The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (revised edition)

The Roman emperor Constantine could perhaps be described as one of the most pivotal emperors of antiquity, presiding over a change that was to shape the Roman Empire and the wider world. Constantine was a new type of emperor and he ushered in a new government, a new way of thinking and for some a new way of living. Constantine could also, perhaps, be described as an intelligent, wry and calculating man who had appropriately judged the mood of his subjects and found the optimum opportunity to usher in change.

Whatever your personal feelings and conjectures about the man, the...