Emperor Constantius II

**Constantius II** (Latin: *Flavius Julius Constantius Augustus*; Greek: 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 Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civil wars and usurpations. His religious policies inflamed domestic conflicts that would continue after his death.The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, Constantius was made *Caesar* by his father in 324. He led the Roman army in war against the Sasanian Empire in 336. A year later, Constantine I died, and Constantius became *Augustus* with his brothers Constantine II and Constans. He promptly oversaw the massacre of eight of his relatives, consolidating his hold on power. The brothers divided the empire among themselves, with Constantius receiving the eastern provinces. In 340, his brothers Constantine and Constans clashed over the western provinces of the empire. The resulting conflict left Constantine dead and Constans as ruler of the west. The war against the Sasanians continued, with Constantius losing a major battle at Singara in 344. Constans was overthrown and assassinated in 350 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*.

## 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 13 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.Though he made initial preparations for the war, Constantine fell ill and sent Constantius east to take command of the eastern frontier.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.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*.

## Augustus in the East

In early 337, Constantius hurried to Constantinople after receiving news that his father was near death.After Constantine died, Constantius buried him with lavish ceremony in the Church of the Holy Apostles.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, though the details are unclear.Eutropius, writing between 350 and 370, states that Constantius merely sanctioned “*the act, rather than commanding it*”. The massacre killed two of Constantius' uncles and six of his cousins, 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.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.

## 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.Possibly as a result of these reports, Constantius concluded a peace with the Alamanni and traveled to Mediolanum (Milan).In Mediolanum, Constantius first

   summoned Ursicinus, Gallus’ *magister equitum*, for reasons that remain unclear.Constantius then summoned Gallus and Constantina.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 Gallus continued his journey west, passing through Constantinople and Thrace to Poetovio (Ptuj) in Pannonia. In Poetovio, Gallus was arrested by the soldiers of Constantius under the command of Barbatio. This angered Constantius so greatly that he immediately ordered Gallus' execution. He soon changed his mind, however, and recanted the order. Unfortunately for Gallus, this second order was delayed by Eusebius, one of Constantius' eunuchs, and Gallus was executed.

### Religious issues

#### Paganism

In spite of some of the edicts issued by Constantius, he never made any attempt to disband the various Roman priestly colleges or the Vestal Virgins, he never acted against the various pagan schools, and, at times, he actually made some effort to protect paganism. In fact, he even ordered the election of a priest for Africa. 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.

#### Christianity

Although often considered an Arian,Constantius ultimately preferred a third, compromise version that lay somewhere in between Arianism and the Nicene Creed, retrospectively called Semi-Arianism.During his reign he attempted to mold the Christian church to follow this compromise position, convening several Christian councils. The most notable of these were the Council of Rimini and its twin at Seleucia, which met in 359 and 360 respectively. "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."Christian-related edicts issued by Constantius (by himself or with others) included:

* Exemption from compulsory public service for the clergy
* Exemption from compulsory public service for the sons of clergy
* Tax exemptions for clergy and their servants, and later for their family
* Clergy and the issue of private property
* Bishops exempted from being tried in secular courts
* Christian prostitutes only able to be bought by Christians

#### Judaism

Judaism faced some severe restrictions under Constantius, who seems to have followed an anti-Jewish policy in line with that of his father. Early in his reign, Constantius issued a double edict in concert with his brothers limiting the ownership of slaves by Jewish people and banning marriages between Jews and Christian women. A later edict issued by Constantius after becoming sole emperor decreed that a person who was proven to have converted from Christianity to Judaism would have all of his property confiscated by the state. 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.

### More usurpers and Julian

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,he elevated his last remaining male relative, Julian, to the rank of Caesar.[61] A few days later, Julian was married to Helena, the last surviving sister of Constantius.

## Refrences

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ammianus Marcellinus, *Res Gestae* XIV.11.3–5
2. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus, *Res Gestae* XIV.11.11–12
3. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus, *Res Gestae* XIV.11.19
4. ↑ Banchich, T.M., 'DIR-Gallus' from De Imperatoribus Romanis
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ammianus Marcellinus, *Res Gestae* XIV.11.20
6. ↑ Zonaras, *Extracts of History* XIII.9.20
7. ↑ Libanius, *Orations* XVIII.152
8. ↑ Vasiliev, A.A, *History of the Byzantine Empire 324–1453* (1958), p. 68
9. ↑ Jones, A.H.M, *The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: a Social, Economic and Administrative Survey* (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p. 118.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Codex Theodosianus 16.2.9