BROTHERS.
Condrusi Germanic people residing in Gallia Belgica. They were clients of the treviri.
Conductores See farming.
Congiarium Name (plural: congiaria) for the gifts of oil, wine, or other goods distributed to the general populace by public officials. During the empire it became the custom for rulers to make most gifts in money upon the occasion of a great victory, an imperial birthday, or some other public celebration.
Consilium Principis Name given to the Council of State, the body of advisers who helped the emperors decide important legal and administrative matters until the beginning of the fourth century C. E. A tradition actually starting in the Republic and carried on by the emperors, Augustus made it a habit to call together senators, Equestrians, and friends (amici Caesaris).
Tiberius had his own board, which appealed to him to hand over PISO to the Senate in 20 C. E. He also added several legal experts, a precedent followed by Claudius. it was Hadrian, however, who widened the legal jurisdiction of the Consilium and opened it to greater membership on the part of jurists. Legal technicians such as Julian, Papinian, and ulpian found their roles expanded in direct proportion to the judicial demands of the growing imperial administration. Severus Alexander (ruled 222-235 C. E.) further organized his consilium by having a regular number of 70 members, including senators, Equestrians, and some 20 priests. The Equestrians played a major role, no more so than in their most important officeholder, the Praetorian prefect. Not only were the prefects powerful legal administrators (ulpian and Pap-inian were officeholders), but by the middle of the third century C. E. they ran the affairs of the consilium by virtue of their political positions and their special role of amici principis. Diocletian changed the entire council when he created the Consistorium.
Consistorium The council of advisers during the reigns of Diocletian, Constantine, and their successors. The Consistorium evolved out of the consilium principis of the early and middle empire but differed in several ways from its predecessor. in the past, appointments were made in an ad hoc fashion; members were summoned to deal with a crisis, and their powers lasted only for the duration of that emergency. The new council had fixed members with permanent roles. This policy reflected the purposeful reorganization of the imperial court.
Members of the Consistorium included all major officers of the empire. There were the MAGISTER OFFICIO-RUM (master of offices), the comes rerum privatarum (master of the privy purse), the praefectus praetorio praesens (Praetorian prefect of the capital), the PRAEPOSITUS SACRI CUBiCULi (grand chamberlain), the comes sacrarum largi-tionum (master of the sacred largesse), the QUAESTOR SACRl PALATii (imperial legal adviser), and minor officials. The emperor normally presided over the meetings, but in his absence the quaestor was in charge, reporting to the emperor all decisions and inspecting the minutes taken down by the NOTARll. Membership was influential, and the name consistorians was granted to each one. Constantine called the council the Sacrum Consistorium to differentiate it from the Consilium Principis. As the name would indicate, the Consistorium stood in the emperor’s presence while the old Consilium sat.
Constans, Flavius Julius (320-350 c. e.) Emperor of Italy, illyricum, and Africa from 337 to 350 c. e.
The youngest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, he shared in the division of the empire into three parts, with his brothers Constantine ii and Constantius ii as partners. His designated territory included italy, illyricum, and Africa, although for a time he also controlled Greece and Constantinople. Constans’s brother, Constantine II, coveted Italy, and in 340 marched against the capital while Constans was away. The conflict between the two had been growing; Constans had even given Constantinople back to his other brother, Constantins, in 339 in hopes of winning his support. It proved nnnecessary, for the legions of Constantine were crnshed near Aqnileia in 340, and Constantine died.
Two brothers now owned the world, and trouble flared between them immediately. They quarreled bitterly over Christian doctrines, with Constantius favoring the Arians and Constans the tenets of the Nicene Creed. Constans championed the anti-Arian cause of Athanasius, especially at the Council of Serdica in 342. A reconciliation was made in 346.
Constans kept busy with campaigns and with travels throughout his lands. He crushed the Franks in 342 and visited Britain in 343, the last emperor to do so. His reign, according to the historian Aurelius Victor, was tyrannical and unpopular, especially among the military. In 350, an officer named Magnentius rebelled, and Constans fled. Soldiers caught up with him and put him to death.
Constantia (fl. early fourth century c. e.) Wife of the coemperor Licinianus Licinius, from 313 to 325 c. e.
Constantia was the daughter of Emperor Constantius I and Theodora, and the sister of Constantine the Great. Her marriage to licinius came about as a result of political expediency, as Constantine and Licinius united against the influence of the other emperors of their era, Maxentius and Maximin Daia. The betrothal was made in 310 and the wedding was held at Mediolanum (Milan) in 313.
