Constans
Flavius Julius Constans (c. 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.
| Constans | |||||||||
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Possible head of Constans set in a modern bust (Louvre) | |||||||||
| Roman emperor | |||||||||
| Augustus | 9 September 337 – January 350 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Constantine I | ||||||||
| Successor | Magnentius and Vetranio | ||||||||
| Co-rulers |
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| Caesar | 25 December 333 – 9 September 337 | ||||||||
| Born | 322 or 323 | ||||||||
| Died | January 350 (aged 27) Vicus Helena, southwestern Gaul | ||||||||
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| Dynasty | Constantinian | ||||||||
| Father | Constantine I | ||||||||
| Mother | Fausta | ||||||||
| Religion | Nicene Christianity | ||||||||
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. He defeated the Sarmatians in a campaign shortly afterwards. 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. Constans gained from him the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. Thereafter there were tensions with his remaining brother and co-augustus Constantius II (r. 337–361), including over the exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, who in turn eulogized Constans as "the most pious Augustus... of blessed and everlasting memory." In the following years he campaigned against the Franks, and in 343 he visited Roman Britain, the last legitimate emperor to do so.
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. Magnentius overthrew and killed Constans. Surviving sources, possibly influenced by the propaganda of Magnentius's faction, accuse Constans of misrule and of homosexuality.