17 or 27 February 280 A.D. Birth of Constantine the Great
17 or 27 February 280 A.D. Birth of Constantine the Great Wiki-offerings. Constantine the Great ( Latin : Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus ; [2] Greek : Κωνσταντ ῖ νος ὁ Μέγας ; 27 February c. 272 [1] – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine , [3] was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius , a Roman army officer, and his consort Helena . His father became Caesar , the deputy emperor in the west in 293. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius . In 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus , senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia . Acclaimed as emperor by the army after his father's death in 306, Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of...