Flavius Julius Constantius (; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361), known as Constantius II, was Roman emperor from 337 to 361.
His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civil wars, court intrigues and usurpations.
His religious policies inflamed domestic conflicts that would continue after his death.
Constantius was a son of Constantine the Great, who elevated him to the imperial rank of caesar on 8 November 324 and after whose death Constantius became augustus together with his brothers, Constantine II and Constans on 9 September 337.
He promptly oversaw the massacre of his father-in-law, an uncle and several cousins, consolidating his hold on power.
The brothers divided the empire among themselves, with Constantius receiving Greece, Thrace, the Asian provinces and Egypt in the east.
For the following decade a costly and inconclusive war against Persia took most of Constantius's time and attention.
In the meantime, his brothers Constantine and Constans warred over the western provinces of the empire, leaving the former dead in 340 and the latter as sole ruler of the west.
The two remaining brothers maintained an uneasy peace with each other until, in 350, Constans was overthrown and assassinated by the usurper Magnentius.
Unwilling to accept Magnentius as co-ruler, Constantius waged a civil war against the usurper, defeating him at the battles of Mursa Major in 351 and Mons Seleucus in 353.
Magnentius committed suicide after the latter battle, leaving Constantius as sole ruler of the empire.
In 351, Constantius elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus to the subordinate rank of caesar to rule in the east, but had him executed three years later after receiving scathing reports of his violent and corrupt nature.
Shortly thereafter, in 355, Constantius promoted his last surviving cousin, Gallus' younger half-brother Julian, to the rank of caesar.
As emperor, Constantius promoted Arian heresy, banned pagan sacrifices, and issued laws against Jews.
His military campaigns against Germanic tribes were successful: he defeated the Alamanni in 354 and campaigned across the Danube against the Quadi and Sarmatians in 357.
The war against the Sasanians, which had been in a lull since 350, erupted with renewed intensity in 359 and Constantius traveled to the east in 360 to restore stability after the loss of several border fortresses.
However, Julian claimed the rank of augustus in 360, leading to war between the two after Constantius' attempts to persuade Julian to back down failed.
No battle was fought, as Constantius became ill and died of fever on 3 November 361 in Mopsuestia, allegedly naming Julian as his rightful successor before his death.
Early life
Constantius was born in 317 at Sirmium, Pannonia.
He was the third son of Constantine the Great, and second by his second wife Fausta, the daughter of Maximian.
Constantius was made caesar by his father on 8 November 324.
In 336, religious unrest in Armenia and tense relations between Constantine and king Shapur II caused war to break out between Rome and Sassanid Persia.Dodgeon, M.H. and Lieu, N.C.
The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, AD 226–363.
p152-153 Though he made initial preparations for the war, Constantine fell ill and sent Constantius east to take command of the eastern frontier.Julian, Orationes I, 13B Before Constantius arrived, the Persian general Narses, who was possibly the king's brother, overran Mesopotamia and captured Amida.
Constantius promptly attacked Narses, and after suffering minor setbacks defeated and killed Narses at the Battle of Narasara.Festus, breviarum 27, p. 67, 2–3 Constantius captured Amida and initiated a major refortification of the city, enhancing the city's circuit walls and constructing large towers.
He also built a new stronghold in the hinterland nearby, naming it Antinopolis.Ammianus Marcellinus XVIII, 9, 1 Augustus in the East
In early 337, Constantius hurried to Constantinople after receiving news that his father was near death.Chronicon Paschale p.533, 5–17 After Constantine died, Constantius buried him with lavish ceremony in the Church of the Holy Apostles.Julian, or.
I, 18D-19A (14.16–22, pp. 31–2, Bidez) Soon after his father's death Constantius supposedly ordered a massacre of his relatives descended from the second marriage of his paternal grandfather Constantius Chlorus (also known as Constantius I), though the details are unclear.X. Lucien-Brun, "Constance II et le massacre des princes," Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé ser.
4 (1973): 585–602; Joe W. Leedom, "Constantius II: Three Revisions," Byzantion 48 (1978): 132–145, and Michael DiMaio and Duane Arnold, "Per Vim, Per Caedem, Per Bellum: A Study of Murder and Ecclesiastical Politics in the Year 337 A.D," Byzantion, 62(1992), 158ff.
