Who was Constantine and what is his historical significance?
The above answer should have noted that Constantine reunited the Eastern and Western Empires as a resulf of the Roman Civil War in which he defeated Maxentius at the Battle of Milvan Bridge. He thus became the sole Emperor thereby eliminating three other claimants. It was at the Battle of Milvan Bridge that he presumably saw the sign of the cross and heard the words In hoc signo vinces (by this sign conquer.) He afterward issued the Edict of Milan which legalized Christianity (but did not make it the official religion of the Empire.) There is some argument that Constantine did so more as a matter of practicality, as Christianity grew within the Empire even though his predecessors had attempted to eliminate it. As for his miraculous vision, Constantine told no one about it until he was on his death bed, at which point he was baptized as a Christian....
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Whatever his vision or inspiration, it did not stop him from murdering his wife and son. There is some argument that Christian authorities manipulated the story of his conversion to promote the legitimacy of that religion. He did, in fact, authorize the Council of Nicaea which determined that Jesus was both God and man. It also set the date for the celebration of Eastern according to strangely pagan elements. All of his actions, however were dictated by political practicality, not religious conviction.
As noted, Constantine did move the capital to Byzantium and renamed the city for himself (Constantinople) This allowed him to guard the trade routes between East and West.
An excellent work and detailed biography of Constantine is Constantine by Paul Stephenson.