Constantine the Great
Constantine dies after receiving baptism near Nicomedia
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗After the baptism he never put on imperial purple again — he received his officers and generals dressed in white, from a white-covered couch.
22 May 337, a villa outside Nicomedia
Constantine fell seriously ill in 337 after visiting the baths at Helenopolis. He traveled to a suburban imperial villa near Nicomedia, summoned bishops, and asked to receive baptism without further delay.
He had hoped to be baptized in the Jordan. The illness, which came while he was preparing a campaign against Sasanian Persia, left him accepting the rite in a suburb instead.
After the baptism he put aside the imperial purple, wore white, and received officers and generals from a white-covered couch. He died around noon on Pentecost, 22 May, at the estate usually identified from another ancient source as Achyrona.
Who performed the rite
Eusebius of Caesarea, who supplies the narrative, places the baptism near Nicomedia but never names its minister. Jerome is the earliest surviving author to name Eusebius of Nicomedia, and modern scholars generally accept the identification.
Calling that bishop simply "an Arian" flattens him: he had supported Arius, but he had also signed the Nicene creed and returned to communion.
Deferring baptism to the end of life was not unusual among fourth-century Christians, who associated the rite with the remission of prior sins.
Three months with no emperor
Soldiers placed the body in a golden coffin and carried it to the imperial palace at Constantinople, where officials went on bending the knee before the dead emperor.
His intended heirs were elsewhere. Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans were not jointly proclaimed Augusti until 9 September — an interregnum of roughly three months.
Even his age resists precision: the death date is secure, but the disputed birth year makes "about 64 or 65" the most that can be said.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The death date is secure, but Constantine's birth year is disputed; consequently “age 65” should be treated as approximate rather than exact.
- Eusebius of Caesarea places the baptism near Nicomedia but does not name its minister. The identification of Eusebius of Nicomedia first appears in Jerome and is generally considered reliable.
- Achyrona is named by Aurelius Victor, while Eusebius says only the suburbs of Nicomedia. The estate's name appears in several modern spellings, including Achyron, Achyrona, Ancyrona, and Aquyrion.
- Eusebius's Life is indispensable but openly panegyrical, especially in its depiction of Constantine's death and public mourning.