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Family Sheet

HUSBAND
Name: Emperor Constantine I Of Rome Note Born: Abt 269 at Britain, , , Married: Died: 22 May 337 at Achyrion Near Nicodemia, , , Other Spouses: Unknown
Father: Unknown Mother: Helena "of The Cross"
WIFE
Name: Fausta The Elder Note Born: Abt 289 Died: at Scalded To Death By Order Husband, , , Father: Maximian Mother: Unknown
CHILDREN
Name: Constans I Born: Died:
Name: Constantia Born: Died: Husband: Constantius Gallus
Name: Constantius Ii Born: Died: 361 Wife: Fausta "the Younger"
Name: Helena Born: Died: Husband: Julian The Apostate
NOTES
1). Source Medieval Genealogy Newsgroup Freed Tideman n C r o e se ftc@BART.NL He was born February 27, 280 th e s o n o f H elena and Flavius Valerius Constantius.AD a t Nais su s N is , Yugos. in 306, proclaimed emperor i n Eboracu m York i n 307 he married Fausta, daughter o f Maximian i n 312 h e in vaded Italy and defeated Maxent ius in 32 4 h e defeate d Lici nius, and became sole emper or in 33 0 he h ad the ded icatio n of Constantinople o n May 22, 33 7 he di ed at Achyr ion nea r Nicomedia. Constantine married Minervina and they were the par e n t s o f Crispus He later married Fausta the elder , and they were t h e p a r ents of Constantine II Constantius II Constans Constantina The character of the prince who removed the seat of em p i r e , and introduced such important changes into the ci v i l a n d religious constitution of his country, has fix e d th e at te ntion, and divided the opinions, of mankind . T he Ch risti an s considered him the deliverer of the ch urc h and h e ha s bee n decorated with every attribute o f a he ro, eve n o f a saint while those opposing him hav e compa red hi m to t he most ab horred of those tyrants wh o dishon ored th e Imper ial purple . His stature was lofty , his cou ntenanc e majesti c, his depo rtment graceful hi s strengt h and act ivity wer e displayed i n every manly e xercise an d from hi s youth t o an advanced ag e, he prese rved the vi gour of hi s constitu tion through a st rict ad herance to t he domesti c virtues o f chastity and temp era nce. He delig hted in th e social inte rcourse of famili a r conversation and thoug h he might some times indulg e his d ispositio n to railler y with less reserv e than wa s require d byth e severe digni ty of his station , the co urtesy and li bera lity of his man ners gained the he art s of all who approa c hed him. The sin cerity of his frie n dship has been suspect e d yet he showe d, on some occas ions , that he was not in capa ble of a war m and lasting a ttachme nt. The disadvanta ge of a n illitera te educatio n had not pr evented him fro m formin g a just es timate o f the value of l earning an d the arts an d science s deri ved some encouragem ent fro m the munificent p rotecti on o f Constantine. In th e despa tch of business his d ilige nc e was indefatable an d the a ctive powers of his min d w e re almost continually ex ercis ed in reading, writing , o r m editating, in giving audi enc e to ambassadors, an d in exa m ining the complaints of h i s subjects. Even tho se who cens u red the propriety of hi s m easures were comp elled to ackn owl edge that he possess ed ma gnaminity to c onceive, and pa tienc e to execute th e most ar duous desig ns, without bein g checke deither b y the prejudi ces of e ducation or by th e clamous o f the m ultitude. In th e fie ld he infused his o wn intrepid s piri t into the troop s , whom he conducted wit h the talent s o f a consummate g ener al and to his abiliti es, rathe r than to his fortun e, we m ay ascribed the signa l victor ies which h e obtain ed over th e foreign and domest ic foe s of the republ ic . He loved glor y as the reward, pe rhap s as the motive , o f his labors. Th e boundless ambitio n w hich appears a s the ruling passion o f his soul, may b e j ustified by t he danger s of his own sit uation, by the c ha racter of hi s rivals, b y the consciousne ss of superio r m erit, and b y the prospec t that his succes s would enab l e him to res tore peace and or derto the distr acted empi re . In his c ivil wars against Max entius and Lici nius h e ha d engage d on his side the inclinat ions of the pe ople , wh o compa red the undissembled vices o f those tyrant s w ith t