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Constans

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For other uses, see Constans (disambiguation).

Constans
Portrait head of Constans on a coloured marble bust
Possible head of Constans set in a modern bust (Louvre)[1][2]
Roman emperor
in the West
Augustus9 September 337 –
January 350
PredecessorConstantine I
SuccessorMagnentius
Co-rulers
Caesar25 December 333 – 9 September 337
Born322 or 323
DiedJanuary 350 (aged 27)[3]
Vicus Helena, southwestern Gaul
Names
Flavius Julius Constans[3]
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Flavius Julius Constans Augustus
DynastyConstantinian
FatherConstantine I
MotherFausta
ReligionNicene Christianity

Flavius Julius Constans (c. 323 – 350), also 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.[4] He defeated the Sarmatians in a campaign shortly afterwards.[4] 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.[4] Constans gained from him the praetorian prefecture of Gaul.[4] Thereafter there were tensions with his remaining brother and co-augustus Constantius II (r. 337–361), including over the exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria,[4] who in turn eulogized Constans as "the most pious Augustus... of blessed and everlasting memory."[5] In the following years he campaigned against the Franks, and in 343 he visited Roman Britain,[4] the last legitimate emperor to do so.[6]

In January 350, Magnentius (r. 350–353) 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.[7] Magnentius overthrew and killed Constans.[4][7] Surviving sources, possibly influenced by the propaganda of Magnentius's faction,[8] accuse Constans of misrule and of homosexuality.[4]

Early life

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Sources variously report Constans’ age at the time of his death as 27 or 30, meaning he was born in either 320 or 323.[3] Timothy Barnes, observing numismatic evidence, considered the younger age to be more likely.[9] He was the third and youngest son of Constantine I and Fausta.[10] 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.[3]

On 25 December 333, Constans was elevated to the imperial rank of caesar at Constantinople by his father.[3] Prior to 337, Constans became engaged to Olympias, the daughter of the praetorian prefect Ablabius, although the two never actually married.[10]

Reign

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Possible head of Constans from around his proclamation as augustus.[11][12]
Solidus of Constans marked: constans augustus.

After Constantine's death, Constans and his two brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II were proclaimed augusti and divided the Roman empire among themselves on 9 September 337.[3] Constans was left with Italy, Africa and Illyricum.[13] In 338, he campaigned against the Sarmatians.[14]

Meanwhile, Constans came into conflict with his eldest brother Constantine II over the latter's presumed authority over Constans’ territory. After attempting to issue legislation to Africa in 339, which was part of Constans’ realm, Constantine led his army into an invasion of Italy only a year later. However, he was ambushed and killed by Constans’ troops, and Constans then took control of his brother's territories.[14]

Gold medallion of Constans, equivalent to 9 solidi. Aquileia, 342 AD – Bode Museum

Constans began his reign in an energetic fashion.[15][16] From 341 to 342, he led a campaign against the Franks where, after an initial setback,[17] the military operation concluded with a victory and a favorable peace treaty.[18] 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,”[19] while Ammianus Marcellinus remarked that Julian was the only person the Alamanni feared after the death of Constans.[18]

In the early months of 343, he visited Britain, an event celebrated enough for Libanius to dedicate several sections of his panegyric to explaining it.[18] Although the reasons for the visit remain unclear,[20] the ancient writers were primarily interested in Constans’ precarious journey to the province, rather than his actions within it.[18] One theory considers it to have involved the northern frontier, based on Ammianus’ remark that he had discussed the Areani in his now-lost coverage of Constans’ reign. Additionally, after recording attacks “near the frontiers” in 360, the historian wrote that the Alamanni were too much of a threat for Julian to confront the problem, in contrast to what Constans was able to do.[20]

Constans was accused of employing corrupt ministers during his reign, due to his purported personal greed.[21][22][23] One example included the magister officiorum (master of the offices) Flavius Eugenius, who remained in his position throughout most of the 340s.[24] Despite Eugenius being alleged to have misused his power to seize property,[24] the emperor continued to support him, his trust going as far as to honor him with a statue in the Forum of Trajan in Rome.[25]

