DIGITALLY RECONSTRUCTED FACE OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE: This is what the famous Roman emperor born in Niš looked like! (PHOTO)

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus, better known as Constantine the Great, was one of the greatest Roman emperors.

He carried out a series of major reforms in administration and the military, strengthening the Roman Empire, which had been shaken by the great crisis of the 3rd century. As the first Roman ruler to embrace Christianity, which had previously been a persecuted minority faith, Constantine initiated the Christianization of the Empire, leading to the rise of Christianity as the dominant religion of the civilized world at the time.

By beginning the Christianization of the Empire and founding Constantinople, Constantine laid the foundations for the future Byzantine Empire.

As the first Christian emperor, a great benefactor, and patron of the Christian Church, Constantine was canonized after his death. In Orthodox churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, he is revered as a saint and the “Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor”.

Constantine was born between 271 and 273 AD, on February 27, in the Roman city of Naissus (modern-day Niš, Serbia), located in the province of Moesia Superior.

In his hometown of Naissus, Constantine lavishly developed a residence in Mediana.

On his way to the Eternal City, Constantine had a mystical experience that led him to openly embrace Christianity. According to Lactantius, whose work On the Death of the Persecutors was written around 317/318 AD, Constantine had a dream the night before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in which he was instructed to mark his soldiers’ shields with the letter H, featuring a vertical line curved at the top to form a Christogram.

According to Constantine’s biographer, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote the emperor’s biography shortly after 337 AD, the emperor personally and under oath recounted the entire event to him several years later.

Piter Pol Rubens – Konstantinova vizija / Wikimedia Creative Commons

In Eusebius’ account in Vita Constantini, Constantine prayed to the God his father had worshipped, and the following day, he and his army saw a radiant cross above the sun, bearing the inscription “In this sign, conquer” (τουτο νικα).

Uncertain of the vision’s meaning, Constantine was visited in a dream by Christ, who advised him to create a military standard in the shape of the symbol he had seen in the sky and use it in battle. The next day, Constantine ordered the creation of the military standard (labarum), featuring a wreath at the top containing the Greek letters H and R intertwined as Christ’s monogram.

Konstantinova trijumfalna kapija pored Koloseuma u Rimu / Pixabay

After this event, Constantine decided to follow the God who had appeared to him and gathered Christian priests, asking them to introduce him to the Christian faith.

In Italy, Constantine proclaimed Galerius’ Edict of Toleration of 311 AD, later ordering that confiscated Church property be returned.

He sought to convince his ally Licinius of the legitimacy of his religious policies, and in February 313, they met in Milan, where Licinius married Constantine’s half-sister, Constantia. This meeting later became the foundation for the legend of the Edict of Milan, which allegedly granted Christians freedom of religion and made Christianity equal to other religions in the Empire.

Constantin 1er – détail de la mosaïque de l’entrée sud-ouest de Sainte-Sophie (Istanbul, Turquie)

Bista cara Konstantina I Velikog / Wikimedia Creative Commons

Then, in 324 AD, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the sole official religion of the Roman Empire.

Despite Constantine the Great’s immense historical significance, especially for the entire Christian world, scientists have only now meticulously reconstructed his face, bringing him back to life with astonishing accuracy.