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Constantine the Great was the first Roman ruler to be converted to Christianity. He was the founder of Constantinople, which remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire until 1453. <Tab/>Constantine the Great was born Flavius Valerius Constantinus in what is now Serbia. He was the son of the commander Constantius Chlorus and Helena. Constantius became co-emperor in 305. Constantine, who had shown military talent in the East, joined his father in …

…the church at Nicaea in 325. He also began the building of Constantinople in 326 on the site of ancient Greek Byzantium. The city was completed in 330 (later expanded), given Roman institutions, and made better looking by ancient Greek works of art. In addition, Constantine built churches in the Holy Land, where his mother (also a Christian) supposedly found the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The emperor was baptized shortly before his death, on May 22, 337.