he sp irit of wisdom and justice whic h seemed to di r ect th e g eneral tenor of the administratio n of Constanti n e. H i story of the Decline and Fall of th e Roman Empire In 305, the emperors Diocletian and Maximian abdica t e d a n d were succeeded by Galerius and Constantius. Aft e r t he d ea th of his father in Eboracum, Constantine wa s i mmed iatel y p roclaimed emperor by the army. A serie s of c ivi l wars b etwe en him and Maxentius followed. Whe n Maxim ian , who ha d bee n helping his son, was rejecte d by tha t sam e son, h e joine d Constantine in Gaul. Maxi mian the n betra yed Const antine a nd died in 310. Constan tine the n defeate d his brot her in la w Maxentius at th e Milvian B ridge nea r Rome conf irmed an a lliance wit h Licinius Ga lerius ha d died in 311 . Liciniu s then we nt against Maxi minus bu t lost all he ha d won to Co nstan tine in 324 Con stantin e was then the sol e emperor. T heAge of Constan tine th e Great Constantine ascribed his successes to the Christia n G o d . H e had a triumphal arch erected in his honor aft er t h e d efea t of Maxentius inscribed with the words in spira ti on o f th e Divinity. Another statue, set up abou t tha t tim e, sh ows C onstantine himself, holding a cros s wit h the le gend By thi s saving sign I have delivere d you r city fro m th e tyrant an d restored liberty to th e Senat e and the p eopl e of Rome. Sh ortly after the defe at of Ma xentius, Con stant ine met with Licinius at Medio lanum Mi lan , from wh ich th e Edict of Mila n resulted . The Edic t extended toler ation t o the Christian s and r estored pro perty that had be en confi scated from them . C onstantine d onated to the Bish op in Rom e, Lateran, whe re a cathedra l Basilica Constant iniana wa s built. I t was d uring thi s time that Constanti ne also beg an issu ing laws up on th e church and its clerg y regarding f isca l and legal pri vi leges as well as immuni ties from civ i l burdens. Constanin e s chief concern cente red aroun d seve ral schisms, whic h tr ied to divide the chu rch, an d in Cons tantine s mind , a divi ded church would of fen d the Christia n God and br ing vengean ce upon the empi r e and its emperor . Throughou t, Constanine believed tha t t o remove error an d to propa gate the tru e religion , wer e both his persona l respons ibility and a ju st an d prope r use of his imperia l positi on. He was quite ac t ive in hi s support of his fait h h e commissioned new cop ies of th e Bible for the growin g c ongregations in Const antino ple he composed a special p r ayer for his troops he ha d a m obile tent chapel he iss u ed numerous law s on Christia n p ractice abolished the p ena lty of cruci fixion and gav e observance to Sunday an d Sain ts days. Constantine th e G reat and the Christia n Church Constantine wanted to be baptized in the Jordan riv e r , b u t circumstances and opportunity never allowed. H e b ec am e il l at Helenopolis and tried to return to Cons tant ino ple bu t only made it near Nicomedia. There he r emove d th e ro yal p urple and put on the white robes o f a neoph yte a nd wa s bapt ised. He died on May 22, 337 a nd was bur ied a t Const antinop le in his Church of the Ap ostles. Ha d Const antine f allen o n the banks of the Tibe r, or eve n in the p lains o f Hadriano ple, he might hav e transmitte d to poster ity a fa r better ch aracter. Bu t the conclusio n of his rei gn degrad ed him fro m the ran k which he had a cquired amon g the mos t deserving o f th e Roman princes. I n the life o f Augustu s we behold t h e tyrant of the repub lic converte d almost b y impercept ibl e degrees into the f ather of hi s country an d of huma n kind . In that of Const antine we ma y contemplat e a her o, who ha d so long inspir ed his subjec ts with lov e an d his enemies w ith terror, d egenerating in to a cruel a n d dissolute monarch , corrupte d by his fortun es, or rais e d by conquest above th e neces sity of dissimul ation. Th e ge neral peace which he ma inta ined during the l ast fou rteen y ears of his reign wa s a p eriod of apparen t splen dor rathe r than of real prosper it y and the old ag o o f Constantin e was disgraced by the o p posite yet reconc i leable vices o f rapaciousness and pro diga lity. The accu m ulated treasure s found in the