Little is known of her marriage. A child was born to the couple, but great events overshadowed its life. In 323-324, war erupted between Licinius and her brother, culminating in Constantine’s victory at the battle of adri-ANOPLE. Constantia pleaded for her husband’s life, and Constantine relented, exiling Licinius to Salonica. A year later Licinius was put to death. His son was killed in 326. Constantia henceforth lived in the palace as a widow Her relations with Constantine were good; she convinced him to hear Arius (she was one of his followers) and to accept her confessor, an Arian, as part of a deathbed wish.
Constantina (d. 354 c. e.) Known also as Constantia, the daughter of constantine the Great
Constantina was the wife of her cousin, King Hanni-balianus (335-337), and then wife of another cousin, Gal-lus Caesar (351-354). After the end of her marriage to Hannibalianus, who was the king of Armenia and Pontus, she returned to the West and played a part in the events following the death of her brother Constans in 350.
Fearing the rise of Magnentius in Gaul, Constantina persuaded the aged MAGISTER PEDITUM, Vetranio, to help contain the usurper. Subsequently she was married to Gallus Caesar, recently elevated to that title by Constan-tius II. The new couple traveled east to maintain the Syrian region for Constantius while he moved against Mag-nentius.
Gallus proved to be cruel and incompetent, and Con-stantina earned the reputation of being a wicked abettor of his crimes. Ammianus Marcellinus called her one of the Furies, insatiable for blood, and an expert in causing harm and unhappiness. Appalled at events in the East, Constantius recalled Gallus Caesar after a palace revolt. Constantina set out to defend her husband but died in Bithynia in 354, before she could help. Gallus soon joined her.
Constantine (“the Great” Flavius Valerius Con-stantinus) (c. 285-337 c. e.) Joint emperor from 306 to 323 and sole emperor from 324 to 337
Flavius Valerius Constantinus transformed the Roman Empire and helped shape the future course of Western civilization.
Constantine was born at Naissus in Upper Dacia, to CONSTANTIUS I CHLORUS and an innkeeper’s daughter, Helena. He received a good education and served at the court of DIOCLETIAN after 293, when Constantius became a Caesar (junior emperor) in the tetrarchy. As a soldier he displayed some skill and joined the other Caesar, GALERIUS, in his campaigns against the Persians. Galerius kept Constantine attached to his staff as a comfortable hostage until 305, when the two augusti (senior emperors), Diocletian and maximian, abdicated in favor of the two Caesars.
In 306, trouble in Britain caused Constantine to travel to join his father in Gaul; they crossed the Channel and made war on the Picts. Constantius died at Ebu-racum (York) on July 25, 306, and with the legions on hand, Constantine was declared his heir. Galerius received word and with little choice accepted Constantine’s rise. He insisted that Constantine be elevated only to the rank of Caesar, however, not that of Augustus. The new Caesar maneuvered around the title by marrying FAUSTA, the daughter of the retired Emperor Maximian, and gaining his blessing to be Augustus over Britain and Gaul.
In 306, Maximian’s son, maxentius, usurped control of Rome, and Constantine made an alliance immediately as a counter to the considerable influence of Galerius in the East. Three years later he was dragged into the quarrels between Maximian and his son, granting sanctuary to the father in Gaul when he was evicted from Italy
After an unsuccessful conference at Carnuntum in 308, at which time Galerius tried to strip him of his title, Constantine launched several expeditions against the Alamanni and the Franks along the Rhine. Further campaigns in German territory were cut short when word arrived that Maximian had tried to seize power and was cornered in Massilia. Constantine immediately besieged him, compelled him to surrender and probably put him
A gold medallion of Constantine I, the Great, struck early 327 at Thessalonica (Courtesy, Historical Coins, Inc.) to death in 310. After disposing of his father-in-law, Constantine felt the need to rehabilitate his family origins. He decided that a direct, hereditary line to Emperor CLAUDIUS II GOTHICUS would supply the needed legitimacy; this claim was perpetuated by the vast imperial machine. Maximian’s demise was joined in 311 by that of Galerius. Four main potentates now ruled the world: Constantine in Gaul and Britain as well as in Spain; Max-entius in Italy and parts of Africa; licinius in the Danube area; and Maximin Daia (Maximinus II Daia) in the East.
Constantine and Licinius formed an uneasy alliance against Maximin Daia and Maxentius, and in 312 hostilities erupted when Constantine took the chance of marching against Maxentius. His legions pressed over the Alps, and in a series of victories he pushed Maxen-tius to the very gates of Rome. There, in a bloody struggle, the future of the empire was decided on October 28 at the battle of milvian bridge. Constantine proved victorious and entered the Eternal City. Licinius greeted the success of his ally with enthusiasm. In 313 he married Constantine’s sister constantia and set out with an army to destroy Maximin Daia. Two emperors now controlled the East and the West, but even this proved one too many.
