Constantine The Great Research Paper

1143 Words5 Pages

Constantine the Great and Alexander the Great are famous leaders who changed the world and their countries. This paper will compare and contrast the lives of these two great leaders. Constantine the Great, also known as Flavius Valerius Constantinus, and Alexander the Great. Constantine was a leader who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. Constantine was born the 27 of February CA 280 in Naissus, Serbia.1 Constantine was the son of Constantius and his mother was Helena. At the time Constantine was growing up with his father, Rome was split into four empires, each ruled by emperor ruling together. The four emperors were called the tetrarchy “the Rule of Four”. The reason for this rule of four was to try to keep the Roman …show more content…

When he defeated Maxentius, Constantine controlled the Western half of the empire. Later, he defeated the emperor to the east and took control of the entire Roman Empire. This last victory to the east reunited the Roman Empire. The city of Byzantium was demolished and a new city was established, named Constantinople after Constantine the Great. This city is now modern day Istanbul. There are many opinions about Constantine’s career and Conversion to Christianity. One theory is that before the victory of Maxentius he had Devine intervention inspired by a shining cross seen in the sun. After this experience he vowed to pray to only one god and made it known that Christ had appeared to him through this shinning cross seen in the sky. Another theory is that Constantine felt such grief from his execution of Crispus and his oldest son. The pagan religion would not forgive him for his sins, but Constantine had learned that his Christians God would forgive his …show more content…

They both showed great ambition in conquering vast amounts of land and people. In many ways, they reunited territories, which benefited from peace and protection from other invading forces. The unity of these lands and people allowed for the sharing of ideas and culture, which help to create many advances for the citizens of the lands. Constantine the Great and Alexander the Great also came to power in a similar way. They both had inherited the position of emperor or ruler from their father’s death. Their father’s ambitions became theirs when they inherited the throne. They saw the unification of vast lands and cultures as important in their conquests. Brutality was another way that they were similar because a need to conquer and stay in power required them to eliminate their enemies and mistrusted allies. Constantine the Great and Alexander the Great both led vast armies into battle for their own ambitions. These two great leaders of armies also had cities that were named after