Once he gained control of the entire Roman Empire, Constantine set about an ambitious programme of reform
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Only one Roman emperor is called ‘the Great’, and that emperor is Constantine. Today we mostly associate Constantine with the Christianisation of his empire, yet even if he had remained steadfastly pagan, Constantine would still deserve his title. Few men have had such a dramatic and lasting effect upon the destiny of an entire continent.
Constantine came to power when the fate of Rome hung in the balance. The efforts of his predecessors had pulled Rome out of the desperate struggle for survival, which today we call the Tird Century Crisis. However, if the worst was over, the battle was far from won. It would fall to Constantine to stabilise the new world order that became known as Late Antiquity