| Constantius Chlorus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait usually identified with that of Constantius, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek[1] | |||||||||
| Roman emperor | |||||||||
| Augustus | 1 May 305 – 25 July 306 (with Galerius in the East) | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Maximian | ||||||||
| Successor | Severus II (officially) Constantine I (rebelled) | ||||||||
| Caesar | 1 March 293 – 1 May 305 | ||||||||
| Born | Flavius Constantius 31 March c. 250 Naissus, Moesia Superior | ||||||||
| Died | 25 July 306 (aged c. 56) Eboracum, Roman Britain | ||||||||
| Spouse | Helena (disputed) and Theodora | ||||||||
| Issue among others | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Dynasty | Constantinian | ||||||||
| Mother | Claudia | ||||||||
| Religion | Ancient Roman religion | ||||||||
Flavius Valerius Constantius (c. 250 – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was a Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 to 305 and then ruling as augustus until his death. Constantius was also father of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome. The nickname "Chlorus" (Greek: Χλωρός, lit. "the Pale") was first popularized by Byzantine-era historians and not used during the emperor's lifetime.
Of humble origin, Constantius had a distinguished military career and rose to the top ranks of the army. Around 289, he set aside Helena, Constantine's mother, to marry a daughter of Emperor Maximian, and in 293 was added to the imperial college by Maximian's colleague Diocletian. Assigned to rule Gaul, Constantius defeated the usurper Carausius there and his successor Allectus in Britain, and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the Alamanni and Franks. When the Diocletianic Persecution was announced in 303, Constantius ordered the demolition of churches but did not actively hunt down Christians in his domain.[8] Upon becoming senior emperor in May 305, Constantius launched a successful punitive campaign against the Picts beyond the Antonine Wall.[9] He died suddenly at Eboracum (York) in July the following year.
After Constantius's death, the army, perhaps at his own instigation, immediately acclaimed his son Constantine as emperor. This act contributed to the collapse of the Diocletianic tetrarchy, sparking a series of civil wars which only ended when Constantine finally united the whole Roman Empire under his rule in 324. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, "Constantinian propaganda bedevils assessment of Constantius, yet he appears to have been an able general and a generous ruler".[10] His descendants, the Constantinian dynasty, ruled the Empire until the death of his grandson Julian the Apostate in 363.
- ^ http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-806 (J. Lenaghan)
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
barneswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
ODBwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 227.
- ^ CIL VIII 608
- ^ ILS I, 649
- ^ Salway, Benet (1994). "What's in a Name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from c. 700 B.C. to A.D. 700" (PDF). Journal of Roman Studies. 84: 124–145. doi:10.2307/300873. JSTOR 300873. S2CID 162435434.
- ^ After his re-conquering of Roman Britain, he was given the title 'Redditor Lucis Aeternae', meaning 'The Restorer of Ethernal Light'.Bond, Sarah; Nicholson, Oliver (2018), Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), "Constantius I" (PDF), The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8, retrieved 25 August 2020,
the nickname Chlorus (Green) is not older than the 6th century
- ^ W.S. Hanson "Roman campaigns north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus: the evidence of the temporary camps"
- ^ Davis, Raymond (22 December 2015). Constantius I, Flavius Valerius, Roman emperor. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1790. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
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