Cited in DiMaio and Frakes.Zosimus, New History II.57-8 Eutropius, writing between 350 and 370, states that Constantius merely sanctioned “the act, rather than commanding it”.Eutropius, Historiae Romanae Breviarium X.9 The massacre killed two of Constantius' uncles and six of his cousins,Julian, epistula ad Athenienses 270C (3.5–8, p. 215, Bidez) including Hannibalianus and Dalmatius, rulers of Pontus and Moesia respectively.
The massacre left Constantius, his older brother Constantine II, his younger brother Constans, and three cousins Gallus, Julian and Nepotianus as the only surviving male relatives of Constantine the Great.
Soon after, Constantius met his brothers in Pannonia at Sirmium to formalize the partition of the empire.Odahl, C.M., Constantine and the Christian Empire (2004), p. 275 Constantius received the eastern provinces, including Constantinople, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Cyrenaica; Constantine received Britannia, Gaul, Hispania, and Mauretania; and Constans, initially under the supervision of Constantine II, received Italy, Africa, Illyricum, Pannonia, Macedonia, and Achaea.Zosimus, New History II.57
Constantius then hurried east to Antioch to resume the war with Persia.Theodoret, Historia Ecclesiastica II, 30, 1–14, GCS While Constantius was away from the eastern frontier in early 337, King Shapur II assembled a large army, which included war elephants, and launched an attack on Roman territory, laying waste to MesopotamiaJerome, Chronicon, s.
a. 338 p. 234, 17–18 and putting the city of Nisibis under siege.Theodoret, Historia religiosa I, 11–12, edd.
Canivet and Leroy-Molinghen, pp.
184–8 Despite initial success, Shapur lifted his siege after his army missed an opportunity to exploit a collapsed wall.
When Constantius learned of Shapur's withdrawal from Roman territory, he prepared his army for a counter-attack.
Constantius repeatedly defended the eastern border against invasions by the aggressive Sassanid Empire under Shapur.
These conflicts were mainly limited to Sassanid sieges of the major fortresses of Roman Mesopotamia, including Nisibis (Nusaybin), Singara, and Amida (Diyarbakir).
Although Shapur seems to have been victorious in most of these confrontations, the Sassanids were able to achieve little.Festus, Brevarium XXVIIDignas, B. & Winter, E., Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity (2007), p. 89 However, the Romans won a decisive victory at the Battle of Narasara, killing Shapur's brother, Narses.Theophanes, Chronicle A.M. 5815 Ultimately, Constantius was able to push back the invasion, and Shapur failed to make any significant gains.
Meanwhile, Constantine II desired to retain control of Constans' realm, leading the brothers into open conflict.
Constantine was killed in 340 near Aquileia during an ambush.
As a result, Constans took control of his deceased brother's realms and became sole ruler of the Western two-thirds of the empire.
This division lasted until 350, when Constans was assassinated by forces loyal to the usurper Magnentius.Zosimus New History II.58-9 War against Magnentius
As the only surviving son of Constantine the Great, Constantius felt that the position of emperor was his alone,Zosimus, New History II.60 and he determined to march west to fight the usurper, Magnentius.
However, feeling that the east still required some sort of imperial presence, he elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus to caesar of the eastern provinces.
As an extra measure to ensure the loyalty of his cousin, he married the elder of his two sisters, Constantina, to him.
Before facing Magnentius, Constantius first came to terms with Vetranio, a loyal general in Illyricum who had recently been acclaimed emperor by his soldiers.
Vetranio immediately sent letters to Constantius pledging his loyalty, which Constantius may have accepted simply in order to stop Magnentius from gaining more support.
These events may have been spurred by the action of Constantina, who had since traveled east to marry Gallus.
Constantius subsequently sent Vetranio the imperial diadem and acknowledged the general's new position as augustus.
However, when Constantius arrived, Vetranio willingly resigned his position and accepted Constantius’ offer of a comfortable retirement in Bithynia.Zosimus, New History II.59
In 351, Constantius clashed with Magnentius in Pannonia with a large army.
The ensuing Battle of Mursa Major was one of the largest and bloodiest battles ever between two Roman armies.Zonaras, Extracts of History XIII.8.5–13Julian the Apostate, The Caesars XLII.9–10Zosimus, New History II.46.2Eutropius, Roman History X.12 The result was a victory for Constantius, but a costly one.
