Latin 1BMagistra Kelleher
Roman Emperors #7: The Constantinians
In 305 AD Diocletian and Maximian retired from the tetrarchy leaving Constantius and Galerius as the new Augusti. Constantius appointed Severus and Galerius appointed MaximinusDaza as the new Caesars. Unfortunately this new tetrachy was not as successful as the first. Constantius had an illegitimate son named Constantine. Constantine had been brought up in Diocletian’s court in the east and was taken to Galerius’ court after Diocletian retired. Galerius basically held Constantine hostage to insure Constantius did not move against him. However, in late 305, Galerius allowed Constantine to return to his father’s court. This was auspicious timing since Constantius died soon after Constantine joined him. At Constantius’ death his army proclaimed Constantine their new Augustus, ignoring Severus the Caesar. Constantine though was quick to accept the title of Caesar and allow Severus to rise to Augustus.
In the meantimeMaximian’s son Maxentius was furious. He was the son of one of the original Augusti, and he had thus far gotten nothing. In late 306 he decided to seize Rome and murder Severus. He then proclaimed himself Augustus (his father Maximian joined him in Rome). Maxentius also proclaimed Constantine an Augustus. Things got out of hand when Galerius marched to Rome to try to reclaim his power and Maximian tried to steal power from his own son. Galerius tried to resettle the empire in 308 by proclaim Licinius the new Augustus of the west, keeping MaximinusDaza and Constantine as Caesars, sending Maximian back to retirement, and outlawing Maxentius. This didn’t really work. Daza and Constantine were furious that Licinius jumped into the role of Augustus. Maximian still didn’t want to retire so he started a rebellion and was killed in 310. Constantine finally decided he was fed up with all of this nonsense and claimed that he was the descendant of the Illyrian emperor Gothicus which gave him a hereditary right to be the sole emperor of all Rome. In 311 there were now 5 people claiming the right to rule: Galerius, Licinius, Daza, Constantine, and Maxentius. In the same year Galerius grew ill and died. Constantine and Licinius aligned themselves against Maxentius and Daza.
In 312 Constantine invaded Italy with a small army. He won many victories on his way to Rome and arrived outside of Rome prepared to fight Maxentius. Maxentius had a greater army and was holed up behind the Aurelian walls. Days before the battle, Constantine saw a vision of the chi rho, the Greek symbol for Jesus Christ, which told him that following this symbol he would win the battle. Constantine flew the chi rho on his battle flags and had the symbol painted onto the shields of his soldiers. When Constantine’s forces faced Maxentius’, Constantine won and Maxentius was drowned. Constantine became the Augustus of the west. Licinius defeated Daza in the east and Constantine’s sister married Licinius to solidify the alliance between the two men. Constantine also declared freedom of religion in all parts of the empire and began converting the empire to Christianity.
Licinius and Constantine ruled in an uneasy alliance from 313-324, but it was only a matter of time until they turned on each other. Throughout this time Constantine expanded the powers of the Christian church, and Licinius began to fear a religious conspiracy. In 324 Licinius ordered the execution of Christian bishops in his realm, and gave Constantine an excuse to declare war. Constantine quickly defeated Licinius and murdered him and his son. In 324 Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman state. Constantine ruled for the next 13 years and throughout this time made many changes. He declared Christianity the state religion of Rome, appointed prefects to govern the 4 main sectors of the empire, and moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). In 337 Constantine grew ill and died on campaign in Persia.
At his death, Constantine had not left a succession plan and rule was taken over by his 3 sons Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius II. Constantine II was the eldest and supposedly the lead ruler of the brothers. He took the prefecture of Gaul to rule. Constans took Italy and Illyria, and Constantius II took the east. Of course it didn’t take long for the brothers to turn on one another. Constans provoked his older brother Constantine II, who came to Italy to teach Constans a lesson. However, Constans killed Constantine and took his rule in Gaul. Now Constans and Constantius were co-emperors. This arrangement lasted until 350 when Constans was assassinated and his general Magnentius took his place. Constantius didn’t want Magnentius stealing his empire so he marched on him and killed him. In 351 Constantius II was left the sole ruler of Rome; however, he wasn’t strong enough to rule on his own. He appointed his cousin Gallus to rule in the east, but when Gallus proved himself a capable ruler, Constantius grew angry and suspicious and had Gallus beheaded. Constantius II then moved back to the eastern half of the empire and appointed Gallus’ younger brother Julian to rule in Gaul. Julian also proved a capable ruler and soon Constantius planned to kill him too. In 361 Constantius II marched his army west to fight Julian, but Constantius died en-route leaving Julian the new sole emperor.
After becoming emperor, Julian decided to revive the pagan ways. Although Julian denounced Christianity, he did not persecute Christians. Nevertheless, he faced severe hatred from the Christian communities in Rome. While on campaign in Persia in 363, Julian was killed having been struck by a spear from his own soldier, a Christian soldier. With the death of Julian the Constatinian line ended.