 The oration also moves away from the religious ideology of the Tetrarchy , with its focus on twin dynasties of Jupiter and Hercules . Instead , the orator proclaims that Constantine experienced a divine vision of Apollo and Victory granting him laurel wreaths of health and a long reign . In the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to whom would be granted " rule of the whole world " , as the poet Virgil had once foretold . The oration 's religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in Constantine 's coinage . In his early reign , the coinage of Constantine advertised Mars as his patron . From 310 AD on , Mars was replaced by Sol Invictus , a god conventionally identified with Apollo . There is little reason to believe that either the dynastic connection or the divine vision are anything other than fiction , but their proclamation strengthened Constantine 's claims to legitimacy and increased his popularity among the citizens of Gaul . 
