Roman emperor from 306 to 337, Constantine I refounded the ancient city of Byzantium as Constantinople, establishing it as a new Christian imperial capital and earning him recognition as the progenitor of what later historians would call the Byzantine Empire. Through a series of civil wars he fought his way to sole rule, presided over the Council of Nicaea to unify the church, and commissioned foundational monuments including the original Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Apostles; his 31-year reign was the longest since Augustus. His death left a contested succession and an unfinished Persian war, yet his transformation of the empire into a Christian autocracy proved so consequential that later rulers, from Justinian to the last emperor bearing his name, were measured against his legacy.
Also known as: Constantine I · Flavius Valerius Constantinus · Equal of the Apostles · Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus
Mentioned in
What each episode says
Episode 1 (3 mentions)
Brownworth identifies Constantine as the conventional starting point of the Byzantine Empire, crediting him with refounding the city of Byzantium as Constantinople to serve as a new Christian imperial capital. He notes that Constantine himself was undeniably Roman, standing in an unbroken line of emperors from Augustus, which makes labeling him the founder of a 'Byzantine' empire complicated.
“equal. I've always found both of these ways of telling history distinctly and extremely”
“Namely, Constantine the Great was a Roman, indisputably, in a direct line of emperors going”
“but from a Western disregard dating from before the Crusades, made up of equal parts envy and”
Episode 2 (1 mention)
Mentioned only in the closing teaser as the subject of the next episode. Brownworth describes him as an ignored son who would one day rise to reunite the empire and become the only emperor ever called 'the Great.'
“Next time we'll talk about the coming of Constantine, an ignored son who would one”
Episode 3 (35 mentions)
Brownworth calls Constantine the 'father of Byzantium,' saying seldom has one man had such an effect on history. He inherited a chaotic tetrarchic empire, fought his way to sole rule through a series of civil wars, and transformed it into a Christian, ordered state with himself as absolute ruler appointed by God. His conversion, dated by him to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, marked a watershed moment in history.
“In the West, the senior emperor, or Augustus, was Constantine's father, Constantius Cloris,”
“Rubra, Red Rocks, and it was here that Constantine had his famous vision, which according to”
“as Caesar, Constantine swept all before him, defeating Licinius's much larger army.”
Episode 4 (33 mentions)
Having conquered the Roman Empire, Constantine faced the harder task of unifying it under one church. He presided over the Council of Nicaea, founded Constantinople as the new Rome, and died after a 31-year reign — the longest since Augustus — having been baptized at the very last moment by an Arian bishop.
“And so by 323, with Licinius dead and Constantine in control of the empire, what had started”
“So in January of 326, Constantine, his wife Fausta, and two of his sons left for Rome.”
“Of the 12 apostolic sarcophagi and Constantine's own magnificent tomb, nothing remains.”
Episode 5 (1 mention)
A driving personality of history whose death left chaos in its wake. Brownworth notes his arrogance and lack of imagination in naming his children, and that he initiated a Persian war that still had to be fought after his death.
“Constantine the Great had shown his typical arrogance and lack of imagination in naming”
Episode 6 (1 mention)
Mentioned as the progenitor of the dynasty that ended with Julian the Apostate, who was the last male relative of Constantine.
“The last emperor to rule a united empire, he was also the last male relative of Constantine”
Episode 8 (1 mention)
Constantine is mentioned briefly as the benchmark for monumental building campaigns — Justinian's post-Nika building program was 'the likes of which the empire had not seen since the days of Constantine.'
“days of Constantine. But perhaps more importantly, it left him finally free to fulfill his greatest”
Episode 9 (1 mention)
Mentioned as the builder of the original Hagia Sophia — described as a small structure that lasted only 44 years before being destroyed in a riot. Also invoked via Justinian's boast "Solomon, I have surpassed thee," which echoes Constantine's own founding legend.
“The original building was a small structure that had been built by Constantine, but it”
Episode 10 (1 mention)
Mentioned at the episode's close as the emperor next to whom Heraclius was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles. Brownworth implies the pairing is fitting — both were epoch-defining figures who saved the empire at critical moments.
“He was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, next to Constantine the Great, which was,”
Episode 12 (1 mention)
Referenced as the founder of the Church of the Holy Apostles, the traditional burial place of the emperors, which Justinian later rebuilt and Basil I restored again.
“and setting himself up as an equal to the pope.”
Episode 16 (2 mentions)
Brownworth invokes Constantine the Great as the famous namesake of Constantine XI, noting that just as the first Constantine's mother was named Helena, so was the last emperor's mother. The parallel is used to frame Constantine XI as a worthy successor to the founder of the Christian Roman Empire.
“The far superior Turkish army would have been formidable if the odds were equal.”
“Like his famous namesake Constantine the Great, his mother's name was Helena, and he would”
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