By 316, new struggles gripped the Roman world as Constantine and Licinius vied for control of the Balkans. victory for Constantine in one battle was not followed by a string of successes, and a temporary peace established new frontiers. In 323, Constantine made war upon the Goths in the Danube area, using his pursuit of the enemy as an excuse to openly violate the borders. The following year a final campaign was launched, and Constantine and Licinius collided at adrianople on July 3, 324. Licinius’s army broke; after losing at sea on September 8 of that year, he surrendered. The Roman Empire was now in the hands of one man.
Diocletian had started the many processes of centralization, and Constantine first embraced them and then expanded on them. First he subjected the bureaucracy to a massive overhaul. All ministries were under the command of the MAGISTER OFFICIORUM (master of offices), who supervised the rapidly centralized government. Although this trend had been toward a greater imperial authority, under Constantine’s direction the bureaus grew even weightier, more demanding but more efficient.
Officers of the civil service rose in rank to wield influence and titles. Finances were administered by the comes sacrarum largitionum (count of the sacred largesse) and the comes privatae largitionis (count of the privy purse) (see comes). In legal matters Constantine relied upon the Jurists and his QUAESTER SACRI PALATI (chief legal adviser). All of these reforms found body and substance in the altered consilium principis, now called the CONSIS-TORIUM. This council of permanent magistrates and ministers framed the legislative enactments of the imperial will and brought all of the provinces under control. The regions of the empire were still under the authority of prefectures, but the prefects themselves were more answerable to the imperial house, and the functions of these offices were altered.
Following the battle at Milvian Bridge, Constantine destroyed the castra praetoria, the centuries-old barracks of the PRAETORIAN GUARD. The Praetorians were disbanded and their prefects stripped of military duties. They retained their political and legal powers, however, overseeing the diocese of the prefecture. In the place of the Guard, the domestici of Diocletian, along with the PALATINI, emerged as the military powers.
Now Constantine recognized the need to make a parallel military structure that would mirror the improved governmental body He thus organized the army into two main classes, the comitatenses and the limitanei. The Comitatenses was the emperor’s mobile army. The Limi-tanei stood as the static frontier troops, ready to defend the imperial domains. This military machine was entrusted by Constantine to very reliable officers: the MAGISTER MILITUM (master of soldiers), the MAGISTER PEDI-TUM (master of infantry), and magister equitum (master of cavalry). Although supposedly under the watchful eyes of the rulers, in the late fourth century and during the fifth century, the magister militum would seize unequaled supremacy in the Western Empire and considerable power in the Eastern Empire.
Constantine thus succeeded in concretizing the separation between his government, or administration, and the military and sought a new capital city in the East to secure his enlarged frontiers. Constantine settled upon a site that was well situated both east and west. It possessed a splendid harbor and rested on the great continental dividing line, the Bosporus. The city was Byzantium, and between 324 and 330, it changed into the great Christian city, Constantinople. According to legend, Constantine walked out the dimensions of the city personally, with the Spear of Longinus in hand, stopping only when the voice of God told him he had measured enough area. Such stories maintained Constantine’s personal sense of debt to the God of the Christians. In 312, his conversion had already begun, and he attributed his victory at Milvian Bridge to this deity’s intervention. The imperial world henceforth would be a Christian one.
In 313, Constantine had agreed with Licinius to cease all persecution of Christians. With his great edict of MILAN, a more comprehensive decree than the Edict of Serdica, Constantine became a patron of Christianity and, in many ways, its head. It was he who influenced the proceedings of the council at Arles in 314, and especially that at Nicaea in 325, and it was he who fought the heresies of DONATUS and arius. Christianity was encouraged in the government, the masses and the army. Great edifices were constructed in Rome and in Constantinople, and this new city represented the temporal power of the creed. Finally, in May of 337, Constantine himself was baptized.
Constantine’s personal life was troubled. With his wife Minervina he had a son Crispus, and then with Fausta had three more sons: Constantine ii, constan-TIUS II, and constans. In 326, Constantine executed Crispus at Pola, while on his way to Italy, and a little later put Fausta to death by suffocation for allegedly having an affair. The question of succession, however, plagued him.
With three sons, civil war after his death would have been unavoidable, hence the division of the empire into three parts, a move that only delayed the inevitable conflict among the siblings. Furthermore, Constantine’s death in 337 touched off a pogrom in the palace; much of his family faced extermination to reduce the number of groups of influence so common during his reign. Constantine’s institutions, however, were so solid and so organized that they would survive civil wars, barbarian invasions, theological conflagrations, and incompetent emperors. In the West the empire would last another century, while Constantinople stood for a millennium.
