Phil's photos with the keyword: Constantine

Constantine the Great (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus; 274 – 337), also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman army officer and his consort Helena. His father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west in 293. Constantine was sent East where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius. In 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and recalled West to campaign under his father in Britannia. Acclaimed as emperor by the army after his father's death in 306, Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of both west and east by 324. The first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan, which decreed religious tolerance throughout the empire. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was professed by Christians. In military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. Constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the Roman frontiers—the Franks, the Alamanni, the Goths, and the Sarmatians—even resettling territories abandoned by his predecessors during the turmoil of the previous century. The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. (Wikipedia).

Bronze statue of Constantine in York, England, located next to York Minster near the spot where he was proclaimed Augustus in the year 306. Camera: Nikon D90.