Constantine died in Nicomedia in 337 after a short illness.  He had lived to 64, a good age for the time. The death of Constantine ended one of the longest reigns in the history of the empire.  His death came just after he had celebrated his thirtieth year as emperor, something only Augustus had previously

If it weren’t for Constantine it is quite likely that very few of us would have ever been inside a Christian Church.  The city he founded bore his name up until the lifetime of my Grandfather.  It is still the largest one in Europe.   Ten more emperors were to bear the name Constantine, and when

“I’m a roving Jack of all trades Of every trade and all trades And if you want to know my name They call me Jack of all trades…  In Swallow Street made bellows-pipes In Wharf Street was a blacksmith In Beak Street there I did sell tripe In Freeman Street a locksmith In Cherry Street

With the defeat of  Licinius, Constantine was left as the sole leader of the entire Roman world.  But that didn’t stop him from dreaming.  In one dream he saw the spirit of the city of Byzantium as a tired and frail old matron.  But then she was transformed before his eyes into a beautiful young

The Hobbit was a great success on its publication.  Children loved it and sales were robust.  The publisher asked Tolkien for more about hobbits.  Tolkien’s response was to send an early draft of the Silmarillion. For anyone who hasn’t read both books, here is the opening line of the first one. “In a hole in

Why does anyone get this into their head to do this?  At some point Emile Zola decided that it would be a good idea to write a huge series of novels based around the interlinked tales of one family. The whole series would take him over twenty years and finish up comprising twenty separate full