Bassianus (died 316 AD) was a Roman senator, whom the Emperor

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

arranged to marry his half-sister,

Anastasia Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...

. In 314 Constantine hoped to elevate Bassianus to the imperial rank of ''

caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

'', but Constantine's co-''augustus'' in the East

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (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, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

successfully opposed the move. According to the ''

Anonymus Valesianus ''Anonymus Valesianus'' (or ''Excerpta Valesiana'') is the conventional title of a compilation of two fragmentary vulgar Latin chronicles, named for its modern editor, Henricus Valesius, who published the texts for the first time in 1636, together ...

'', a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

chronicle composed during

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

, Bassianus was accused of plotting against the throne and was executed by Constantine.

Biography

The choice of Bassianus is probably to be understood in light of the fact that Bassianus' brother, Senecio, was a high official in service of

, Constantine's colleague in the East, and thus this marriage strengthened the bond between the two ''augusti''. The next year, in 316, Constantine sent his half-brother

Julius Constantius Julius Constantius (died September 337 AD) was a politician of the Roman Empire and a member of the Constantinian dynasty, being a son of Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife Flavia Maximiana Theodora, a younger half-brother of Emperor ...

, to Licinius at

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrian ...

, with the proposal of elevating Bassianus to the rank of

and with power over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Licinius refused to acknowledge the appointment; furthermore, he told Senecio to contact his brother and have him kill Constantine, take arms and conquer Italy for Licinius. The conspiracy was discovered and Bassianus arrested and put to death. Constantine asked Licinius to hand him Senecio, but Licinius refused and overthrew his colleague's statues at

Emona Emona (early gkm, Ἤμονα) or Aemona (short for ) was a Roman castrum, located in the area where the navigable Ljubljanica river came closest to Castle Hill,

, on the border between the two spheres of influence; these events led to the outbreak of hostilities between Constantine and Licinius, an episode of civil war known as the '' bellum Cibalense''. Recent

prosopographical Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable. Research subjects are analysed by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line an ...

studies suggest that Bassianus and Senecio were members of the families of ''

Anicii The gens Anicia (or the Anicii) was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, mentioned first towards the end of the fourth century BC. The first of the Anicii to achieve prominence under the Republic was Lucius Anicius Gallus, who conducted the war a ...

'' and of ''Nummii Albini Seneciones''. François Chausson, ''Stemmata aurea: Constantin, Justine, Théodose'', L'erma di Bretschneider, 2007, , p. 127-129.

References

Bibliography

Primary sources

* '' Origo Constantini'', 5,14–15. * Eusebius of Caesarea, ''Vita Constantini'', 1.47.1 *

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchem ...

, ''Historia nea'', II.18–20.

Secondary sources

* Charles Matson Odahl (2004). ''Constantine and the Christian empire'' Routledge, p. 144. * {{cite book , last=Jones , first=A.H.M. , title=

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

, author2=J.R. Martindale , author3=J. Morris , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=1971 , isbn=0-521-07233-6 , volume=1 , page=150 , chapter=Bassianus 1 , author-link=A. H. M. Jones , author-link2=John Robert Martindale , author-link3=John Morris (historian) , chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-I/page/150/mode/1up?view=theater 316 deaths Year of birth unknown 4th-century Romans Senators of the Roman Empire Executed ancient Roman people Constantinian dynasty Late Roman Empire political office-holders Tetrarchy