constantine, urban craftsmen were not free to leave the craft unions to which they belonged and were burdened with paying taxes and performing corvées to the unions. Constantine's monarchical rule contributed to a sharp decline in the socioeconomic status of the working people.

During the reign of Diocletian, administrative, military and civil power were separated, and the civil and military power were still concentrated in the hands of the deputy governor of the administrative region. In order to eliminate the shortcomings of this system, Constantine continued to implement the policy of dividing provincial military and civil affairs, divided the army into border guards and inland mobile corps, and replaced the Guards with the Palace Guards. This was actually Military power was further concentrated in the hands of the emperor.

In order to expand the army and enhance its quality, Constantine implemented a tough conscription policy: the land inheritance rights originally awarded to veterans were transferred to their sons, but when the sons grew up, they must If you refuse to become a soldier, you will lose your property and even your life. Under this atrocity, many young people participated in self-service in order to avoid military service. Constantine also recruited a large number of barbarians, and the barbarianization of the army was greatly accelerated. Many barbarians also held senior officer positions in the imperial army.

In 330 AD, Constantine announced that he would officially move the capital to the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. This marked the end of the Roman dictatorship and the establishment of the autocratic monarchy. In Byzantium, Constantine built a city that was later named Constantinople.

Famous quotes:

The army is the backbone of the country, so all young people must serve as soldiers

Chronology of famous people:

AD In 274, Constantine was born in the city of Ni? in eastern Yugoslavia.

In 306 AD, Constantine inherited his father's business and began his extraordinary career as a monarch.

In 313 AD, Constantine and Emperor Licinius signed the famous "Edict of Milan".

In 324 AD, Constantine restored the unity of Rome and became the autocratic ruler of the Roman Empire.

In 330 AD, Constantine officially announced the move of the capital to the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. This marked the end of the Roman dictatorship and the establishment of the autocratic monarchy.

In 337 AD, Constantine, who was seriously ill, converted to Christianity. On May 22 of the same year, Constantine died in Nicomedia.