The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

from

Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius ( – 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 (title), ''caesar'' ...

(died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member,

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

, who became the sole ruler of the empire in 324. The dynasty is also called Neo-Flavian because every Constantinian emperor bore the name Flavius, similarly to the rulers of the first

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty, lasting from 69 to 96 CE, was the second dynastic line of emperors to rule the Roman Empire following the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Julio-Claudians, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Th ...

in the 1st century.

Stemmata

In ''italics'' the ''augusti'' and the ''augustae''. * '' Constantius I'' *# From relationship between ''Constantius I'' and '' Helena'' *#* ''

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

'' *#*# From marriage between ''Constantine I'' and ''

Minervina Minervina was either the first wife or concubine of Constantine I, and the mother of his eldest son and future ''caesar'' Crispus. Little is known of her life. Her birth and death dates are unknown. Life Constantine spent his early life in ...

'' *#*#* Crispus *#*# From marriage between ''Constantine I'' and ''

Fausta Flavia Maxima Fausta ''Augusta'' (died 326 AD) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of Maximian and wife of Constantine the Great, who had her executed and excluded from all official accounts for unknown reasons. Historians Zosimus and ...

'' *#*#* ''

Constantina Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; ; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Faust ...

'', wife of Hannibalianus and

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326 – 354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as Caesar (title), ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius ...

*#*#* '' Constantine II'' *#*#* ''

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 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 civ ...

'' *#*#*#No offspring from marriage between ''Constantius II'' and his first wife, daughter of

Julius Constantius Flavius Julius Constantius (died September 337 AD) was a member of the Constantinian dynasty, being a son of Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his wife Flavia Maximiana Theodora, a younger half-brother of Emperor Constantine the Great and the fath ...

*#*#*#No offspring from marriage between ''Constantius II'' and '' Eusebia'' *#*#*#From marriage between ''Constantius II'' and '' Faustina'' *#*#*#* Constantia, wife of '' Gratian'' *#*#* ''

Constans I Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), also 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. After his father's death, he was made ''a ...

'' *#*#* '' Helena'', wife of '' Julian'' *# From marriage between ''Constantius Chlorus'' and '' Theodora'' *#* Flavius Dalmatius *#*# From marriage between Flavius Dalmatius and unknown wife *#*#* Flavius Dalmatius *#*#* Hannibalianus, husband of

*#*

*#*# From marriage between Julius Constantius and Galla *#*#* son, died in the purges of 337 Julian, ''Epistula ad SPQ Atheniarum'' 270 D
Roman-emperors.org
/ref> *#*#* daughter, first wife of ''

'' *#*#*

*#*#*# No offspring from marriage between Gallus and ''

'' *#*# From marriage between Julius Constantius and Basilina *#*#* '' Julian'' *#*#*# No offspring from marriage between ''Julian'' and ''Helena'', daughter of Constantine I *#* Hannibalianus (must have died before the imperial purges that occurred in 337 because he is not listed among its victims); *#*

Anastasia Anastasia (from ) is a feminine given name of Greek and Slavic origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe. Origin The name Anastasia originated during the Early Christianity, early d ...

; *#* '' Flavia Julia Constantia'', wife of ''

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Λικίνιος; c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign, he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that ...

'' *#*#*

Licinius II Licinius II, also called Licinius Junior or Licinius Caesar (Latin: ''Valerius Licinianus Licinius''; – ), was the son of the Roman emperor Licinius I. He held the imperial rank of ''Caesar (title)#Tetrarchy, caesar'' between March 317 and Sep ...

*#*

Eutropia Eutropia ( Greek: Εύτροπία; died after 325) was a Roman empress of Syrian origin, the wife of Emperor Maximian. Personal life In the late 3rd century she married Maximian, though the exact date of this marriage is unknown. They had a ...

*#*#*''

Nepotianus Nepotianus (died 30 June 350), sometimes known in English as Nepotian, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty who reigned as a short-lived usurper of the Roman Empire. He ruled the city of Rome for twenty-eight days, before being killed by ...

Family tree

Emperors are shown with a rounded-corner border with their dates as Augusti, names with a thicker border appear in both sections 1: Constantine's parents and half-siblings 2: Constantine's children

Relationship to other tetrarchs

Other rulers of the

tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

were related to the Constantinian dynasty: *

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

: adoptive father and stepfather-in-law of Constantius Chlorus, father-in-law of Constantine, stepgrandfather-in-law of Licinius *

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized as a legitimate ...

: adoptive brother and half-brother-in-law of Constantius Chlorus, brother-in-law of Constantine *

: son-in-law of Constantius Chlorus, half-brother-in-law of Constantine

Eastern Roman dynasties that linked themselves to Constantinians

* Valentinians (through

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

) * Theodosians (through

) *

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek Nobility, noble family that rose to power and produced th ...

Komnenos The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. ...

* Doukas * Phokas

Notes

References

R. Scott Moore, "The Stemmata of the Neo-Flavian Emperors", ''DIR'' (1998)
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