Magnentius survived the battle and, determined to fight on, withdrew into northern Italy.
Rather than pursuing his opponent, however, Constantius turned his attention to securing the Danubian border, where he spent the early months of 352 campaigning against the Sarmatians along the middle Danube.
After achieving his aims, Constantius advanced on Magnentius in Italy.
This action led the cities of Italy to switch their allegiance to him and eject the usurper's garrisons.
Again, Magnentius withdrew, this time to southern Gaul.Potter, D.S., The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180–395 (2004), p. 474
In 353, Constantius and Magnentius met for the final time at the Battle of Mons Seleucus in southern Gaul, and again Constantius emerged the victor.
Magnentius, realizing the futility of continuing his position, committed suicide on 10 August 353.Eutropius, Historiae Romanae Breviarium X.12 Sole ruler of the empire
Constantius spent much of the rest of 353 and early 354 on campaign against the Alamanni on the Danube frontier.
The campaign was successful and raiding by the Alamanni ceased temporarily.
In the meantime, Constantius had been receiving disturbing reports regarding the actions of his cousin Gallus.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 14.1.10 Possibly as a result of these reports, Constantius concluded a peace with the Alamanni and traveled to Mediolanum (Milan).Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.10.16
In Mediolanum, Constantius first summoned Ursicinus, Gallus’ magister equitum, for reasons that remain unclear.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.3–5 Constantius then summoned Gallus and Constantina.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.6 Although Gallus and Constantina complied with the order at first, when Constantina died in Bithynia, Gallus began to hesitate.
However, after some convincing by one of Constantius’ agents,Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.11–12 Gallus continued his journey west, passing through Constantinople and Thrace to Poetovio (Ptuj) in Pannonia.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.19Banchich, T.M., 'DIR-Gallus' from De Imperatoribus Romanis
In Poetovio, Gallus was arrested by the soldiers of Constantius under the command of Barbatio.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.20 Gallus was then moved to Pola and interrogated.
Gallus claimed that it was Constantina who was to blame for all the trouble while he was in charge of the eastern provinces.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.22 This angered Constantius so greatly that he immediately ordered Gallus' execution.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIV.11.23 He soon changed his mind, however, and recanted the order.Zonaras, Extracts of History XIII.9.20Libanius, Orations XVIII.152 Unfortunately for Gallus, this second order was delayed by Eusebius, one of Constantius' eunuchs, and Gallus was executed.
Religious issues
Paganism
Laws dating from the 350s prescribed the death penalty for those who performed or attended pagan sacrifices, and for the worshipping of idols.Kirsch, J. (2004)
God against the Gods, pp.200-1, Viking CompassThe Codex Theodosianus On Religion, 16.10.2Theodosian Code 16.10.6 Pagan temples were shut down,"The Codex Theodosianus On Religion", XVI.x.4, 4 CE and the Altar of Victory was removed from the Senate meeting house.Sheridan, J.J. (1966)
The Altar of Victor – Paganism's Last Battle.
in L'Antiquite Classique 35 : 186-187.
There were also frequent episodes of ordinary Christians destroying, pillaging and desecrating many ancient pagan temples, tombs and monuments.Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.4.3Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 3.18.Theodosian Code 16.10.3Theodosian Code 9.17.2 Paganism was still popular among the population at the time.
The emperor's policies were passively resisted by many governors and magistrates."
A History of the Church", Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, rev ed 1949, vol I chapter 6.
Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 9.10, 19.12.
quote summary: Ammianus  describes Pagan sacrifices and worship taking place openly in Alexandria and Rome.
The Roman Calendar of 354 cites many Pagan festivals as though they were still being openly observed.
See also the descriptions of Pagan worship in the following works: Firmicius Maternus De Errore Profanorum Religionum; Vetus Orbis Descriptio Graeci Scriptoris sub Constantio.Bowder, D. (1978)
The Age of Constantine and Julian
In spite of this, Constantius never made any attempt to disband the various Roman priestly colleges or the Vestal Virgins.
He never acted against the various pagan schools.
At times, he actually made some effort to protect paganism.
In fact, he even ordered the election of a priest for Africa.Vasiliev, A.A, History of the Byzantine Empire 324–1453 (1958), p. 68 Also, he remained pontifex maximus and was deified by the Roman Senate after his death.
