Flavius Julius Constantius (died September 337 AD) was a member of the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

, being a son of Emperor

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 his wife

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 ...

, a younger half-brother of Emperor

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 ...

and the father of Emperor Julian.

Biography

Julius Constantius was the son of

and his wife Theodora. He had two brothers,

Dalmatius :''This article deals with the Caesar (335-337). For the censor Flavius Dalmatius, father of the Caesar, see Flavius Dalmatius. For saints with this name, see Saint Dalmatius (disambiguation).'' Flavius Dalmatius (died June 337), often spelled ...

and Hannibalianus, and three sisters, Constantia,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Emperor

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 ...

was his half-brother, as he was the son of Constantius and Helena. Julius Constantius was married twice. With his first wife, Galla, sister of the later consuls Vulcacius Rufinus and Neratius Cerealis, he had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son, whose name is not recorded, was murdered in 337 together with his father. His second son Gallus, would later be appointed Caesar by Gallus’ cousin

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 ...

His daughter ''His Daughter'' is a 1911 American silent short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Edwin August and featuring Blanche Sweet. Cast Plot See also * D. W. Griffith filmography * Blanche Sweet filmography __NOTOC__ This is ...

was the first wife of Constantius II. It has been proposed that Galla and Julius had another daughter, who may have been the mother of the empress Justina. After the death of his first wife, Julius Constantius married a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

woman

Basilina Basilina (; died 332/333) was the wife of Julius Constantius and the mother of the Roman emperor Julian (emperor), Julian (r. 361–363) who in her honour gave the name ''Basilinopolis'' to a city in Bithynia (modern Pazarköy, Bolu, Pazarköy nea ...

, the daughter of the governor of Egypt, Julius Julianus. Basilina gave him another son, the future emperor Julian, but died before her husband in 332/333. Allegedly at the instigation of Constantine's mother Helena, Julius Constantius did not live initially at the court of his half brother, but together with Dalmatius and Hannibalianus in Tolosa, in

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

, the birthplace of his son Gallus, and in

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

. It was only after Helena’s death that he was called to Constantinople, and was able to build a good relationship with Constantine. Constantine favoured his half-brother, appointing him ''patricius'' and Consul for the year 335, together with Ceionius Rufius Albinus. However, after the death of Constantine in 337, several male members of the Constantinian dynasty were killed on the orders of Constantius II, among them Constantius (whose property was confiscated)Julian, ''Letter to the Athenians'' 273B. and his eldest son; his two younger sons, however, survived, because in 337 they were still children. They would later be elevated to the rank of ''caesar'' and ''augustus'', respectively.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantius, Julius 3rd-century births 337 deaths Ancient Roman murder victims Constantinian dynasty 4th-century Roman consuls Julii Patricii Year of birth unknown Sons of Roman emperors Julian (emperor)