Constantine was described as pious, intelligent, and dignified by his biographer eusebius. He certainly excelled intellectually, not necessarily in philosophy or theology but in the ways of war and in the art of leading others. A ruthless character was tempered by the Christian doctrine. A complex personality, Constantine stood as the cornerstone of a new age.
See also Christianity; for other reforms, see also coinage; finance.
Suggested Readings: Barnes, Timothy D. Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981; Baus, Karl. From the Apostolic Community to Constantine. Vol. 1 of History of the Church edited by Hubert Jedin and John P Dolan. New York: Crossroad, 1982; Bowder, Diana. The Age of Constantine and Julian. London: Elek, 1978; Burckhardt, Jacob. The Age of Constantine the Great. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1983; Eusebius. Life of Constantine Clarendon Ancient History Series. Oxford, U. K.: Oxford University Press, 1999; Grant, Michael. Constantine the Great. New York: Scribner’s, 1994; Jones, A. H. M. Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979.
Constantine II (317-340 c. e.) Joint emperor from 337 to 340 C. E.
The son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, the eldest of three, Constantine II was born at Arles. Named a Caesar and eventually sharing in the division of the empire upon his father’s death in 337, he joined his brothers CONSTANTIUS II and CONSTANS as masters of the world. He received Gaul, Britain, Spain, and a small part of Africa. He was never fully satisfied, coveting the territories of Constans in Italy and Constantius in the East. In 340, Constantine II marched on Constans but suffered defeat in a battle near Aquileia and died.
Constantine III (d. 411 c. e.) The third usurper proclaimed by the legions of Britain in 407 c. e.
Constantine III was a common soldier with a fortuitous name. He succeeded the murdered Marcus and Gratian as leader of the legions in the isles. Hoping to ensure his own position, he sailed to Gaul with a large army. Without any competent general in Gaul to resist him, he seized both the region and the troops. His rule over Gaul proved competent, inflicting defeats upon the local barbarians and negotiating agreements with the Alamanni and probably the Burgundians. honorius, emperor of the West, finally took notice when the major city of Arles fell to the usurper, who then marched on Spain. The only response Honorius could make was to accept an offer to legitimize Constantine’s claim to rule his conquered lands. An attempt to enter Italy proved unsuccessful, and in 411, Constantine’s trusted general in Spain, Gerontius, rebelled. Gerontius elevated his own candidate for emperor, Maximus. He then invaded Gaul, killing Constantine’s first-born son Constans at Vienne and besieging Constantine and his other son, Julian, at Arles. Honorius took up the siege, sending his MAGISTER MlLlTUM, Con-stantius, to take command. Hoping to save himself, Constantine fled to the sanctuary of the church, was ordained a priest and surrendered to the mercy of Honorius. Disregarding the clerical robes, the emperor put Constantine to death in September of 411.
Constantinople Capital of the Eastern Roman Empire; replacing Rome as the heart of imperial power, it maintained influence and stability in the face of the decline of the West.
In 324 C. E., CONSTANTINE the Great defeated rival emperor licinius at the battle of adrianople, laying
Claim to sole mastery over the entire Roman Empire. He recognized the need for a new capital to replace Rome, which could no longer serve as the center of defense for the widely spread frontiers on the Rhine and Danube and in the East. A new location had to be found, one easily fortified and centrally situated. In addition, Constantine planned not only to expand Diocletian’s sweeping reforms but also envisioned an entirely new world for mankind and planned to overcome the dangerous influences of Rome, which had destroyed other emperors, by establishing a new model for the empire. At the same time, Rome stood for the paganism of centuries, and Constantine’s faith demanded a new setting, where Christianity could flourish.
Bithynia and Nicomedia and other places in Asia had appeal, but none could be defended adequately, and some even presented themselves as targets for Persian attack. Constantine decided on Byzantium, a small city on the edge of the Golden Horn, on the Strait of the Bosporus, a bridge between East and West. Legendary accounts state that Constantine arrived there in November of 324 to march off the measurements for the extended building program, his yardstick being the “Hand of God.” Using the Lance of Longinus, the relic that was reported to have pierced the side of Christ while he was on the cross, the emperor started walking from Byzantium; when he stopped two miles later, he gave orders to start construction. Constantinople had seven hills and 14 quarters, as did Rome, and like that city it could not be built in a day. Six years of work followed its founding, and it was not until May 11, 330, that Constantine could declare the construction completed, and officially renamed the city, although changes and modifications never ceased.
