Constantine legalized Christianity, moving it from a persecuted cult to the favored religion of the state.
Recognizing that the empire’s wealth and threats were now in the East, he moved the capital to Byzantium, renaming it "New Rome" (Constantinople). Conclusion The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine
For fifty years, the Roman Empire was a revolving door of "Barracks Emperors"—generals who were declared emperors by their troops only to be murdered months later. The empire faced a "perfect storm" of disasters: The empire faced a "perfect storm" of disasters:
By the time of Constantine’s death in 337 AD, the Roman Empire was unrecognizable from the one Severus had inherited. The Mediterranean world had shifted from a pagan, Rome-centered principate to a Christian, East-leaning autocracy. This "Late Antiquity" set the stage for the Byzantine Empire in the East and the eventual rise of medieval Europe in the West. Rome-centered principate to a Christian