Constantine Proclaimed: The Rise of Christian Rome
When Roman troops in York acclaimed Constantine as emperor on July 25, 306 AD, after his father Constantius died, he was one of six men claiming the imperial title. It took eighteen years of civil war before he eliminated all rivals. The turning point came at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, where Constantine reportedly saw a Christian symbol in the sky and ordered his soldiers to paint it on their shields. Whether the vision was genuine or politically calculated, Constantine became the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, issuing the Edict of Milan in 313 to legalize the faith. He moved the capital east to Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople, shifting the empire's center of gravity for a thousand years.
July 25, 306
1720 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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