Constantine I (emperor)

. The crimson birthmark on the top of his bald head was often the source of much satire among critics and cartoonists.
. Gorbachev is the most famous person in modern times with visible naevus flammeus.
. Nevertheless, he maintains respect for the faiths of people of all religions, as evidenced by his leading role in the establishment of freedom of religion laws in the former Soviet Union.

. Baptized in the Russian Orthodox church as a child, Gorbachev is an atheist.

Some may find him difficult, he speaks the language of the professional scholar, but reading his works is certainly worth the time and effort. A journalist asked him, "would you like the Berlin Wall to be taken down?" Gorbachev replied very seriously, "Why not?". The Association of Ancient Historians has honored Ramsay MacMullen as being the finest ancient historian of the Roman Empire in our time. In 1989, on an official visit to China during the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, shortly before the imposition of martial law in Beijing, Gorbachev was asked for his opinion on the great wall of China: "It's a very beautiful work", he replied, "but there are already too many walls between people". [3]. In 1987, Gorbachev acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost and perestroika owed a great deal to Alexander Dubček's "socialism with a human face." When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring and his own reforms, Gorbachev replied, "Nineteen years.". [2]. In the West, Gorbachev was colloquially known as 'Gorby', in part because of a perception that he was less austere than his predecessors.

After 312, he added maximus ("the greatest"), and after 325 replaced invictus ("unconquerable") with victor, as invictus reminded of Sol Invictus, the Sun God. He also received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Münster. 1- In the English language, Constantine's official Imperial title is Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the blessed, the lucky, the unconquerable. Bush. Monmouth also said that Constantine was proclaimed "King of the Britons" at York, rather than Roman Emperor. President George H.W. It was indecorous, Geoffrey considered, that a king might have less-than-noble ancestors. In 2005, Gorbachev was awarded the Point Alpha Prize for promoting German reunification along with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former U.S.

A daughter for King Cole had not previously figured in the lore, at least not as it has survived in writing, and this pedigree is likely to reflect Geoffrey's desire to create a continuous line of regal descent. Gorbachev, together with Boris Yeltsin, criticized Putin's actions as a step away from democracy. Geoffrey claimed that Helena, Constantine's mother, was actually the daughter of "King Cole", the mythical King of the Britons and eponymous founder of Colchester. In September 2004, following Chechen terrorist attacks across Russia, President Vladimir Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be directly appointed by the President and approved by regional legislatures. 1136 during the reign of Stephen of England) is not considered a reliable source by modern historians. In June 2004, Gorbachev represented Russia at the funeral of Ronald Reagan. His Historia Regum Britanniae (written ca. Gorbachev to Trademark his Forehead.

The English chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth offered a genealogy of British kings that linked them to the Fall of Troy at the end of the Trojan War. The company now no longer uses the trademark. The last member of his dynasty was his nephew and son-in-law, Julian, who attempted to restore paganism. In early 2004, Gorbachev moved to trademark his famous port wine birthmark, after a vodka company featured the mark on labels of one of their drinks to capitalize on its fame. He was succeeded by his three sons by Fausta, Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans, who secured their hold on the empire with the murder of a number of relatives and supporters of Constantine. He resigned as party leader in May 2004 over a disagreement with the party's chairman over the direction taken in the December 2003 election campaign. At the time of his death, he was planning a great expedition to put an end to raids on the eastern provinces from the Persian Empire. On November 26, 2001, Gorbachev also founded the Social Democratic Party of Russia—which is a union between several Russian social democrat parties.

In fact, by 336, Constantine had actually reoccupied most of the long-lost province of Dacia, which Aurelian had been forced to abandon in 271. In 1997, Gorbachev starred in a Pizza Hut commercial made for the USA to raise money for the Perestroika Archives. In addition to reuniting the empire under one emperor, Constantine won major victories over the Franks and Alamanni (306–308), the Franks again (313–314), the Visigoths in 332 and the Sarmatians in 334. In 1996, Gorbachev ran for re-election in Russia, but received only about 1 percent of the vote. Although he earned his honorific of "The Great" from Christian historians long after he had died, he could have claimed the title on his military achievements alone. He also became a member of the Club of Rome. There was a singing of hymns." (New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908). In 1993, he also founded Green Cross International, of which he was one of three major sponsors of the Earth Charter.

At the dedication of Constantinople in 330 a ceremony half Pagan and half Christian was performed, in the market place, the Cross of Christ was placed over the head of the Sun-God's chariot. Gorbachev founded the Gorbachev Foundation in 1992. Offensive forms of worship, either Christian or Pagan, were suppressed. Nevertheless, polls indicate that a majority of Russians are pleased with the result of the individual aims of perestroika, Gorbachev's chief legislative legacy. These funds were given to the favored Christian clergy. However in Russia, his reputation is very low because he is perceived to have brought about the collapse of the country and is held responsible for the misery that followed. The repair of Pagan temples that had decayed was forbidden. Gorbachev is generally well regarded in the West for having ended the Cold War.