Solidus of Constans marked: constans p·f· augustus on the obverse, with the emperor holding a vexillum with a chi-rho and crowned by Victory on the reverse, marked: spes rei publicae ("the hope of the Republic")

Religion

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Constans issued an edict banning superstition and pagan sacrifices in 341,[26] his justification being that he was following the precedent set by his father.[27] Only a short while later though, he tried to moderate his stance by legislating against the destruction of temple buildings.[28]

Constans’ support of Nicene orthodoxy and the bishop Athanasius of Alexandria brought him into conflict with his brother Constantius. Although the two emperors called the Council of Serdica in 343 to settle the conflict, it was a complete failure,[29] and by 345 Constans was outright threatening civil war against his brother.[30] Eventually, Constantius agreed to allow Athanasius to return to his position, as the bishop's replacement had recently died.[31] Constans also used the military to suppress Donatism in Africa, where the church was split between Donatists and Catholics.[31]

Alleged homosexuality

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Unlike Constantius,[32] Constans was targeted with gossip over his personal life.[33] Numerous sources suspected him of homosexuality,[23] presumably based on the fact that he never married.[22] Aurelius Victor charged Constans with “rabid”[21] pederasty towards young barbarian hostages,[33] though Hunt remarked that "the allegation that he kept a coterie of captive barbarians to gratify his homosexual tastes sounds more like hostile folklore."[34] Constans' legislation against homosexuality has been cited to dispute the rumor.[34][35]

Death

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Solidus of Constans, Decennalia issue of 347/348

On 18 January 350,[36] the general Magnentius declared himself emperor at Augustodunum (Autun) with the support of a number of court officials such as Marcellinus, Constans' comes rerum privatarum, as well as Fabius Titianus, who had previously served as the praetorian prefect of Gaul.[34] At the time, Constans was distracted by a hunting trip.[37] 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.[10][a] 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.[40] Constans' name would later be erased from inscriptions in places that recognized Magnentius as emperor.[41]

Regarding possible motives for Constans' overthrow, ancient sources assert that he was widely unpopular,[21][34][42] and attribute his downfall to his own failings. Along with the accusation of corruption, he is also accused of neglecting portions of the empire[34] and treating his soldiers with contempt.[22][15] Ammianus lamented the emperor's failure to listen to wise counsel,[34] referencing one man he believed could have saved Constans from his own faults.[23]

However, some modern scholars have questioned this portrayal. According to historian Jill Harries, "The detail that Constans was in the habit of making journeys with only a small escort may account for his vulnerability in 350."[22] Based on several factors - the small number of people behind the plot, how the setting for Magnentius' coup was not a military centre,[37] Vetranio's proclamation as emperor in opposition to Magnentius,[43] and Julian's report that the usurper had to murder several of Constans' generals to take control of the Gallic army[44] – she concluded that Magnentius' revolt was "the result of a private grudge on the part of an apprehensive official and not the outcome of widespread discontent among the military or the wider population."[45] This view is supported by Peter Crawford, who considered the explanation from the ancient sources to be a misconception caused by the rapid success of the coup.[46]

Harries does, however, acknowledge how the Gallic army accepted Magnentius seemingly without difficulty, and how according to Zosimus, Constantius' official Philippus emphasized Constantine, rather than Constans, when addressing Magnentius’ troops.[47] On speculating the basis for Constans' overthrow, she suggested that one reason may have been regarding financial difficulties in Gaul by the end of his reign, which could have been related to the finance officer Marcellinus' support of him.[44] After Magnentius took power, he levied taxes, sold imperial estates in Gaul and debased the coinage.[48] Nicholas Baker-Brian also observed how Magnentius sent his brother Decentius to defend the region after Constans had neglected it, writing that, "it is apparent that among the reasons for Magnentius' rebellion was a desire to remedy Constans' governmental failings in Gaul."[49]

Family tree

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See also: Constantinian dynasty


