Constantine the Great

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine , was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337160AD. 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 293160AD. 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 Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia . Acclaimed as emperor by the army at Eboracum after his fathers death in 306160AD, 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 324160AD.

Flavius Valerius Constantinus, as he was originally named, was born in the city of Naissus, part of the Dardania province of Moesia onFebruary, probably c. 272160AD. His father was Flavius Constantius, an Illyrian, and a native of Dardania province of Moesia . Constantine probably spent little time with his father who was an officer in the Roman army, part of the Emperor Aurelians imperial bodyguard. Being described as a tolerant and politically skilled man, Constantius advanced through the ranks, earning the governorship of Dalmatia from Emperor Diocletian, another of Aurelians companions from Illyricum, in 284 or 285. Constantines mother was Helena, possibly a Bithynian woman of low social standing. It is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine. It is unclear if Constantine could speak Thracian, his main language being Latin, during his public speeches he needed Greek translators.

Source: Wikipedia