Byzantium had been a small community set on a promontory between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. In 194, the town had become embroiled in the war between the imperial claimants Septimius severus and PESCENNIUS NIGER. After a long and bitter siege, Severus took the walls, and the town fell and suffered the humiliations of defeat. Constantine chose the site, in part because the rocks along its southern shore crushed vessels attempting to land outside the harbor, and the currents of the Bosporus made navigation difficult and sinkings frequent. About 31/2 miles at its widest, the cir-
An engraving representing Christian Constantinople (Hulton/GettyArchive)
Cumference of the city was some 15 miles. Constantine erected his new edifices around the original structures, eventually called the Augusteum, in honor of his mother Helena.
As the most prominent part of the jutting land mass and the most easily defended, the Augusteum became the spoke in a circle of urban growth that housed the most important offices of state. Nearby were the imperial palaces, the hippodrome and several of the great forums. The emperors and their families resided in the palaces, accompanied by government bureaucrats and ministers, the SCRINARII. Also, the consistorium met there, and close by the Senate convened. The hippodrome served as the entertainment center for all residents. smaller than the Circus Maximus, on which it was based, the hippodrome offered great games, chariot races, and lavish spectacles, and seated more than 60,000.
In the finest Roman tradition, several forums were erected to allow public assemblies and shopping areas, and no expense was spared in bringing the finest artisans and intellectuals to the city. As in Rome, columns adorned the skyline. in the Forum of Constantine the emperor was made eternal, with his own head mounted on top of a statue of Apollo at the peak of a column. in the Forum Tauri (from the reign of Theodosius i), one of the emperor’s columns towered above the landscape. other monuments in the city included those dedicated to ARCADIUS, Aelia eudoxia, and marcian, as well as those of JUSTINIAN, of a later era. Near the Forum Tauri was the city’s seat of learning, the Capitolium. There young from the various provinces studied under the foremost rhetoricians, grammarians, philosophers, and academicians of the time. In 425, Theodosius ii certified the University of Constantinople, which rivaled those of Antioch, Alexandria, and, of course. Athens.
Three periods of growth took place within its borders. The first, from 324 to 330, was when Constantine’s Wall established the perimeters from the Propontis to the Golden Horn. The second was from 330 to about 413, when the population expanded beyond the walls and into the adjoining eastern districts. The last period of growth was from 413 to a time well beyond the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, when the walls established newer and wider borders.
Access could be gained through the ports, harbors, or gates. The Golden Horn entrances included posts along the seawall and in the harbor of Prosphorion. Two main harbors served Propontis, the Theodosius and the Julian. Chains could be used to seal off the mouths of these harbors. As for the walls, the grand portal of Constantine’s Wall was the Golden Gate. Built by Theodosius I, the gate commemorated his victory over Maximus the usurper in 388. A second Golden Gate loomed at the southern end of the Anthemian Walls (eventually renamed in honor of Theodosius). in the wider series of fortifications, the gates could be used either by the civilian population or the military, depending upon classification. There were five entrances for the army and numerous ones for everyone else.
Entering the Golden Gate, a traveler would proceed north along the Middle Way, the road cutting through the city all the way to the Church of saint sophia. it crossed the Lycus River near the harbor of Theodosius and passed through most of the forums and many of the other buildings of importance, including the hippodrome and the Great Palace and the Palace of Hormisdas, constructed during Constantine’s reign to house a Persian prince.
As the center of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople had a population to rival Rome’s—anywhere from 500,000 to 800,000 people. Aqueducts supplied the water needs, and Egypt’s fields provided the food. When the number of inhabitants began to outgrow the original boundaries of the city, towns such as Chrysopolis and Chalcedon could assume some of the population burdens. But a more permanent solution had to be found. At the same time, Constantinople needed even more defensive strength in the fourth and fifth centuries C. E., as barbarians pillaged in the West and turned on the eastern borders.
Thus, in the first years of the reign of young Theodosius II, his Praetorian prefect Anthemius took upon himself (c. 408-414) the task of creating the strong fortifications still standing today. Anthemius placed the new wall approximately one mile to the west, along a wider line. Towers and gates, both civil and military, and fortified positions dotted this new structure.
Cyrus, a popular Praetorian prefect and prefect of the city (439-441), extended the northern wall. No longer relying upon the Blachernae Palace for an anchor, it was linked to the seawall, defending the approaches to the city along the entire coastline. in the middle of the fifth century, a violent earthquake (not uncommon) shook the walls, and a Praetorian prefect by the name of Constantine ordered repairs to be made immediately. Another, smaller outer wall was added. The capacity to withstand attack became essential during the chaotic era of the fourth century. The Huns remained as a constant threat to Constantinople, as did other barbarian tribes. But the city served as a constant bulwark throughout the late Roman Empire.
