Constantine the Great and his sons dominated the Roman world for over half a Century. He survived many court intrigues and political strife to ultimately emerge as the Emperor of the entire Roman World, stretching from modern day Britain to the Middle-East.
One of the great incidents of his life was a vision of the sign of Christ and the words ” by this sign shall you conquer “. Constantine decreed that his soldiers put this sign on their shields. He also granted tolerance to Christians in the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan in 313 guaranteeing freedom of worship to all persons, legal rights to Christians, and the return of property confiscated from Christians in the past.
After conquering his last rival, Licinius I, Constantine the Great built his new capital in Byzantium and dedicated the city in the year 330. The city that bore his name ( Constantinopolis or Nova Roma = New Rome ), served as the eastern bastion of Christendom for over a 1,000 years.
Nova Roma, later to be known as Constantinopolis ( City of Constantine ), showing ‘Victory’ with a shield.