"From Pagan temples Constantine had his statue removed. However, he later resigned on December 25, 1991 as the USSR became defunct. (MacMullen 1969,1984, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908). Gorbachev was elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union on March 15, 1990. Leading Roman families that refused Christianity were denied positions of power, yet two-thirds of his top government was non-Christian. In the end Yeltsin won them round too with promises of more money. Constantine respected cultivation and Christianity, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. But when the CPSU was proscribed after the August coup, Gorbachev was left with no effective power base beyond the armed forces.

(MacMullen 1969, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908). The inherent contradictions in this approach - praising Lenin, admiring Sweden's social model and seeking to maintain the annexation of the Baltic states by military force - were difficult enough. Some examples:. Gorbachev had aimed to maintain the CPSU as a united party but move it in the direction of social democracy. Constantine's laws in many ways improved those of his predecessors, though they also reflect his more violent age. Those arrested for high treason include the "Gang of Eight" that had led the coup. He began a large building program of churches in the Holy Land, which while greatly expanding the faith also allowed considerable increase in the power and wealth (and as such the corruption) of the clergy, as the clergy took over many aspects of government, including the courts and civil cases. Furthermore, Gorbachev was forced to fire large numbers of his Politburo and, in several cases, arrest them.

Exerting his absolute power, the army recited his composed Latin prayer in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, which failed. However, upon his return, Gorbachev found that neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands as support had swung over to Yeltsin. However, pagans still received appointments, even up to the end of his life. During this time, Gorbachev spent three days (August 19 to 21) under house arrest at a dacha in the Crimea before being freed and restored to power. The reason for this later "change of heart" remains conjectural. Conservatives in the Soviet leadership launched the August Coup in 1991 in an attempt to remove Gorbachev from power and prevent the signing of the new union treaty. His sermons preached harmony at first, but gradually turned more confrontational with the old pagan ways. On the eve of the treaty's signing the conservatives struck.

In his later life he even turned to preaching, giving his own sermons in the palace before his court and invited crowds. In contrast to the reformers' lukewarm approach to the new treaty, the conservatives, still strong within the CPSU and military establishment, were completely opposed to anything which might lead to breakup of the Soviet motherland. Constantine also passed laws making the occupations of butcher and baker hereditary, and more importantly, supported converting the coloni (tenant farmers) into serfs — laying the foundation for European society during the Middle Ages. However, the more radical reformists, such as Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin, were increasingly convinced that a rapid transition to a market economy was required and were more than happy to contemplate the disintegration of the USSR if that was required to achieve their aims. (MacMullen 1969). The new treaty was strongly supported by the Central Asian republics, who needed the economic power and markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. After his death it was renamed Constantinopolis (or Constantinople, "Constantine's City"), and gradually became the capital of the empire. Gorbachev's response to growing republic separatism was to draw up a new treaty of union which would have created a truly voluntary federation in an increasingly democratised USSR.

Generations later there was the story that a Divine vision lead Constantine to this spot, and an angel no one else could see, led him on a circuit of the new walls. Gorbachev had accidentally unleashed a force that would ultimately destroy the Soviet Union. On the site of a temple to Aphrodite was built the new Basilica of the Apostles. Nationalist feeling also took hold in the Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The figures of old gods were replaced and often assimilated into Christian symbolism. Calls for greater independence from Moscow's rule grew louder, especially in the Baltic republics of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, which had been annexed into the Soviet Union by Stalin in 1940. He renamed the city Nova Roma (New Rome), providing it with a Senate and civic offices similar to the older Rome, and the new city was protected by the alleged True Cross, the Rod of Moses and other holy relics. Gorbachev's relaxation of censorship and attempts to create more political openness had the unintended effect of re-awakening long-suppressed nationalist and anti-Russian feelings in the Soviet republics.

Constantine rebuilt the city of Byzantium which was said to have been founded by colonists from the Greek city of Megara under Byzas in 667 BC. Despite being an attempt to revitalize Soviet socialism, the democratization of the USSR and Eastern Europe tore away the power of the CPSU and Gorbachev himself. This battle represented the passing of old Rome, and the beginnings of the Eastern Empire as a center of learning, prosperity, and cultural preservation. The loosening of Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe effectively ended the Cold War, and for this, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990. (MacMullen 1969). With the exception of Romania, the democratic revolutions against the pro-Soviet communist regimes were all peaceful ones. He was the sole emperor of the entire Roman Empire. Moscow's abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine led to a string of revolutions in Eastern Europe throughout 1989, in which communism collapsed.

