Following his victory over Licinius in 324, Constantine rebuilt the city of Byzantium as his new imperial residence and de facto capital, renaming it as “New Rome” (although it would soon come to be known as Constantinople after Constantine himself). Dedicated in May 330, Constantinople would remain officially subordinate to Rome for several decades but eventually grow to surpass it.
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8 Nov 324–11 May 330 Foundation of Constantinople
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Following his victory over Licinius, Constantine selected Byzantium—strategically located between Europe and Asia, and the Black Sea and Mediterranean—as the site for his new imperial residence. Over the next six years he had the city greatly expanded and encouraged people from across the Roman Empire to move there, dedicating the rebuilt Byzantium as “New Rome” in 330. Constantine used New Rome—which soon became unofficially called Constantinople (Constantine’s city)—as his capital and permanent residence but, although it had its own senate, it would remain officially subordinate to Rome until 359.
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In 325 Constantine invited all 1,800 bishops of the Christian church within the Roman Empire to meet at Nicaea to attain a consensus on Christian affairs; about 300 actually attended and the Council was formally opened in May. The Council condemned Arianism—which held that Jesus was subordinate to God—in favor of what would become known as the Nicene Creed—which affirmed that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were of the same essence. After this the Council mandated a calculation for the date of Easter and promulgated early canon law, establishing a degree of unity in the Christian church.
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In 326, for uncertain reasons, Constantine had his eldest son Crispus put to death and placed a damnatio memoriae on him, his wife, and his infant son. Soon afterwards, or at least by 328, Constantine also killed Fausta, his wife and Crispus’ stepmother, by locking her in a scalding bath, and placed a damnatio on her too. Some ancient historians tie these two deaths together, accusing Fausta of framing Crispus in some way and later being caught in adultery, but this may just be speculation and other theories abound.
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Following the death of Crispus in 326, Constantine was left with three Caesars—his sons Constantine II, Constantius, and Constans—of whom the oldest was 10. As they were still too young to help him rule the vast Roman Empire, Constantine placed each son with a praetorian prefect who would administer a defined prefecture—Gaul, Italy, or the East—in the boy’s name. To prevent the praetorian prefects from becoming too powerful, he created the magistri militum (Masters of the Soldiers) to command the troops but kept the praetorian prefects responsible for funding and supplying the army.
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