A 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 ...

and Galla, of unknown name, was

Roman empress The term Roman empress usually refers to the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their hu ...

as the first wife of

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 ...

.Thomas M. Banchich, "Gallus Caesar (15 March 351 - 354 A.D.)"
/ref>

Family

She is mentioned in the "Letter To The Senate And People of Athens" by

Emperor Julian Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar (title), Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Ancient Greek, Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promoti ...

to have been a sister of

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 ...

. When mentioning the execution of Gallus by orders of Constantius II, Julian lists the several ways the two men were related. "Constantius gave over to his most inveterate enemies, his own cousin, the

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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. He ...

, his

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

's husband, the father of his niece, the man whose own sister he had himself married in earlier days". Gallus was a son of

and his first wife Galla. She is assumed to be a full sister of Gallus. Julius Constantius was a son of

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'' ...

and

Flavia Maximiana Theodora Flavia Maximiana Theodora (died before 337) was a Roman empress as the wife of Constantius Chlorus. Biography Early life She is often referred to as a stepdaughter of Emperor Maximian by ancient sources, leading to claims by historians Otto Seec ...

. He was a paternal half-brother of

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 ...

. Constantine died in 337 and several of his relatives were killed shortly thereafter, including Julius Constantius.Michael DiMaio, Jr., "The Siblings of Constantine I"
/ref> The event is reported in the "History of the Arians" (358) by

Athanasius of Alexandria Athanasius I of Alexandria ( – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, or, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic, was a Christian theologian and the 20th patriarch of Alexandria (as Athanasius ...

, in a denunciation of Constantius II. "The common feelings of humanity could not induce him to spare even his own kindred… he commiserated not the sufferings of his father-in-law, though he had married his daughter…" Though Constantius had two later marriages, this is considered a reference to Julius Constantius. A brother is considered to have been assassinated with their father in 337. Julian the Apostate was a younger, paternal half-brother to this Empress.

Marriage

Her marriage to Constantius seems to be recorded in the

Life of Constantine ''Life of Constantine the Great'' (; ) is a panegyric written in Greek in honor of Constantine the Great by Eusebius of Caesarea in the 4th century AD. It was never completed due to the death of Eusebius in 339. The work provides scholars with ...

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

. "On the completion of the thirtieth year of his onstantine'sreign he solemnized the marriage of his second son onstantius II having concluded that of his first-born long before. This was an occasion of great joy and festivity, the emperor himself attending on his son at the ceremony, and entertaining the guests of both sexes, the men and women in distinct and separate companies, with sumptuous hospitality. Rich presents likewise were liberally distributed among the cities and people." The marriage can be estimated to 335 or 336. Constantine I had been declared emperor in 306. Neither her name nor the time of her death appear in surviving sources. Thomas M. Banchich, a modern historian, points that "her passing may have facilitated Gallus' fall in 353/4". The "Panegyric In Honour Of Eusebia" by Julian the Apostate places the marriage of Eusebia, second wife of Constantius, prior to the defeat of rival emperor

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 10 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul, where the army chose him as a replacement for the unpopular emperor Constans. Ac ...

. Magnentius was dead by August, 353. The marriage of Constantius and Eusebia may have occurred earlier in the year.Jones, A.H.M.; Martindale, J.R. (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD 260–395. Cambridge University Press. p. 300.

Notes

References

{{Reflist 4th-century births 350s deaths 4th-century Roman empresses Constantinian dynasty Unidentified people Constantius II Year of birth unknown