Supposedly outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine's army emerged victorious. This proved to be the most far-reaching of Gorbachev's foreign policy reforms with his Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov jokingly calling his new doctrine the Sinatra Doctrine. Constantine and his Franks marched under the Christian standard of the labarum, and both sides saw the battle in religious terms. Also during 1988, Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine, and allow the Eastern bloc nations to determine their own internal affairs. Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the ancient faith of Paganism. In February 1988, Gorbachev announced the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, which was completed the following year. The armies were so large another like these would not be seen again until at least the 14th century. This led to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987.

It became a challenge to Constantine in the west, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. President Ronald Reagan met in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. This was a puzzling inconsistency since Constantia, half-sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, was an influential Christian. On October 11 1986, Gorbachev and U.S. In the year 320, Licinius, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began another persecution of the Christians. In international affairs, Gorbachev sought to improve relations and trade with the West. He gradually consolidated his military superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy. In December 1988, the Supreme Soviet approved the establishment of a Congress of People's Deputies, which constitutional amendments had established as the Soviet Union's new legislative body.

His victory in 312 over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge resulted in his becoming Western Augustus, or ruler of the entire Western Roman Empire. In June 1988, at the CPSU's Nineteenth Party Conference, Gorbachev launched radical reforms meant to reduce party control of the government apparatus. The large staring eyes will loom larger as the 4th century progresses: compare the early 5th century silver coinage of Theodosius I. In January 1987, Gorbachev called for democratization: the infusion of democratic elements such as multi-candidate elections into the Soviet political process. The great staring eyes in the iconography of Constantine, though not specifically Christian, show how official images were moving away from early imperial conventions of realistic portrayal towards schematic representations: the Emperor as Emperor, not merely as this particular individual Constantine, with his characteristic broad jaw and cleft chin. Gorbachev's goal in undertaking glasnost was to pressure conservatives within the CPSU who opposed his policies of economic restructuring, and he also hoped that through different ranges of openness, debate and participation, the Soviet people would support his reform initiatives. Also, Eusebius was a close friend of Constantine's sister; she probably secured his recall from exile. The press became far less controlled, and thousands of political prisoners and many dissidents were released.

As the general custom, Constantine was not baptized until close to his death in 337, when his choice fell upon the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who happened, despite his being an overt ally of Arius, to still be the bishop of the region. This was a radical change, as control of speech and suppression of government criticism had previously been a central part of the Soviet system. Helena became known later in life for numerous pilgrimages. Gorbachev's introduction of glasnost gave new freedoms to the people, such as a greater freedom of speech. Family influence is thought to account for a personal adoption of Christianity: Helena is said to be "probably born a Christian" though virtually nothing is known of her background, save that her mother was the daughter of an innkeeper and her father a successful soldier, a career that excluded overt Christians. Under this provision, cooperative restaurants, shops, and manufacturers became part of the Soviet scene. Their sources are not stated. The law initially imposed high taxes and employment restrictions, but these were later revised to avoid discouraging private-sector activity.

The rumours were reported however by 5th century historian Zosimus and 12th century historian Joannes Zonaras. For the first time since Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy, the law permitted private ownership of businesses in the services, manufacturing, and foreign-trade sectors. There are rumours of step-mother and step-son having had an affair which caused Constantine's jealousy. The Law on Cooperatives enacted in May 1987 was perhaps the most radical of the economic reforms during the early part of the Gorbachev era. (Crispus was the only known son of Constantine by his first wife Minervina). However, many of his reforms were contrary to the beliefs of many in the Soviet government at the time. In 326, Constantine executed first his eldest son Crispus and a few months later his own second wife Fausta. Domestically, Gorbachev implemented economic reforms that he hoped would improve living standards and worker productivity as part of his perestroika program.

Constantine was also known for being ruthless with his political enemies, deposing the Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius, his brother-in-law, by strangulation in 325 even though he had publicly promised not to execute him upon Licinius' surrender in 324. As de facto ruler of the Soviet Union, he tried to reform the stagnating Communist Party and the state economy by introducing glasnost ("openness"), perestroika ("restructuring"), and uskorenie ("acceleration", of economic development), which were launched at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986. There are also coins depicting Apollo driving the chariot of the Sun on a shield Constantine is holding and another (313?) shows the Christian chi-rho on a helmet Constantine is wearing. He became the Party's first leader to have been born after the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the 320s Constantine has a halo of his own. Upon the death of Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev, at age 54, was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party on March 11, 1985. The depiction represents Apollo with a solar halo, Helios-like, and the globe in his hands. In 1984, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he met with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Thereafter the reverses of his coinage were dominated for several years by his "companion, the unconquered Sol" -- the inscriptions read SOLI INVICTO COMITI. In 1975, he led a delegation to West Germany, and in 1983 he headed a Soviet delegation to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and members of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate. In mid-310, two years before the victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine reportedly experienced the publicly announced vision in which Apollo-Sol Invictus appeared to him with omens of success. His positions within the new CPSU created more opportunities to travel abroad that would profoundly affect his political and social views in the future as leader of the country. Gothicus had claimed the divine protection of Apollo-Sol Invictus. He was also close to Konstantin Chernenko, Andropov's successor, serving as second secretary. Historians however suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication to flatter Constantine. During this time Grigory Romanov, Nikolai Ryzhkov, and Yegor Ligachev were elevated, the latter two working closely with Gorbachev, Ryzhkov on economics, Ligachev on personnel.