Constantine had built his city as a point from which Christianity could spread to the entire world. Thus the city became a center of churches, reflecting the changes within the Roman Empire. The greatest religious structure was saint sophia’s Church. Finished around 360, it represented the ideal of Great Wisdom. The church stood until the time of Justinian (ruled 527-565), when the Nika Revolt destroyed it. its successor was greater than the original. other magnificent churches included (through the ages) the Holy Apostles, st. Euphemia, Theotokos, st. irene, st. Thomas, st. Laurentius, st. Dia-med, and Theotokos Hodegetria, among others.
A bastion of spiritual authority, Constantinople played a significant role in the evolution of Christian doctrine. From its thrones the emperors and empresses directed the implementation of Christianity as the religion of the state. And in bitter theological feuds with such heresies as arianism, Donatism, and Novatianism, the patriarch of Constantinople vied for influence with the emperors, as Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome formed joint and competing alliances.
Theodosius i summoned the Council of Constantinople in 381 to reaffirm the Nicene Creed. Theodosius ii listened to both sides of a dispute over the nature of Christ but succumbed to the bribes and threats of CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA over the Nestorians.
Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Empire until the fall of the West circa 476, and served as the home of the Byzantine rulers until 1453. In that year, it was finally captured by the Turks.
Constantius I Chlorus (d. 306 c. e.) Joint emperor in the West from 293 to 306 c. e.; one of the founders of the new imperial system of Diocletian (the Tetrarchy)
Constantius probably came from the Danube region and was not a descendant of Claudius II Gothicus, as would be claimed by his self-legitimizing son, Constantine the Great. Embarking on a career in the army, Constantius I became the governor of Dalmatia and then, sometime around 293, prefect of the praetorian guard. He was chosen for even higher office and had moved toward that ambition by removing his first wife, Helena, an innkeeper’s daughter, in favor of Theodora, daughter of Diocletian’s coemperor Maximian.
In 293, as part of the tetrachy system, Diocletian named Constantius to be Caesar (junior emperor), assisting Maximian in the West, while Galerius served Diocletian in the East. His territory included Gaul and Britain. His first task was to deal with a usurper, the dangerous admiral carausius, who controlled northern Gaul and Britain. Constantius blocked part of the admiral’s fleet at Gesoriacum (Boulogne); in 293, Carausius died at the hands of his minister, Allectus. In 296, Constantius sailed to Britain with his Praetorian Prefect asclepiodotus. While he tried unsuccessfully to land, Asclepiodotus destroyed Allectus in battle. Constantius seized the opportunity and celebrated in great triumph.
Diocletian abdicated in 305, as did Maximian. Their successors were Constantius and Galerius. Galerius ruled the East while Constantius possessed Spain, along with Gaul and Britain. The tetrarchy so carefully established was showing signs of strain, and Galerius clearly had the advantage. Not only did he dominate the East, but Con-stantius’s son, Constantine (the son of Helena), was at his court as a hostage. only the barbarian invasions of Britain (see picts) gave Constantius an excuse to have his son returned to him. Constantine fled to his father, and in 306 they repelled the Picts. On July 25, 306, Constantius I Chlorus died at Eburacum (York), leaving Constantine to face Galerius alone. He did not depart without having left his son considerable resources. Constantius had proved himself to be an able if not beloved emperor. He strengthened the Rhine frontier and did extensive building at Treviri (see trier). Further, his son was bright, well-educated, and supported by experienced and devoted legions.
Constantius II (317-361 c. e.) Joint emperor from 337 to 350 c. e. and sole emperor of Rome from 350 to 361 Constantius was the most gifted son of Constantine the Great and fausta. He was born in Illyricum, named Caesar (junior emperor) in 324 and given Antioch to administer in 333. upon his father’s death in 337, he played a major part in the massacre of all parties of influence in the imperial family; the empire was then partitioned among himself and his two brothers, Constans and Constantine II. He received the East, minus (briefly) Armenia and Constantinople, which belonged for a time to hanni-BALIANUS, Constantine’s nephew, and to Constans, respectively.
The first years of independent rule were filled with campaigns against the Persians under Shapur II, but, starting in 350, his attention turned to the West. In 340, the triple division of the empire ended when Constantine II died while trying to overthrow Constans in Italy Until 350, the two remaining brothers ruled the world; in that year, however, the usurper Magnentius killed Constans.
Emperor Constantius I Chlorus (Hulton/GettyArchive)
Tension gripped the domain of Constantins, for the whole West, with its legions, could have hailed Magnen-tins as emperor. Fortunately, Constantina, daughter of Constantine and Constantins’s sister, convinced the mag-ISTER PEDITUM, Vetranio, to allow himself to be hailed as Augustus, as a counterweight to Magnentins. The move, obviously calculated to aid her brother, proved very successful. Magnentius lost momentum, and Vetranio stepped down, retiring to Prusa in Bithynia. Strengthened by the addition of the legions along the Danube, Con-stantius crushed Magnentius in battle (see mursa major) in 351. The usurper committed suicide in 353, leaving Constantius the undisputed master.
