CONSTANTINE the Great, Roman emperor, A.D. 306–337. See Roman History.

CONSTANTINE VII. (Flavius Porphyrogenitus), Emperor of the East, 911–959. During his retirement under the usurpation of Romanus Lecapenus, he had acquired a taste for literature and art; and after having assumed the purple, he abandoned the cares of the empire in a great measure to his wife Helena, and devoted himself to his favourite pursuits. During his reign, however, the arms of the empire were crowned with victory, and the power of the emperor was strengthened by alliances with the Khalifs of Baghdad and Africa. Constantine's end was hastened by poison, administered by his son Romanus. His works are peculiarly valuable as throwing light on the manners and customs of a period otherwise wholly unknown to us.