Constantine was the son of Flavius Constantius, an Illyrian army officer who became one of the four emperors of the Tetrarchy. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea, he became the Western emperor in 312 and the sole Roman emperor in 324. Constantine was also the first emperor to adhere to Christianity. He issued an edict that protected Christians in the empire and converted to Christianity on his deathbed in 337.
