Constantine I-307 - 337 A.D.
AE 3, 1.9cm, 1.2 g
FL IVL CANSTANTIVS NOB C
Dedicated to Jove the preserver of the Caesars
IOVI CONSERVA TORI CAESS
Jupiter standing left holding victory
SISMT

Constantine rose to power when his father Constantius Chlorus died in the year 306 while campaigning against Scottish tribes. He later went on to defeat the rival emperor Maxentius in the decisive battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. He is credited for several great landmarks in history and is probably best memorialized by the city that bore his name for hundreds of years: Constantinople. Although now renamed Istanbul, this city was to be the seat of power for all Byzantine emperors for the next 1100 years. Constantine is also remembered as the first Roman emperor who embraced Christianity and instituted the buildings and papal dynasty that eventually grew into what are today the Vatican and the Pope. The latter part of his life saw his commitment to the church rise in step with the increasing repression against old-school paganism. He left behind several sons who would, after his death, turn on each other and generally undo much of the stability that Constantine had fought so hard to bring about.