CONSTANTIN I the GREAT Flavius Valerius Constantinus July 27 - Lot 274

CONSTANTIN I the GREAT Flavius Valerius Constantinus July 27, 306 - May 22, 337 son of Constantius Chlorus and Helen. CONSTANTINVS P F AVG. His head laurel right. R/. FELIX PROCESSVS COS IIII AVG N. Emperor standing frontally, in toga, holding globe and transverse scepter. In exergue, PTR. ♦ Cohen 152; RIC 12 Solidus (gold penny) struck in Trier in 313-315. (4,49 g) Very rare. Slight notches on the edge and scratches on the reverse. Very fine. Exemplary Étienne Regnard Collection (2023) n°124 Constantine I the Great succeeded in unifying imperial power in 324 by triumphing over his co-emperor Licinius, thus putting an end to thirty-eight years of tetrarchy. He was thus sole master of the Roman Empire for thirteen years. He led a profoundly reformist political, military, religious and economic life, which enabled him to unite a weakened and divided Empire under his sole authority. He got rid of the emperors Maxentius in 312 (Battle of the Milvian Bridge) and Licinius in 324 (Battle of Andrinople). His reign saw the establishment of individual freedom of worship, which put an end to the persecution of Christians (Edict of Milan, 313). He temporarily put an end to the dissensions of the Eastern Churches by convening the first Council of Nicaea (325), and asserted his authority in religious matters: this was Caesaropapism. In 312, he introduced a stable currency, the solidus. He developed the central administration and defended the Empire's borders against the Franks, Alamanni, Sarmatians, Goths and Sassanids. In 330, he founded a capital in his own name, Constantinople. His reforms greatly encouraged the growth of Christianity, to which he gradually turned, and of which he became one of the saints for the Orthodox Church and a local saint for the Catholic Church, under the name of "Constantine the Great". With Emperor Licinius, he co-signed the Edict of Milan (313) legalizing Christianity, which gradually became the state religion.