Flavia Maxima Fausta ''Augusta'' (289–326 AD) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of

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 ...

and second 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 ...

, who had her executed and excluded from all official accounts for unknown reasons. Historians

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchemi ...

and

Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...

reported that she was executed for

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

with her stepson,

Crispus Flavius Julius Crispus (; 300 – 326) was the eldest son of the Roman emperor Constantine I, as well as his junior colleague ( ''caesar'') from March 317 until his execution by his father in 326. The grandson of the ''augustus'' Constantius I ...

Family

Fausta was the daughter of

Emperor 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 ...

. To seal the alliance between them for control of the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares' ...

, in 307 Maximianus married her to

Constantine I 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 ...

, who set aside his wife,

Minervina Minervina was the first wife of Constantine I, Constantine the Great. She was of Syrian origin. Constantine either took her as a concubine or married her in 303, and the couple had one son, Crispus. Life Constantine served as a hostage in the ...

, in her favour. As the sister of Emperor

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 ...

, Fausta had a part in their father's downfall. In 310 Maximian died as a consequence of an assassination plot against Constantine. Maximian decided to involve his daughter Fausta, but she revealed the plot to her husband, and the assassination was disrupted. Maximian died, by suicide or by assassination, in July of that same year. Fausta was held in high esteem by Constantine, and proof of his favour was that in 324 she was proclaimed '' augusta''; previously she held the title of ''

nobilissima ''Nobilissimus'' (Latin for "most noble"), in Byzantine Greek ''nōbelissimos'' (Greek: νωβελίσσιμος),. was one of the highest imperial titles in the late Roman and Byzantine empires. The feminine form of the title was ''nobilissima' ...

femina''. Their sons became emperors: 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 ...

, r. 337–361, 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 ...

, r. 337–350. She also bore three daughters:

Constantina Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; el, Κωνσταντίνα; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great ...

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

and Fausta. Of these, Constantina married her cousins, firstly

Hannibalianus __NOTOC__ Flavius Hannibalianus (also Hanniballianus; died September 337) was a member of the Constantinian dynasty, which ruled over the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD. Hannibalianus was the son of Flavius Dalmatius, and thus nephew of Const ...

and secondly

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326–354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius Chlorus () and ...

, and Helena married Emperor Julian.

Execution

In 326, Fausta was put to death by Constantine, following the execution of

, his eldest son by Minervina. The circumstances surrounding the two deaths were unclear. Various explanations have been suggested; in one, Fausta is set jealously against Crispus, as in the anonymous ''Epitome de Caesaribus'', or conversely her adultery, perhaps with the stepson who was close to her in age, is suggested. According to the Latin ''Epitome de Caesaribus'' and the
Ecclesiastical History
' of Philostorgius (as epitomized by Photius), Fausta was executed by being locked in a bath which was over heated, in connection with the death of Crispus, which "people hought was caused by Fausta's accusation of unclear nature.

But Constantine, having obtained rule over the whole Roman Empire by remarkable success in wars, ordered his son Crispus to be put to death, at the behest (so people think) of his wife Fausta. Later he locked his wife Fausta in overheated baths and killed her, because his mother Helena blamed him out of excessive grief for her grandson.

, on the other hand, suggests adultery as the reason:

He killed Crispus, who had been deemed worthy of the rank of Caesar, as I have said before, when he incurred suspicion of having sexual relations with his stepmother Fausta, without taking any notice of the laws of nature. Constantine’s mother Helena was distressed at such a grievous event and refused to tolerate the murder of the young man. As if to soothe her Constantine tried to remedy the evil with a greater evil: having ordered baths to be heated above the normal level, he deposited Fausta in them and brought her out when she was dead.

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

reports that the pair plotted treason. In

' version written in the 12th century, Crispus' death was caused by Fausta's retaliatory accusation of rape following her unsuccessful sexual advances toward him. But when Constantine realized his innocence, he punished her, mirroring the myth of

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting Film * ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...

and Hippolytus. The mode of her assassination is not otherwise attested in the Roman world. David Woods departs from the traditional view that Crispus and Fausta were executed and offers the connection of overheated bathing with contemporaneous techniques of abortion, a suggestion that implies an unwanted, adulterous pregnancy from her relationship with CrispusStephenson 2010:222. and a fatal accident during the abortion. Follis-Fausta-constantinople RIC 012

Constantine I ordered the ''

damnatio memoriae is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have been many routes to , includi ...

'' of Fausta and Crispus around 326 with the result that no contemporary source records details of her fate: "

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

, ever the sycophant, mentions neither Crispus nor Fausta in his ''Life of Constantine'', and even wrote Crispus out of the final version of his ''Ecclesiastical History'' (''HE'' X.9.4)", Constantine's biographer Paul Stephenson observes.Paul Stephenson.
Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor
'. Abrams; 2010. . p. 224. However, in 355/6, Julian praised Fausta's beauty, nobility, and moral virtue in his panegyric to

, revealing that the ''damnatio memoriae'' may have been lifted during the reign of her son.

In popular culture

Fausta is an important antagonist in

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

' chronicle-play '' The Emperor Constantine'' (1951). In addition, Fausta was portrayed by

Belinda Lee Belinda Lee (15 June 193512 March 1961) was an English actress. A profile for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website asserts: "of all the Rank Organisation's starlets, Belinda Lee stands out as the most notorious, yet paradoxically ...

in the film ''

Constantine and the Cross ''Constantine and the Cross'' (Italian: ''Costantino il grande'') is a 1961 historical drama film about the early career of the emperor Constantine, who first legalized and then adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. The fictionalised f ...

'' (1961).

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Jean-Luc Desnier , ''Zosime II, 29 et la mort de Fausta'', Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé, n°3, octobre 1987. pp. 297–30
read on line
* Esteban Moreno Resano, 'Las ejecuciones de Crispo, Licinio el Joven y Fausta (año 326 d.C.): nuevas observaciones', Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol.41, n° 1 (2015) pp. 177-20
read on line
* Gérard Minaud, ''Les vies de 12 femmes d’empereur romain – Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés '', Paris, L’Harmattan, 2012, ch. 12, '' La vie de Fausta, femme de Constantin'', pp. 285–305. * J.W. Drijvers, 'Flavia Maxima Fausta: Some Remarks', ''Historia'' 41 (1992) 500–506.

External links

* {{Authority control 289 births 326 deaths Constantinian dynasty Flavii Deaths from asphyxiation Executed Roman empresses Murdered Roman empresses 3rd-century Roman women 4th-century Roman empresses Constantine the Great 4th-century executions People executed by the Roman Empire Damnatio memoriae Nobilissimi People executed for adultery