Pope Sylvester I was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death on 31 December 335. He filled the See of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, though very little is known of his life.
14th-century head reliquary, Zadar
Pope Sylvester I and Constantine in a 1247 fresco
Relics of Saint Sylvester in the Abbey of Saint Sylvester in Nonantola
Pope Sylvester I portrayed slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims, a fresco by Maso di Banco
Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from ADÂ 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, decriminalizing Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution in a period referred to as the Constantinian shift. This initiated the cessation of the established ancient Roman religion. Constantine is also the originator of the religiopolitical ideology known as Constantinism, which epitomizes the unity of church and state, as opposed to separation of church and state. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which remained so for over a millenium.
Head of the Colossus of Constantine, Capitoline Museums
Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia, section: Maria as patron saint of Constantinople, detail: donor portrait of Emperor Constantine I with a model of the city
Remains of the luxurious residence palace of Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of Naissus
Head from a statue of the emperor Diocletian