Emperor Constantine

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did Constantine the Great conquer his rivals and shape the Roman Empire?

Tristan Hughes discusses the dramatic rise of Roman Emperor Constantine I with Professor David Potter. They discuss the scandalous tales and strategic manoeuvres that defined Constantine's ascent, including his brutal execution of his son Crispus and his wife Fausta, his significant victory at the Milvian Bridge, and his delicate balance between Christianity and Roman paganism. Together they uncover the personal dramas and political strategies that reshaped the Roman Empire and cemented Constantine's legacy.

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:08.1	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabatians, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:19.3	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe.
0:35.6	It's the ancientsents of History Hit.
0:38.5	I'm Tristan Hughes, your host.
0:40.4	And today, where we're once again delving into the Ancients Archive over the Christmas break,
0:45.3	bringing back to the fore another of my favourite episodes from the back catalogue.
0:49.9	Now, this episode was within the first 20 that the ancients ever released back in mid-2020
0:56.3	more than four years ago. It is a real golden oldie and I've always had a soft spot
1:02.2	for this interview. One? Because when it was released, it gave the ancients one of the first
1:07.0	ever notable spikes in listens. We were only talking hundreds, if that, back then,
1:12.4	but that was big for me at the time. And two, because this episode covers such an interesting
1:17.8	period in Roman history. It's the story of how the famous Roman Emperor, Constantine I,
1:23.9	also known as Constantine the Great, rose to power. His early years, his proclamation as
1:29.4	emperor at York in Britain, the rivals he defeated, the well-known victory he gained at the Milvian
1:35.3	Bridge, his careful balancing of Christianity and the traditional Roman gods, his terrible
1:40.9	parenting, and much more. Now our guest for this episode was the fantastic Professor David Potter from the University of Michigan.
1:49.1	So sit back and relax, as we revisit one of my favorite early episodes of the ancients,
1:54.6	The Rise of Constantine.
2:09.4	Now, Constantine the Great, a man whose religious significance sometimes overshadows his other extraordinary achievements.
2:15.9	Yes, it does. Of course, a lot of the later record was written by Christians and very heavily influenced by, especially the work of Eusebius of Caesarea,
2:19.0	a man who was not actually very close to Constantine at any point in his life
	...

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