Did Constantine the Great have an education?

Answer 1

Yes, he did. Constantine was brought up at the court of the emperor Diocletian, where he received a formal education. He learnt the subjects Roman elite children studied: Latin and Greek literature, Greek, rhetoric and philosophy.

Constantine was much more that just a military man and he was not even just an officer. He started his career as the military commander (rather than just an officer) of the Roman troops both in Britannia and Gaul. This was because his father, Constantius, died just a year after Constantine left the imperial court and joined him in his campaigns in Britannia. Constantius had been appointed by the emperor Diocletian as a junior emperor in charge of Gaul and Britannia. This was the basis of Constantine's claim to the imperial title. He saw himself as being entitled to it as the son of one of the two junior emperors of the tetrarchy - rule by four, a system of co-emperorship with two senior emperors and two junior emperors set up by Diocletian.

Constantine's father was a pagan, but as a child he hardly saw him because he was always away on duty. His mother was a Christian (later she became Saint Helena). At the imperial court he was in contact with prominent intellectuals, both pagan philosophers and Christian theologians. This provides part of the explanation for Constantine's straddling paganism and Christianity through much of his political career.

Answer 2

Constantine had a military education. His father was a Roman army officer.