Constantine I - A.D. 324 - AE Follis Silvered (some still intact) - RIC # 123

Constantine the Great was Roman  Emperor from 306 - 337. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea (now Niš, Serbia) he was the son of Flavius Constantius an Illyrian army officer who became one of the 4 emperors of the Tetrarchy. His mother Helena was Greek & of low birth. Constantine served with distinction under emperors Diocletian & Galerius campaigning in the eastern provinces against barbarians & the Persians, before being recalled west in 305 to fight under his father in Britain-after his father's death in 306 Constantine was acclaimed as emperor by the army at Eboracum (York). He emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors Maxentius & Licinius to become sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324. As emperor, Constantine enacted administrative, financial, social & military reforms to strengthen the empire. He restructured the government, separating civil & military authorities. To combat inflation he introduced the solidus, a new gold coin that became the standard for Byzantine & European currencies for more than 1,000 years-the Roman army was reorganized to consist of mobile units & garrison troops capable of countering internal threats & barbarian invasions. Constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the Roman frontiers – he Franks, the Alamanni, the Goths & the

Sarmatians - even resettling territories abandoned by his predecessors during the Crisis of the 3 Century.