Constans (other)

Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of ''caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great.

After his father's death, he was made ''augustus'' alongside his brothers in September 337. Constans was given the administration of the praetorian prefectures of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. He defeated the Sarmatians in a campaign shortly afterwards. Quarrels over the sharing of power led to a civil war with his eldest brother and co-emperor Constantine II, who invaded Italy in 340 and was killed in battle by Constans's forces near Aquileia. Constans gained from him the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. Thereafter there were tensions with his remaining brother and co-''augustus'' Constantius II (), including over the exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, who in turn eulogized Constans as "the most pious Augustus... of blessed and everlasting memory." In the following years he campaigned against the Franks, and in 343 he visited Roman Britain, the last legitimate emperor to do so.

In January 350, Magnentius () the commander of the Jovians and Herculians, a corps in the Roman army, was acclaimed ''augustus'' at Augustodunum ( Autun) with the support of Marcellinus, the '' comes rei privatae''. Magnentius overthrew and killed Constans. Surviving sources, possibly influenced by the propaganda of Magnentius's faction, accuse Constans of misrule and of homosexuality.

Early life

Constans was probably born in 323. He was the third and youngest son of Constantine I and Fausta, his father's second wife. Michael DiMaio Jr. and Robert Frakes
Constans I (337-350 A.D.)
/ref> He was the grandson of both the ''augusti'' Constantius I and Maximian. When he was born his father Constantine was the empire's senior ''augustus'', and at war with his colleague and brother-in-law Licinius I (). At the time of Constans's birth, his eldest brother Constantine II and his half-brother Crispus, Constantine's first-born son, already held the rank of ''caesar''. Constans's half-aunt Constantia, a daughter of Constantius I, was Licinius's wife and mother to another ''caesar'', Licinius II.

Constantine defeated and executed Licinius in 324. In 326, Constans's mother Fausta was also put to death on Constantine's orders, as were Constans's half-brother Crispus and Licinius II. This left Constans's branch of the Constantinian dynasty – descended from Constantius I's relationship with Helena – in control of the imperial college.

According to the works of both Ausonius and Libanius he was educated at Constantinople under the tutelage of the poet Aemilius Magnus Arborius, who instructed him in Latin.

Reign

''Caesar''

On 25 December 333, his father Constantine I elevated Constans to the imperial rank of ''caesar'' at Constantinople. He was ''nobilissimus caesar'' alongside his brothers Constantine II and Constantius II. Constans became engaged to Olympias, the daughter of the praetorian prefect Ablabius, but the marriage never came to pass. Official imagery was changed to accommodate an image of Constans as co-''caesar'' beside his brothers and their father the ''augustus''.

It is possible that the occasion of Constans's elevation to the imperial college was timed to coincide with the celebration of the millennium of the city of Byzantium, whose re-foundation as Constantinople Constantine had begun the previous decade. Byzantium was thought to have been founded in 667 BC, according to the reckoning derived from the ''Histories'' of Herodotus, and the ''Chronicon'' of Constantine's court historian Eusebius of Caesarea. Rome had celebrated its own millennium in 248, in the reign of Philip the Arab, who may also have raised his son to co-''augustus'' at the start of the anniversary year.

''Augustus''

After Constantine's death in 337, the army assassinated almost all of their male relatives. Constans and his two brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II were proclaimed ''augusti'' and divided the Roman world among themselves on 9 September 337. Almost immediately, Constans was required to deal with a Sarmatian invasion in late 337, in which he won a resounding victory.

Constans managed to extract the prefecture of Illyricum and the diocese of Thrace, provinces that were originally to be ruled by his cousin Dalmatius, as per Constantine I's proposed division after his death. Constantine II soon complained that he had not received the amount of territory that was his due as the eldest son.Gibbon, Ch. 18

Annoyed that Constans had received Thrace and Macedonia after the death of Dalmatius, Constantine demanded that Constans hand over the African provinces, which he agreed to do in order to maintain a fragile peace.Victor, 41:21 Soon, however, they began quarreling over which parts of the African provinces belonged to Carthage and Constantine, and which parts belonged to Italy and Constans. This led to growing tensions between the two brothers, which were only heightened by Constans finally coming of age and Constantine refusing to give up his guardianship. In 340 Constantine II invaded Italy. Constans, at that time in Dacia, detached and sent a select and disciplined body of his Illyrian troops, stating that he would follow them in person with the remainder of his forces. Constantine was eventually trapped at Aquileia, where he died, leaving Constans to inherit all of his brother's former territories – Hispania, Britannia and Gaul.Eutropius, 10:9

Constans began his reign in an energetic fashion. In 341–342, he led a successful campaign against the Franks. Eutropius wrote that he “had performed many gallant actions in the field, and had made himself feared by the army through the whole course of his life, though without exercising any extraordinary severity,” while Ammianus Marcellinus remarked that Julian was the only person the Alamanni feared after the death of Constans.

In the early months of 343, he visited Britain for unclear reasons. Hunt argues against the theory of it being a military campaign, and instead suggests that it was for administrative purposes.

Regarding religion, Constans was tolerant of Judaism and promulgated an edict banning pagan sacrifices in 341. He suppressed Donatism in Africa and supported Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism, which was championed by his brother Constantius. Although Constans called the Council of Serdica in 343 to settle the conflict, it was a complete failure, and by 346 the two emperors were on the point of open warfare over the dispute.

Homosexuality

Surviving sources, possibly influenced by the propaganda of Magnentius's faction, accuse Constans of misrule and of homosexuality. The Roman historian Eutropius says Constans "indulged in great vices," in reference to his homosexuality, and Aurelius Victor stated that Constans had a reputation for scandalous behaviour with "handsome barbarian hostages." Nevertheless, Constans did sponsor a decree alongside Constantius II that ruled that "unnatural" sex should be punished meticulously. However, according to John Boswell, it was likely that Constans promulgated the legislation under pressure from Christian leaders, in an attempt to placate public outrage at his own perceived indecencies.

Death

Court officials began plotting to overthrow Constans. Ancient sources assert that he was deeply unpopular, and attribute his downfall to his own failings. He is accused of employing corrupt ministers (one example being the ''magister officiorum'' Flavius Eugenius), neglecting portions of the empire, personal greed, and treating his soldiers with contempt.

On 18 January 350, the general Magnentius declared himself emperor at Augustodunum ( Autun) with the support of the troops on the Rhine frontier and, later, the western provinces of the Empire. Constans was distracted by a hunting trip when he was notified of the elevation of Magnentius, and he was forced to flee for his life. As he was trying to reach Hispania, supporters of Magnentius cornered him in a fortification in Helena (Elne) in the eastern Pyrenees of southwestern Gaul, where he was killed after seeking sanctuary in a temple. An alleged prophecy at his birth had said Constans would die "in the arms of his grandmother". His place of death happens to have been named after Helena, mother of Constantine and his own grandmother, thus realizing the prophecy.

Family tree

Emperors are shown with a rounded-corner border with their dates as Augusti, names with a thicker border appear in both sections

1: Constantine's parents and half-siblings

2: Constantine's children

See also

*Itineraries of the Roman emperors, 337–361

References

Sources

Primary sources

* Zosimus
''Historia Nova''
II
* Aurelius Victor,
Epitome de Caesaribus
'
* Eutropius
''Breviarium ab urbe condita''

Secondary sources

*
*
* DiMaio, Michael; Frakes, Robert
''Constans I (337–350 A.D.)''
, ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
*
*
*
* Gibbon, Edward (1888) ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''
* Norwich, John Julius (1989) '' Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', Guild Publishing

External links

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