22.5. 337 Emperor Constantine I the Great died

The death of the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great is still shrouded in mystery. It is still unknown whether he died on the outskirts of Nicomedia. Or after the completion of his campaign against the Persian Empire.

As a rule, the rulers of Rome were not given any surnames, and ordinal numbers were rare in the names of rulers. It was only at the end of the history of the Roman Empire that surnames appeared: in the same epoch two emperors received the surname "great", namely Constantine and Theodosius.

Constantine the Great is generally regarded as one of the most important rulers of Rome. The textbooks are full of superlatives about him - he promoted Christianity, reformed the state, and ensured the continuation of the empire. Constantine the Great is one of the figures who most significantly shaped the shape of Europe today. The first Christian on the throne of the Roman Empire, he made persecuted Christianity the official state religion

On closer inspection, however, the figure of the emperor loses its positive points. "Constantine's apologists discreetly glossed over the inconvenient facts of his life, his rebellion against legitimate government, his multiple allegiances, his murder members of his immediate family, displays of extreme hubris and megalomania," writes Slawomir Koper in Secrets and Scandals of Antiquity.

Among the famous decisions of this emperor is the relocation of the centre of the empire from Rome to Constantinople. "This city was founded by Constantine the Great himself and has remained the capital of the empire since its foundation in 330 AD. It had massive fortifications. It has been attacked many times over the centuries, but for thousands of years no one has been able to conquer Constantinople. Constantine the Great himself had special walls built," says Dag Heward-Mills in his book The Good General.

Constantine, like other emperors, had to face enemies. In 337, for example, he declared war on Sasanian Persia because conditions on the eastern frontier and in Armenia had begun to deteriorate. According to Eusebius, however, Constantine was suffering from a serious illness at the time and, according to some sources, died in the suburbs of Nicomedia. According to Eusebius, he died after the conclusion of the expedition against the Persian Empire. Officially, Emperor Constantine I the Great is said to have died on 22 May 337.

"He left his empire to his three sons and two brother's children. Gallia went to the eldest Constantine, the East to the middle Constantius, Illyreum and Italy to the youngest Constantine. Of the two sons of his brother, Dalmatius, whom Constantine had already made Caesar, was given the administration of the coasts of Gaul. Annibalianus was then honoured with the title of king of kings and was to rule over the lands of Pontus," says the Philological Letters.

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