Family of Constans

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

Helena
Flavia Maximiana Theodora
  • Constantine I
  • 306–337
Flavius DalmatiusHannibalianusFlavia Julia Constantia
AnastasiaBassianus
GallaJulius ConstantiusBasilinaLicinius IIEutropiaVirius Nepotianus
HannibalianusConstantinaConstantius Gallus
HelenaNepotianus


2: Constantine's children

Minervina
  • Constantine I
  • 306–337
Fausta
Crispus
  • Constans
  • 337–350
HannibalianusConstantinaConstantius Gallus
Faustina
Helena
Constantia

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ While it has sometimes been assumed that Constans had to flee for his life,[10][38][21] Harries has disputed this, believing that the location of Constans' death indicates he was unaware of the revolt.[39]

References

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  1. ^ "L'empereru Constant Ier?". Louvre
  2. ^ http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-563 (J. Lenaghan)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 220.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Tougher, Shaun (2018), "Constans I", in Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8, retrieved 2 November 2020
  5. ^ Athanasius (2018), Atkinson, M. (ed.), Apologia ad Constantium, Christian Literature Publishing Co., retrieved 24 November 2023
  6. ^ Harries 2012, p. 221.
  7. ^ a b Tougher, Shaun (2018), Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), "Magnentius", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8, retrieved 2 November 2020
  8. ^ Woudhuysen 2018, pp. 179–180.
  9. ^ Barnes 1982, p. 45.
  10. ^ a b c d Michael DiMaio Jr. and Robert Frakes, Constans I (337–350 A.D.)
  11. ^ Weitzmann, Kurt (1979). Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 22–23.
  12. ^ http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-336 (J. Lenaghan)
  13. ^ Hunt 1998, p. 4.
  14. ^ a b Hunt 1998, p. 5.
  15. ^ a b Crawford 2016, p. 67.
  16. ^ Barnes 1993, p. 269.
  17. ^ Woudhuysen 2018, p. 175.
  18. ^ a b c d Hunt 1998, p. 6.
  19. ^ Eutropius, Historiae Romanae Breviarium X.9
  20. ^ a b Birley 2005, p. 415.
  21. ^ a b c d Barnes 1993, p. 101.
  22. ^ a b c d Harries 2012, p. 190.
  23. ^ a b c Woudhuysen 2018, p. 160.
  24. ^ a b Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 292.
  25. ^ Crawford 2016, p. 66.
  26. ^ Woudhuysen 2018, p. 165.
  27. ^ Hunt 1998, p. 7.
  28. ^ Woudhuysen 2018, p. 166.
  29. ^ Hunt 1998, p. 8.
  30. ^ Barnes 1993, p. 89.
  31. ^ a b Hunt 1998, p. 9.
  32. ^ Crawford 2016, p. 24.
  33. ^ a b Crawford 2016, p. 71.
  34. ^ a b c d e f Hunt 1998, p. 10.
  35. ^ Woudhuysen 2018, pp. 167, 179.
  36. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 532.
  37. ^ a b Harries 2012, p. 195.
  38. ^ Hunt 1998, p. 11.
  39. ^ Harries 2012, pp. 195–196.
  40. ^ Baker-Brian 2022, p. 208.
  41. ^ Usherwood 2022, p. 236.
  42. ^ Baker-Brian 2022, p. 163.
  43. ^ Harries 2012, pp. 196–197.
  44. ^ a b Harries 2012, pp. 194–195.
  45. ^ Harries 2012, p. 196.
  46. ^ Crawford 2016, p. 72.
  47. ^ Harries 2012, p. 222.
  48. ^ Harries 2012, p. 194.
  49. ^ Baker-Brian 2022, pp. 260–262.

Sources

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Primary sources

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Secondary sources

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  • Media related to Constans at Wikimedia Commons
Regnal titles
Preceded by Roman emperor
337–350
With: Constantius II
and Constantine II 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Roman consul
339
With: Constantius Augustus II 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman consul II
342
With: Constantius Augustus III 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman consul III
346
With: Constantius Augustus IV 		Succeeded by
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