The Augustan History of the 4th century reports Constantine's paternal grandmother Claudia to be a daughter of Crispus, Crispus being a reported brother of both Claudius II and Quintillus. With responsibility over personnel, working together with Andropov, 20 percent of the top echelon of government ministers and regional governors were replaced, often with younger men. After his breach with his father's old colleague Maximian in 309–310, Constantine began to claim legitimate descent from the 3rd century emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus, the hero of the Battle of Naissus (September, 268). There, he received the patronage of Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB and also a native of Stavropol, and was promoted during Andropov's brief time as leader of the Party before his death in 1984. Mars had been associated with the Tetrarchy, and Constantine's use of this symbolism served to emphasize the legitimacy of his rule. He was elevated to the Politburo in 1979. During the early part of Constantine's rule, representations first of Mars and then (from 310) of Apollo as Sun god consistently appear on the reverse of the coinage. In 1972, he headed a Soviet delegation to Belgium and two years later, in 1974, he was made a Representative to the Supreme Soviet, and Chairman of the Standing Commission on Youth Affairs.

Coins struck for emperors often reveal details of their personal iconography. His career moved forward rapidly, and in 1970, he was appointed First Secretary for Agriculture and the following year made a member of the Central Committee. For the next eighteen years, he fought a series of battles and wars of consolidation that first obtained him co-rule with the Eastern Roman Emperor, and then finally leadership of a reunified Roman Empire. In 1966, at age 35, he graduated from the Agricultural Institute as an agronomist-economist. Constantine managed to be at his deathbed in Eboracum (York) of Roman Britain, where the loyal general Crocus, of Alamannic descent, and the troops loyal to his father's memory proclaimed him an Augustus ("Emperor"). Gorbachev joined the CPSU in 1952 at the age of 21. However, Constantius fell sick during an expedition against the Picts and Scots of Caledonia, and died on July 25, 306. They were married in September 1953 and moved to Gorbachev's home region of Stavropol in southern Russia when he graduated in 1955.

In 305, the Augustus, Maximian, abdicated, and Constantius succeeded to the position. He studied law at Moscow University, where he met his future wife, Raisa. Young Constantine was well educated and served at the court of Diocletian in Nicomedia, after the appointment of his father as one of the two caesares(junior emperors) of the Tetrarchy in 293. Mikhail Gorbachev was born into a peasant family in the village of Privolnoye near Stavropol. Theodora would give birth to six half-siblings of Constantine, including Julius Constantius. . His father left his mother around 292 to marry Flavia Maximiana Theodora, daughter or step-daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Maximian. His attempts at reform led to the end of the Cold War, but also caused the end of the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Constantine was born at Naissus, (today's Niš, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro) in Upper Moesia, to Constantius I Chlorus, a general of Greek descent, and Flavia Iulia Helena, an innkeeper's daughter who at the time was an adolescent of only sixteen years. See International Phonetic Alphabet." class="IPA" style="white-space: nowrap; font-family:'Code2000', 'Chrysanthi Unicode', 'Doulos SIL', 'Gentium', 'GentiumAlt', 'TITUS Cyberbit Basic', 'Bitstream Vera', 'Bitstream Cyberbit', 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro'; font-family /**/:inherit; text-decoration: none">/mixaˈɪɫ serˈgejevɪtʃ gərbaˈtʃof/) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. . Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Gorbachev)  listen^? (Russian: Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв; pronunciation:

Constantine is famed for his refounding of Byzantium (modern Istanbul) as "Nova Roma" (New Rome), which was popularly known in his time as "Constantine's City"— (Constantinopolis, Constantinople). Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (Latin: IMP CAESAR FLAVIVS CONSTANTINVS PIVS FELIX INVICTVS AVGVSTVS ¹) (February 27, 272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I or Constantine the Great, was proclaimed Augustus by his troops on July 25, 306 and ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire until his death. Rassias,"Es Edafos Ferein", 2nd edition, Athens, 2000, ISBN 960-7748-20-4. Vlassis R.

Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto. Galen, On the Natural Faculties. Sources on the Antonine Plague