Constantine I Died on this date in AD 337...

...Please post your favorite Constintine I coins and use this thread to discuss his merits as Emperor of Rome.

 

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Actually, as a Roman Emperor he was a capable ruler and I find I neither like nor dislike the man. Lots of pros and lots of cons.

 

Wow! That coin is sharp!

 

You should go into politics @Bing

 

Are you kidding me. I may can stay off topic, but I can't lie and then lie about lies. I'm too honest for politics.

 

I don't have much of an opinion of the man since I haven't put much time into reading about his reign. I'll take his coins though


Commemorative Series under Constantine I
330 CE; Æ 14.5 mm, 1.16 gm
Constantinople mint, 1st officina
Obv: POP ROMANVS; draped bust of Genius left, with cornucopia over shoulder
Rev: Milvian Bridge over Tiber River; CONS//A
Ref: RIC VIII 21; LRBC 1066; Vagi 3043
ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli collection

Here's an ordinary campgate with an extraordinary "vintage" David Sear certificate


Constantine I follis, /campgate; RIC VII Trier 449

 

His merits? What merits?

The man killed his son, then murdered his wife, and after promising to spare his brother in law and nephew as a demonstration of his Christian virtue, he nevertheless murdered them. He had a depraved heart full of malice and avarice.



And not content with his personal debauchery, he dismantled the tetrarchy and thrust the empire back into one man rule, which was unsustainable, and inevitably was the direct causation of needless civil wars which further weakened the Empire in the mid-4rth Century.



And not content with murder aforethought and political blunders, the man meddled needlessly in religion, thus further weakening the empire by creating an atmosphere of disunity between Christians that would lead to a focus in fighting each other over "heresies" instead of devoting their full focus to the external threats to the empire. I would also question his policies of preferring one religion over the rest, but that would take too much space in this thread and wouldn't be fair to the rest of you.



I'm just getting warmed up in this odious little man, with his jewel encrusted clothes and unmanly demeanor, who brought nothing but pain and war to whatever his evil little hands touched.

But for the sake of this thread, I'll hold my tongue and keep to myself everything I think about him.

Have an unhappy Birthday, Constantine.

 

According to Eusebius, Constantine was “matched by none in grace and beauty of form, or in tallness, and so surpassing his contemporaries in personal strength that he struck terror into them.”


Befitting the description from Eusebius, a coin displaying the imperatorial gestus-




Constantine I
A.D. 316
19x20mm 3.4gm
CONSTANTINVS AVG; bust left, laureate, cuirassed and raising right hand.
SOLI INVIC-TO COMITI; Sol rad., raising r. hand, globe in l.; stg. l., chlamys across l. shoulder. A/S across fields.
in ex. PLG
RIC VII Lyons --; Bastien 605

 

Minted posthumously after his death

Constantine I
Antioch mint
337 to 347 AD (posthumous)
AE 4
Obvs: DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG
Revs: No inscription, Constantine in quadriga with the hand of God extending out of the sky to receive him. SMANS in ex
16mm, 1.6g
A some what unusual ladder diadem votive coin.

Constantine I
Heraclea mint
327 to 329 AD
AE Follis
Obvs: CONSTANTINVS AVG, Ladder diademed right.
Revs: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG, VOT XXX within Laurel wreath. •SMHA
17x19mm, 3.16g

 

it is not unusual for Heraclea.

 

Eusebius was an apologist of the worst kind. A paid fiction writer who tried to polish a stinking pile of manure by the name of Constantine. But no matter how much you polish the manure, it is still manure.

 

You sure seem to think you know a lot about Constantine.

For many years it was popular to dismiss Eusebius, since he does wax poetic about Constantine, but he is otherwise honest.

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying I dislike Constantine, but I'd rather risk my life attending one of Elagabalus' dinner parties than spend 3 seconds in the presence of Constantine.

 

That was a nasty thing of me to say...I hang my head in shame!

 

Maybe if one of you would gift me that medallion of Constantine, I might be willing to modify my opinion of him. Bribery works.

 

People seem to have stronger opinions about Constantine than most figures from the ancient world. I wonder why that is? Perhaps the intersection of politics, history and religion?

 

But this kind of thing happened throughout history. Why Constantine more than others? I believe it is the fact or fiction of his conversion to a relatively new religion (sainthood?) which later became one of the world's biggest.

 

Its hard for me to feel really strongly about someone who lived nearly 2000 years ago whom I've never had a chance to meet. Constantine did both good and bad things in his reign, and with the bad I judge him against the era in that he lived, where these sorts of things were more common among rulers back then. This being said, I really like this one from my collection:



And @Sallent I'll bet you were glad to be rid of this one I'm sure you don't miss it!