His relative moderation toward paganism is reflected by the fact that it was over twenty years after his death, during the reign of Gratian, that any pagan senator protested his treatment of their religion.Salzman, M.R., The Making of a Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire (2002), p. 182 Christianity
Although often considered an Arian,Jones, A.H.M, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: a Social, Economic and Administrative Survey (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p. 118 Constantius ultimately preferred a third, compromise version that lay somewhere in between Arianism and the Nicene Creed, retrospectively called Semi-Arianism.Pelikan, J.J., The Christian Tradition (1989), pp.
209–10Gaddis, M., There is No Crime for Those who Have Christ (2005), p. 92 During his reign he attempted to mold the Christian church to follow this compromise position, convening several Christian councils.
"Unfortunately for his memory the theologians whose advice he took were ultimately discredited and the malcontents whom he pressed to conform emerged victorious," writes the historian A.H.M. Jones.
"The great councils of 359–60 are therefore not reckoned ecumenical in the tradition of the church, and Constantius II is not remembered as a restorer of unity, but as a heretic who arbitrarily imposed his will on the church."
Jones, A.H.M, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: a Social, Economic and Administrative Survey (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p. 118.
Judaism
Judaism faced some severe restrictions under Constantius, who seems to have followed an anti-Jewish policy in line with that of his father.Schäfer, P.
, The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World (2003), pp.
180–1 This included  edicts to limit the ownership of slaves by Jewish peopleCodex Theodosianus 16.9.2 and banning marriages between Jews and Christian women.
Later edicts sought to discourage convertions from Christianity to Judaism by confiscating the apostate's property.Codex Theodosianus 16.8.7 However, Constantius' actions in this regard may not have been so much to do with Jewish religion as with Jewish business—apparently, privately owned Jewish businesses were often in competition with state-owned businesses.
As a result, Constantius may have sought to provide an advantage to state-owned businesses by limiting the skilled workers and slaves available to Jewish businesses.
Further crises
On 11 August 355, the magister militum Claudius Silvanus revolted in Gaul.
Silvanus had surrendered to Constantius after the Battle of Mursa Major.
Constantius had made him magister militum in 353 with the purpose of blocking the German threats, a feat that Silvanus achieved by bribing the German tribes with the money he had collected.
A plot organized by members of Constantius' court led the emperor to recall Silvanus.
After Silvanus revolted, he received a letter from Constantius recalling him to Milan, but which made no reference to the revolt.
Ursicinus, who was meant to replace Silvanus, bribed some troops, and Silvanus was killed.
Constantius realised that too many threats still faced the Empire, however, and he could not possibly handle all of them by himself.
So on 6 November 355,Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XV.8.17 he elevated his last remaining male relative, Julian, to the rank of caesar.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XV.8.5–16 A few days later, Julian was married to Helena, the last surviving sister of Constantius.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XV.8.18 Constantius soon sent Julian off to Gaul.
Constantius spent the next few years overseeing affairs in the western part of the empire primarily from his base at Mediolanum.
In 357 he visited Rome for the only time in his life.
The same year, he forced Sarmatian and Quadi invaders out of Pannonia and Moesia Inferior, then led a successful counter-attack across the Danube.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XVI.12
In the winter of 357–58, Constantius received ambassadors from Shapur II who demanded that Rome restore the lands surrendered by Narseh.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XVII.5.3–8Zonaras, Extracts of History XII.9.25-7 Despite rejecting these terms,Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XVII.5.9–14Zonaras, Extracts of History XII.9.28-9 Constantius tried to avert war with the Sassanid Empire by sending two embassies to Shapur II.Libanius, Epistle 331Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XVII.14.1–3 & XVIII.6.17-8Eunapius, Lives of the Sophists VI.
5.1–10 Shapur II nevertheless launched another invasion of Roman Mesopotamia.
In 360, when news reached Constantius that Shapur II had destroyed Singara (Sinjar),Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XX.6 and taken Kiphas (Hasankeyf), Amida (Diyarbakır),Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XIX and Ad Tigris (Cizre),Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XX.7.1–16 he decided to travel east to face the re-emergent threat.
Usurpation of Julian and crises in the east
thumb|300px|Missorium of Kerch depicting Constantius II on horseback with a spear.