He returned to campaigning, defeating the Sarma-tians and the Quadi on the Danube frontier. Persia saw further action, and in 359, he attacked Mesopotamia. Clearly, as a general, Constantius II possessed remarkable skills, defeating the Frankish king Silvanus, the Suevi, the Sarmatians, the Quadi, and the Persians all in a span of several years.
Constantius recognized the need to appoint a Caesar who could aid him in ruling regions that he could not visit. His first choice, Gallus, married the emperor’s sister Constantia in 351, but was tyrannical as the ruler of Antioch and had to be put to death in 354. Constantine then appointed JULIAN, Gallus’s half-brother, to be Caesar in the West, marrying him to his sister Helena. julian was competent and loved by the army. When Constantius sent orders for him to dispatch reinforcements in 360 to help in the Persian wars, the legions in the West revolted, declaring Julian their ruler. Despite his triumphant entry into Rome in 357, Constantius knew that the threat to his reign was legitimate. He organized an expeditionary force and headed toward a confrontation with Julian. While marching through Cilicia, Constantius II succumbed to a fever near Tarsus, dying on October 5, 361.
Constantius believed in the cause of arianism. He protected the Arians from the start and then differed vehemently with his orthodox brother Constans on the future of Christianity. At the Council of Serdica in 342, some differences were resolved, but no substantial harmony could be achieved until 346, when war nearly erupted. Constantius received a free hand in theological matters following Constans’s death in 350. Henceforth the Arians dominated religious affairs at court. Athanasius, the anti-Arian champion, was removed from his seat as the bishop of Alexandria in 356, and the emperor named many Arian prelates to succeed to the major sees in Christendom. Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived and served in the army of that era, wrote extensively of Con-stantius’s character and achievements.
Constantius III (d. 421 c. e.) Joint emperor in the West in 421
Constantius III was a MAGISTER MlLlTUM who rose to claim the throne, albeit briefly. Born in the Danube region, he entered upon a military career and by 411 had earned the magister militum rank under Emperor Honorius. For the next 10 years Constantius administered most of the Western Empire, dealing with the crises of the period. In 410, he became the primary factor in the destruction of the usurper Constantine III, marching into Gaul with his lieutenant, Ulfilas, and besieging Constantine at Arles. In 411, he crushed an African-based rebel, Heraclianus, before turning to the pressing problem of the Visigoths in Gaul and in Spain.
Athaulf, successor of Alaric as king of the Visigoths, had established a domain in Gaul and had not only refused to return Honorius’s sister, galla placidia, but also set up Priscus Attalus as an imperial claimant and married Placidia in 414. Constantius crushed Attalus in southern Gaul. By 415, Athaulf was dead, and the new Visigoth king, Wallia, negotiated a peace with Honorius. Galla Placidia returned to her brother. Out of political need she was married early in 417 to Constantius. Despite her reluctance, she bore him two children, one of whom became Valentinian III, emperor from 425 to 455. With such a union, and in recognition of the overwhelming power at his disposal, Honorius elevated Constantius to the rank of co-emperor or Augustus on February 8, 421. He ruled only from February to September.
Constantius, Julius (d. 337 c. e.) A half-brother of Constantine the Great
The son of constantius i chlorus and his second wife, Theodora, Constantius suffered from court intrigues and retired in semi-exile to Toulouse and Corinth but profited from political rehabilitation in 335. Constantine made him a patrician and a consul in that year, and he emerged as leader of one of the numerous factions formed in the palace just before the emperor’s death. Constantius married twice. His first wife, Galla, gave him two sons. The younger, Gallus, became Caesar but was killed by Con-stantius II in 354. Basilina, his second wife, produced Julian, the eventual emperor. In 337, after the death of Constantine, Constantius intended to share in the division of power between all of the major family members and sons. A massacre of the parties formed in the court took place instead, instigated by Constantius II and supported by his brothers, Constans and Constantine II. Julius Constantius died at the hands of soldiers, along with his eldest son.
Constitutiones The term used to describe the legal enactments and edicts of the Roman emperors. The con-stitutiones did not appear in great number until the fourth century c. e.
Emperor Augustus and his immediate successors certainly passed laws, but their actions were based on two principles: (1) they possessed the imperium procon-SULARIS, giving the right to issue edicts; and (2) all proposed legislation was brought to the Senate, where the emperor requested through an oratio (speech) that the august legislative body of the empire pass them. In this system there existed supposed limits on power. The Senate could refuse him if it so desired; and the IMPERIUM ended upon the emperor’s death.
