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{{about|the Roman emperor}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July
{{Infobox Roman emperor
| name = Licinius
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An alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors to enter into a formal agreement with each other.<ref name=Gibbon /> So, in March of 313, Licinius married [[Flavia Julia Constantia]], half-sister of [[Constantine I]],{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} at [[Mediolanum]] (now Milan); they had a son, [[Licinius II|Licinius the Younger]], in 315. Their marriage was the occasion for the jointly-issued "[[Edict of Milan]]" that reissued Galerius' previous edict allowing [[Christianity]] (and any religion one might choose) to be professed in the Empire,<ref name=DiMaio/> with additional dispositions that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations and exempted Christian clergy from municipal civic duties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carrié |first1=Jean-Michel |last2=Rousselle |first2=Aline |title=L'Empire Romain en mutation: des Sévères à Constantin, 192–337 |year=1999 |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |location=Paris |isbn=2-02-025819-6 |page=228}}</ref> The redaction of the edict as reproduced by [[Lactantius]] – who follows the text affixed by Licinius in [[Nicomedia]] on 14 June 313, after Maximinus' defeat – uses neutral language, expressing a will to propitiate "any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens".<ref>Lactantius, ''De Mort. Pers''., ch. 48, cf. Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/edict-milan.asp]. Accessed 31 July 2012</ref>
[[File:Liciniuscng780671obverse.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Brown coin depicting
[[File:Cammeo “Trionfo di Licinio”.jpg|thumb|Triumph of Licinius on a cameo in the [[BnF Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duruy |first=Victor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AU4yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA462 |title=History of Rome: And of the Roman People, from Its Origin to the Invasion of the Barbarians |date=1886 |publisher=Dana, Estes & Company |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oeuvre : Précisions – camée, "Triomphe de Licinius" (camée.308) {{!}} catalogue |url=https://medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr/ws/catalogue/app/collection/record/ark:/12148/c33gbqrg2 |access-date=
[[File:Licinius I. - Münzkabinett, Berlin - 5532283.jpg|thumb|alt=Gold coin depicting Licinius with laurel wreath facing right|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] minted at [[Trier]], c. 310–213. Obverse legend: {{smallcaps|licini-us {{Abbreviation|p f |PIUS FELIX}} {{Abbreviation|aug|AUGUSTUS}}}}.]]
Daza in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000 men, he reached [[Bithynia]], although the harsh weather he encountered along the way had gravely weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the [[Bosporus]] and went to [[Byzantium]], which was held by Licinius' troops. Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege. He moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege, before moving his forces to the first posting station. With a much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000,<ref>Kohn, George Childs, ''Dictionary Of Wars, Revised Edition'', p. 398.</ref> Licinius arrived at [[Adrianople]] while Daza was still besieging [[Heraclea Sintica|Heraclea]]. Before the decisive engagement, Licinius allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited him a generic prayer that could be adopted by all cults which Licinius then repeated to his soldiers.<ref>Carrié & Rousselle, ''L'Empire Romain en Mutation'', p. 229</ref> On 30 April 313, the two armies clashed at the [[Battle of Tzirallum]], and in the ensuing battle Daza's forces were crushed. Ridding himself of the imperial purple and dressing like a slave, Daza fled to [[Nicomedia]].<ref name=Gibbon /> Believing he still had a chance to come out victorious, Daza attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the [[Cilician Gates]] by establishing fortifications there. Unfortunately for Daza, Licinius' army succeeded in breaking through, forcing Daza to retreat to [[Tarsus in Cilicia|Tarsus]], where Licinius continued to press him on land and sea. The war between them ended only with Daza's death in August 313.<ref name=DiMaio />
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==Character and legacy==
[[File:Nis Plate BM.JPG|thumb|left|One of a hoard of five or six identical silver plates celebrating Licinius's 10th anniversary as Emperor, discovered in [[Niš]], Serbia and now in the [[British Museum]] in London<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1969-0904-1 British Museum Collection]</ref>]]
As part of Constantine's attempts to decrease Licinius's popularity, he actively portrayed his brother-in-law as a pagan supporter. This may not have been the case; contemporary evidence tends to suggest that he was at least a committed supporter of Christians at one point.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} He co-authored the Edict of Milan which ended the [[Great Persecution]], and re-affirmed the rights of Christians in his half of the empire. He also added the Christian symbol to his armies, and attempted to regulate the affairs of the Church hierarchy just as Constantine and his successors were to do. His wife was a devout Christian.<ref>[[Peter J. Leithart]], ''[[Defending Constantine|Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom]]''. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL: 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-8308-2722-0}},
It is
Finally, on Licinius's death, his memory was branded with infamy; his statues were thrown down; and by edict, all his laws and judicial proceedings during his reign were abolished.<ref name=Gibbon /> Such official erasure from the public record has come to be called ''[[damnatio memoriae]]''.
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