Gaul, and accompanied him on his expedition to Britain and his campaign against the Caledonians. On the death of his father at York in 306, Constantine was proclaimed emperor by the army, and Galerius reluctantly acknowledged him as the sovereign of the provinces beyond the Alps, but gave him only the title of Cæsar. Constantine took up his residence at Treviri (Treves), and employed himself for some time in improving and securing his own dominions, avoiding any intermeddling with the civil contentions which at this time raged in other parts of the Roman empire. In 307 he married Fausta, the daughter of Maximin, who conferred on him the title of Augustus; but three years later that prince perfidiously formed a plot against the life of Constantine, which terminated in his own overthrow and capture, and death by his own hand. A civil war ensued between Constantine and Maxentius, the son of Maximin. After several sanguinary conflicts the struggle was brought to a close by the total defeat of Maxentius near Rome, and he was drowned in the Tiber in his attempt to escape, in 312. Constantine entered Rome next day, and was acknowledged emperor by the senate. It was at this time that he adopted a new standard called the Labanum, at the top of which was the monogram of the name of Christ, in commemoration, it is said, of a vision of a luminous cross which Constantine is alleged to have seen in the sky with the inscription "By this conquer." The Roman empire was shortly after divided between Constantine and his brother-in-law Licinius; the former reigning over the west, including Italy and Africa; the latter over the eastern provinces, with Egypt. Constantine now openly favoured the christian religion, and discountenanced and prohibited the nocturnal assemblies and obscene rites of paganism. He bestowed certain gifts and privileges on the christian churches, and exempted the clergy from personal taxes and civil duties. The motives of his conversion have been variously stated; and there can be little doubt that it was his interest to gain the support of the numerous party of christians in the Roman empire, and that his general conduct did no great credit to his profession. War broke out in 314 between him and Licinius. Two battles were fought—one near Sirmium in Pannonia, and the other at Adrianople, in both of which Licinius was defeated. He was thus compelled to sue for peace, which was granted, on condition that he should surrender to his victorious rival Illyricum, Macedonia, and Achaia. Constantine then promulgated several excellent laws ameliorating the condition of the lower classes of his subjects, and lessening the severity of the punishment inflicted upon criminals; and in 321 he ordered the observance of the christian sabbath, and abstinence from work on that day. In the following year he defeated the Goths and other barbarous tribes on the Danube and the Rhine, and pursued them into the territories of Licinius. This was made the pretext for a new war between the two emperors, in which Licinius was defeated, and compelled to surrender to Constantine, who at first promised him his life, but ultimately put him to death. Constantine was now sole master of the Roman world; but a series of domestic tragedies—the execution of his son, his nephew, and his wife, on charges the truth of which is doubtful—disturbed the tranquillity of his government, and marred his happiness. He published various edicts in favour of christianity, forbade the consulting of oracles, and abolished the combats of gladiators. He resolved to transfer the seat of empire to Byzantium, which he called after his own name, Constantinople. The new city was solemnly dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the emperor spared no pains or expense in embellishing it, and attracting inhabitants to the new capital by bestowing valuable privileges and donations of corn and wine upon its inhabitants. In 328 he supported the orthodox bishops at the council of Nicæa, which condemned the Arian doctrine; but, towards the close of his life, he recalled several Arian bishops who had been banished by this council, a step which led to a prolonged controversy between him and Athanasius. In 337, when preparing to march against the Persians, he fell ill at Nicomedia, and died there in his sixty-fourth year. He was baptized on his deathbed by Eusebius. His three sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, succeeded him in the empire.—J. T.
CONSTANTINE II., the eldest son of Constantine the Great, on the death of his father, a.d. 337, received Gaul, Britain, Spain, and part of Africa as his share of the empire. But dissatisfied with this division, he made war on his brother Constans, and was defeated and slain a.d. 340.
