AE Follis (AE3), A.D. 324-325, Nicomedia, 18mm, 2.91g, RIC VII, 90.
CONSTANTINVS AVG. Laureate head right.
PROVIDENTIAE AVGG. Campgate, 2 turrets, 5 layers, star above; SMNS in ex.
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Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine reversed the persecutions of his predecessor, Diocletian, and issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of Christians throughout the empire.

The foremost general of his time, Constantine defeated the emperors Maxentius and Licinius during civil wars. He also fought successfully against the Franks, Alamanni, Visigoths, and Sarmatians during his reign – even resettling parts of Dacia, which had been abandoned during the previous century. Constantine also transformed the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium into a new imperial residence, Constantinople, which would be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over one thousand years.

In the last years of his life Constantine made plans for a campaign against Persia. Constantine sent Constantius to guard the eastern frontier in 335. In 336, prince Narseh invaded Armenia and installed a Persian client on the throne. Constantine then resolved to campaign against Persia himself. The campaign was called off however, when Constantine fell sick in the spring of 337.

He summoned the bishops, and told them of his hope to be baptized in the River Jordan, promising to live a more Christian life should he live through his illness. He chose the bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, bishop of the city where he lay dying, as his baptizer. In postponing his baptism, he followed a custom of the time in which it was hoped that waiting until old age or death he would be absolved from as much sin as possible. Constantine died soon after at a suburban villa called Achyron, on the last day of the fifty-day festival of Pentecost directly following Easter, on 22 May 337.