Diocletian And Constantine Essay Example

Constantine was a far superior emperor than Diocletian because of the actions he took to help the Roman Empire succeed in moving the capital to a strategically sound area and encouraging good morality in the people of the empire which aided in making a more peaceful empire. The three exceptional actions Constantine accomplished were issue the Edict of Milan, move the capital to  the great city of Byzantium and he out lawed  Crucifiction and other cruel forms of torture.

Constantine desired the persecution of Christians to end so he issued the Edict of Milan. The Edict of Milan allowed Christians to hold legal status and ended the persecution of Christians and by doing this made the empire more peaceful. Later on towards the end of his life Constantine believed in Arianism and allowed the Arians to persecute Christians but as we know political leaders are not perfect but even though Constantine did bad things the good things he did outweighed them. Diocletian mass murdered Christians but Constantine  had persecuted on a much smaller scale. And he had just gone through a rough patch in his life his wife lied to him about his own son which resulted in Constantine persecuting his son and then a year later persecuted his wife after he discovered she lied. This does not excuse Constantine's actions but rather shows what his mental state must have been. Constantine and Licinius crafted the Edict of Milan in February 313 A.D. In exchange for signing the edict Licinius was permitted to marry Constantine’s sister Constanius.  Licinius signed the edict  but in 320 A.D he prevented the bishops from gathering and forced them to sacrifice to idols.  In 323 A.D Constantine and his army went to war with Licinius to stop him from persecuting Christians and to keep the empire safe.  Licinius fled but eventually Constantine caught up with him and executed  him. After Constantine executed Licinius he executed his sister Constanius because he feared she would kill him after he killed her husband Licinius.  Later Constantine moved the capital to the great city of Byzantium.

Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium in 330 A.D. Byzantium was located on the Boastras Straight and was one of the most strategically sound cities of the time. This helped  the Roman Empire because even though it already belonged to the Roman Empire . Constantine named it Constantinople after himself. Constantinople has only been conquered twice because it was very secure. After he  moved the capital to Constantinople he enforced Christian teachings which aided  in making a more peaceful empire.

Before Constantine was made Emperor leaders before him did not enforce human dignity and human rights. Constantine condemned the absolute power of the head of the house over life. The absolute power of the head of the house over life was when the head of the household could kill anybody who lived in his house for no reason. A father could kill his wife and children while lacking a reason. Constantine thankfully put an end to this law. Constantine outlawed crucifixion and criminal branding. Crucifiction was a way of torture resulting in death. Criminal branding was where a criminal would be branded on the face to show they were a criminal. Constantine also enforced monogamy which means each man only gets one wife. 

Constantine was a far superior emperor than Diocletian because of the actions he took to help the Roman Empire succeed in conquering and encouraging good morality in the people of the empire. Constantine made the Edict of Milan which allowed Christians to hold legal status and ended the persecution of Christians. Constantine conquered Istanbul which helped expand the Roman Empire.Constantine condemned the absolute power of the head of the house over life.Constantine outlawed crucifixion and criminal branding. Constantine also enforced monogamy which means each man only gets one wife. In conclusion Constantine was a superior emperor.