Constantine The Great: Coexist Diocletian

Flavius Valerius Constantinus, later know to the world as Constantine the Great, was born on February 21, 272 A.D. His father was Falavius Valerius Constantius; also know as Emperor Constantius I, reined in the Western Roman Empire. Constantine’s mother Helena, later named Saint Helena, was praised for her discovery of the cross on which Christ was crucified. From the beginning, Constantine was expected to have a successful military career. In 293 A.D. his father became Maximian’s Caesar, co-emperor of the western district of the Roman Empire; however, Constantine would still have twelve years before he could take power. Ibid Holland. During this time of Constantine’s rise to power, Christians faced harsh persecution with trying to coexist …show more content…
Diocletian preserved the Roman Empire by reestablishing its borders and helped slow the downward spiral of the empire’s economy. Diocletian divided the administration between two emperors; one resided in the East and the other in the West. Though Diocletian divided his administration, he used a divine right in his rule. He held ceremonies and had statutes made in honor of himself. He claimed to be a direct descent of Jupiter, the king of gods in Roman religion. During the beginning of their existence, the Christian faith had no conflict with the government of the Roman Empire. Until Diocletian demanded that they would accept the principle of an emperor being a god and worship him. The Christians refused to accept this and thus began the last great persecution of Rome’s Christian followers. In 303 A.D. Diocletian issued the first of many raves: ordering churches to be destroyed, religious works to be burned, and ordered Christians to be enslaved, imprisoned, or tortured if they refused to abandon their …show more content…
Rome known as a city full of turmoil and conspiracy, plots and counterplots to Constantine was no place to begin the rebirth of his Empire. At first he looked to the west, however; the capitals were too isolated and uncivilized to be considered suitable centers for the new Roman Empire. He then looked to the east; there urban civilizations older than Rome’s were established. Constantine knew that the key to a successful Empire was trade, so he wanted to utilize an area the provided numerous trading opportunities. Constantine through a tedious search chose Byzantium, a small private trading town. This decision became one of the most momentous developments in Western