He is preceded by victory and accompanied by a guardsman.
thumb|Aureus of Constantius II marked:
In the meantime, Julian had won some victories against the Alamanni, who had once again invaded Roman Gaul.
However, when Constantius requested reinforcements from Julian's army for the eastern campaign, the Gallic legions revolted and proclaimed Julian augustus.Julian the Apostate, Letter To The Senate And People of Athens, X.12–17Libanius, Orations XII.58 & XVIII.90-1Eutropius, Historiae Romanae Breviarium X.15.1Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XX.4.1–2
On account of the immediate Sassanid threat, Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin's usurpation, other than by sending missives in which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of augustus and be satisfied with that of caesar.
By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with force, and yet the threat of the Sassanids remained.
Constantius had already spent part of early 361 unsuccessfully attempting to re-take the fortress of Ad Tigris.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XX.11.6–25 After a time he had withdrawn to Antioch to regroup and prepare for a confrontation with Shapur II.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae XXI.7.7 & 13.1–5 The campaigns of the previous year had inflicted heavy losses on the Sassanids, however, and they did not attempt another round of campaigns that year.
This temporary respite in hostilities allowed Constantius to turn his full attention to facing Julian.Vagi, D.L. & Coquand, T., Coinage and History of the Roman Empire (2001), p. 508 Death
Constantius immediately gathered his forces and set off west.
However, by the time he reached Mopsuestia in Cilicia, it was clear that he was fatally ill and would not survive to face Julian.
The sources claim that realising his death was near, Constantius had himself baptised by Euzoius, the Semi-Arian bishop of Antioch, and then declared that Julian was his rightful successor.
Constantius II died of fever on 3 November 361.The manuscript of Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 21.15.2 reads tertium nonarum Octobrium, which is the equivalent of 5 October.
The latest editor of the Res Gestae accepts Otto Seeck's emendation tertium nonarum Novembrium which is the equivalent of 3 November.
T.D. Barnes (Classical Philology, 88 [1993], p. 64f) provides indirect evidence showing 3 November is a better fit.
Like Constantine the Great, he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in a porphyry sarcophagus that was described in the 10th century by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in the De Ceremoniis.
Marriages and children
Constantius II was married three times:
First to a daughter of his half-uncle Julius Constantius, whose name is unknown.
She was a full-sister of Gallus and a half-sister of Julian.
She died c. 352/3.
Second, to Eusebia, a woman of Macedonian origin, originally from the city of Thessaloniki, whom Constantius married before his defeat of Magnentius in 353.
She died in 360.
Third and lastly, in 360, to Faustina, who gave birth to Constantius' only child, a posthumous daughter named Flavia Maxima Constantia, who later married Emperor Gratian.
Reputation
Constantius II is a particularly difficult figure to judge properly due to the hostility of most sources toward him.
A. H. M. Jones writes that Constantius "appears in the pages of Ammianus as a conscientious emperor but a vain and stupid man, an easy prey to flatterers.
He was timid and suspicious, and interested persons could easily play on his fears for their own advantage."
Jones, A. H. M., Later Roman Empire, p. 116.
However, Kent and M. and A. Hirmer suggest that Constantius "has suffered at the hands of unsympathetic authors, ecclesiastical and civil alike.
To orthodox churchmen he was a bigoted supporter of the Arian heresy, to Julian the Apostate and the many who have subsequently taken his part he was a murderer, a tyrant and inept as a ruler".
They go on to add, "Most contemporaries seem in fact to have held him in high esteem, and he certainly inspired loyalty in a way his brother could not".Kent, J.P.C., Hirmer, M. & Hirmer, A. Roman Coins (1978), p. 54 See also
Persian wars of Constantius II
Flavia gens
Itineraries of the Roman emperors, 337–361
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[An unsatisfactory edition.]
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Histoire Nouvelle and ΖΩΣΙΜΟΥ ΚΟΜΙΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟΦΙΣΚΟΣΥΝΗΓΟΡΟΥ (in French and Greek).
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Gaddis, M., There is No Crime for Those who Have Christ (University of California Press, 2005).
„  Hunt, Constantius II in the Ecclesiastical Historiansorians, Ph.D. diss. (Fordham University, 2010)
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Salzman, M.R., The Making of a Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire (Harvard University Press, 2002)
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External links
This list of Roman laws of the fourth century shows laws passed by Constantius II relating to Christianity.