CONSTANTINE III., son of the Emperor Heraclius by his first wife, Eudoxia, succeeded his father in a.d. 641. He was of a weakly constitution, however, and his reign lasted only one hundred and three days. A belief was generally entertained that his death had been hastened by poison, alleged to have been administered by his stepmother Martina, who was punished by cutting out her tongue.
CONSTANTINE IV., surnamed Pogonatus, emperor of Constantinople, ascended the throne on the death of his father, Constans II., in 668, and died in 685.—W. M.
CONSTANTINE V., surnamed Copronymus, son of Leo the Isaurian, succeeded to his father's throne in 741. Though dissolute and tyrannical, he appears to have been a prince of great ability and energy. It was during his reign that the controversy on image-worship reached its height; and he is well known for the zeal with which he endeavoured to abolish the use of images throughout the church. Died in 775.—W. M.
CONSTANTINE VI., grandson of the preceding, was at the early age of five years associated in the empire with his father Leo IV. On the death of Leo in 780, the Empress Irene was appointed regent of the empire. She formed a conspiracy to dethrone Constantine, and to establish herself in the empire. He was seized by a number of her partisans, and cruelly deprived of sight, by having their daggers thrust into his eyes. Irene succeeded him on the throne in 792, and he lived for many years afterwards a life of obscurity.—W. M.
CONSTANTINE VII., surnamed Porphyrogenitus, was born in 905, and succeeded to the throne in 911, but did not become sole emperor till 945. He spent a great part of his time with his books and music, his pen and pencil. He is even said to have been kept in such poverty during his minority, as to have been reduced to the necessity of selling the paintings he had executed. Constantine composed a great number of works, many of which have come down to us. His principal writings are a "Treatise on the Ceremonies of the Church and Palace of Constantinople;" an account of the Provinces or Thanes, as they were termed, in Europe and Asia; "A System of Tactics;" "An Account of the Policy of the Imperial Court with respect to Foreign Nations;" "Basilics, or the Code and Pandects of Greek Law;" "Geoponics, or the Art of Agriculture;" and "Historical Collections." Constantine died in 959, it is alleged by poison administered by his sons, but the story is probably false.—J. T.
CONSTANTINE VIII., was the son of Romanus Lecapenus, and was associated in the empire with his father. He united with his brother Stephen in dethroning their father; but vengeance soon overtook the unnatural sons—they were seized, degraded from the purple, and put in prison. Constantine was afterwards banished to Samothrace, and lost his life in an attempt to escape.
CONSTANTINE IX., son of Romanus II., was born in 961, and succeeded to the throne in 976, along with his brother Basil II. Upon the death of his brother, Constantine reigned as sole emperor for about three years, and died in 1028. He was the last emperor of the Macedonian dynasty.
CONSTANTINE X., surnamed Monomachus, succeeded to the Eastern empire on his marriage with Zoe, daughter of Constantine IX., in 1042. He gave himself up to a life of indolence and debauchery, which soon affected his health, and ultimately hastened his death in 1054.—W. M.
CONSTANTINE XI., surnamed Ducas, a member of the Comnenian family, succeeded to the throne on the abdication of Isaac Comnenus in 1059. Died in 1067.—W. M.
CONSTANTINE XII., named Ducas, was the son of the preceding, and succeeded his father in 1067, along with his brothers, Michael and Andronicus, under the regency of their mother. Constantine was confined in a monastery by the usurper Nicephorus III. Botoniates. The time and manner of his death are uncertain.
CONSTANTINE XIII., named Palæologus, the last of the Greek emperors, was the fourth son of the Emperor Manuel Palæologus, and was born in 1394. He ascended the throne in 1448, on the death of his brother John VII. The once mighty Eastern empire was now reduced to little more than the limits of the capital, on which the Turkish sultan, Mahomet II., cast longing eyes. He soon contrived to make an occasion of quarrel with Constantine, and after vast preparations, commenced the siege of Constantinople in 1453. In this last extremity Constantine fought with heroic courage, and was bravely supported by the scanty garrison of the city. The reiterated assaults of the