palace s of Max entius an d Li cinius were lavi shly consumed th e various inn ovati ons in troduced by the c onqueror were a ttended with a n i ncreasin g expense the cos t of his buil dings, his cour t , and hi s festivals require d an immediat e and plentifu l sup ply a ndthe oppression o f the peopl e was the onl y fund whi ch c ould support the mag nificenc e of the sove reign. His unw or thy favorites, enrich ed b y the boundles s liberality of t h eir master, usurped wi t h impunity th e privilege of rapin e a nd corruption. A sec r et but univ ersal decay was felt i n eve ry part of the pu bli c admini stration, and the empero r himse lf, though h e stil l reta ined the obedience, gradua lly los t the estee m, of hi s s ubjects. The dress and manne rs which , towards the decl i ne of his life, he chose to af fect, serv ed on ly to deg rad e him in the eyes of mankind . The Asiani c po mp whic h had b een adopted by the pride o f Diocletian as s umed a n air of s oftness and effeminacy i n the person of C o nst antine. He i s represented with fals e hair of variou s co l ors, laborious ly arranged by the ski lful artists o f th e tim es a diade m of a new and more exp ensive fashio n a profusi on of gem s and pearls, of collar s and brace l ets and a vari egatedf lowing robe of silk, m ost curio us ly embroidered wit h flowe rs of gold. A mind th us rela xe d by prosperity and in dulgen ce was incapable o f risin g t o that magnamity which di sdain s suspicion and d are s to f orgive. The deaths of Maximi an a nd Licinius ma y p erhap s be justified by maxims of polic y but an impart i al nar rative of the executions which sull i ed the declin i ng ag e of Constantine, suggests the ide a o f a prince w h o woul d sacrifice the laws of justice to t he d ictates o f his p assions or interests. History of th e Decl in e an d Fal l of the Roman Empire I shall still advance till HE, the invisible gui d e w h o m arches before me, thinks proper to stop Con st anti ne
2).  Fausta was the second wife of the Roman emperor Consta n t i n e. She would probably have been forgotten in histo r y e xc ep t for the fact that she brought tragedy to th e ho us e o f Con stantine and her own death as well by com mitti n g an a ct o f the lowest form of treachery.  Fausta was a young woman, not too many years older t h a n C o nstantine  s first   born son Crispus. Though Cris pu s    mot he r was one of Constantine  s concubines, he ha d w o n the ar my   s abiding affection because he was a pop ula r a nd succes sfu lcommander. Fausta evidently fell i n lov e wi th the you ng m an and tried to have an affair w ith hi m. Wh en he refus ed he r advances, she became indig nant a t his r ejection o f her an d told Constantine tha t Crispu s was th e one who wa s makin gthe improper advan ces.  Constantine became enraged and did not bother to ch e c k o u t the truth of the matter. He could not very wel l h av e Cr is pus executed in public because he was so pop ular , s o Con sta ntine had his son murdered in secret.  Helena, Constantine  s mother suspected that Fausta w a s l y i ng and had falsely accused Crispus of unfaithfuln es s. T he r e were also rumors that Fausta was having an i lli cit a ffa i r with a slave. After she used her influenc e wi th he r so n t oconvince Constantine that he had acte d has tily , the o ld e mperor began to see that he had bee n lie d to a nd had u njust ly put his son to death.  Constantine now compounded the tragedy by having Fau s t a m u rdered. He instructed his servants to lock her i n h e r ba t h and heat the water so much that she either b oil e d to de at h or was suffocated by the steam.  Fausta had borne three boys, all of whom were much yo u n g e r than Crispus. Some historians have suggested tha t s h e h a d wanted to get Crispus out of the way so tha t he r ow n so n s would be in line for the throne, but, i f thi s wa s true , s hesurely chose a dangerous way to el iminat e Cri spus   c ompe tition.  Fausta  s sons Constantius II, Constantine II, and Con s t a n s all became emperors of different parts of the emp i r e af te r Constantine  s death. The last emperor of th e ho us e o f Con stantine was Constantius II, who died i n A. D . 36 1.

						

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