Constantinus
Surnamed the Great, from the greatness of his exploits, was son of Constantius. It is said that as he was going to fight against Maxentius, one of his rivals, he saw a cross in the sky with the inscription In hoc vince. From this he became a convert to Christianity, ever after adopting a cross for his standard. He founded a city where old Byzantium formerly stood, and called it Constantinopolis. There he kept his court, and made it the rival of Rome in population and magnificence. He died A. D. 337, after a reign of thirty-one years of the greatest glory.