Eutropia (died after 325), a woman of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n origin, was the wife of

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...

Marriage to Maximian and their children

In the late 3rd century, she married

, though the exact date of this marriage is uncertain. By

, she had two children, a boy,

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

(c. 280–312), who was Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 312 and a girl,

Fausta Flavia Maxima Fausta ''Augusta'' (289–326 AD) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of Maximian and second wife of Constantine the Great, who had her executed and excluded from all official accounts for unknown reasons. Historians Zosimu ...

(c. 290), who was wife of

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, and mother of six children by him, including the Augusti Constantine II,

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germani ...

and

Constans 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 ...

Another daughter?

There is some doubt as to whether

Flavia Maximiana Theodora Flavia Maximiana Theodora (c. 275 – before 337) was a Roman empress, wife of Constantius Chlorus. She is often referred to as a stepdaughter of Emperor Maximian by ancient sources, leading to claims by historians Otto Seeck and Ernest Stein tha ...

, who married

Constantius I Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...

, was a daughter of Eutropia by an earlier husband,

Afranius Hannibalianus Afranius Hannibalianus (fl. 3rd century) was the consul of 292 AD, a praetorian prefect, a senator and a military officer and commander. Biography Believed to belong to a family who originated from the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, Hanni ...

or whether she was a daughter of

by an earlier anonymous wife.''Origo Constantini'' 2;

Philostorgius Philostorgius ( grc-gre, Φιλοστόργιος; 368 – c. 439 AD) was an Anomoean Church historian of the 4th and 5th centuries. Very little information about his life is available. He was born in Borissus, Cappadocia to Eulampia and Cart ...

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' 2.16^a, quoted in Barnes, ''New Empire'', 33. See also ''Panegyrici Latini'' 10(2)11.4.

Footnotes

References

''s.v.'' DiMaio, Michael, "Maximianus Herculius (286-305 A.D)", ''DIR''
*

Barnes, Timothy D. Timothy David Barnes, (born 13 March 1942) is a British classicist. Biography Barnes was born in Yorkshire on 13 March 1942. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, until 1960, going up to Balliol College, Oxford, where ...

''The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982. {{s-end 3rd-century Roman empresses 4th-century Roman empresses 3rd-century births 4th-century deaths Romans from unknown gentes