Furthermore, those pronouncements actually made by the emperors were seldom original. Virtually all such statements could be classified as either rescripta (rescripts) or decreta (decrees). Rescripts were answers to questions on law made by members of a ministry or by a litigant. They explained or interpreted the law. The dec-reta were actual decisions made in trials over which the emperor presided. As Suetonius showed with the verdicts of Claudius, such pronouncements could be debatable, changeable, even nonsensical.
What an emperor intended to be an explanation, however, very often became an authoritative basis for subsequent legislation. This was especially true in the second century C. E. Senatorial power fell as imperial dominance of the administration took place. The permission from the Senate was no longer sought actively by the emperors, and then the constitutiones themselves automatically became binding law. Thus the rulers could have a tremendous influence over the entire framework of law, as CARACALLA demonstrated in 212 C. E., with his Consti-tutio Antoniana, granting citizenship to all free persons in the empire.
With the broadening of political power came a recognition on the part of the emperors that increased knowledge and expertise were also necessary Jurists joined the great advisory boards of the palace, the consilium prin-CIPIS, and Hadrian relied upon lawyers to aid him in framing his constitutiones. Quite often it was the concilia that authored the greatest legal reforms and advances, with the Jurists responsible for fine details. In the fourth century the emperors faced no hindrances to legal enactments, and then the constitutiones went unquestioned, for the benefit or peril of the empire.
Consualia Great festival of the god consus, celebrated twice every year, on August 19 or 21 and on December 15, in the Circus Maximus. According to legend, the Consualia was begun by Romulus and the Rape of the Sabines took place at the first commemoration of the festival. Lavish games were held in the Circus, supervised by the emperor, while sacrifices to the god were made by the vestal virgins and the flamens. The day also included the rare unearthing of Consus’s statue from beneath the Circus Maximus, so that the deity might witness the day’s events.
Consul The supreme office of power during the Roman Republic and a position of honor but decreasing political value in the days of the empire. In the year 510 B. C.E., the kings of Rome were expelled and in their place the
Romans chose a government of dual magistrates who were equal in power and in influence. Elected by the comitia centuriata, the consuls, for some four centuries, fulfilled the political role of royal authority, bringing all other magistrates into the service of the people and the city of Rome. The tasks of a consul were varied. Their laws could be appealed by the people, vetoed by the tribunes, and severely curtailed by any appointed dictator. They could, however, control their own administrations, decide civil and criminal cases in the legions, and prepare resolutions to become law In Rome, consuls had the right to summon the senate and the comitia and to nominate and conduct the elections of dictators and members of the comitia. over the years certain other powers were lost: Civil jurisdiction within the city passed to the praetors, and the census fell to the censors.
As the consuls were to be equal, the actual governing was shared; with each holding greater influence on a monthly rotational basis. In the field, each wielded two legions; military strength maintained a unique equilibrium. The senate encroached yearly upon the operation of the Republic, while the consuls’ position of preeminence outside of Rome ensured a proper balance. Thus the dictator sulla sought to curb this strength by stripping the consular office of its military base, the imperium. sulla insisted that the term of the consul, one year, be spent in Rome.
As civil wars erupted in the Republic in the first century B. C.E., the consuls lost all control of their office. The FIRST and SECOND TRIUMVIRATES held the true reins of power; the office was even altered in 52 B. C.E., when POMPEY THE GREAT held it alone. With the founding of the empire under Augustus in 27 B. C.E., further reductions in the status of consul were inevitable. Augustus worked to preserve the Republican facade in his new imperial system, thus, while still a great honor, consulship also meant little influence. Augustus even held the consulship himself, and the emperors who followed him did the same. Family members, friends, and associates also served, for the ruler had full control over nominations and, hence, the election returns. The old process provided for resignation and death by having replacement consuls available, with those who were the original consul for a year (inaugurated on January 1) bearing the name consules ordinarii and their successors, consules suffecti. The practice naturally evolved that the consules suffecti finished out each year. By the middle of the first century C. E., the actual holding of the consulship by anyone for the entire year became very rare.
A consul’s new duties, while not significant, were nonetheless interesting. Certain criminal trials were supervised, with the final judgment resting in the hands of the consul, as did civil authority, including questions concerning slaves. Another task of considerable prestige was that of presiding over the games (ludi) and the many FESTIVALS celebrated in Rome.
Aside from the emperor himself, the consul held one of the most glamorous offices in the empire. Their insignia included the toga praetexta, sella curculis (a ceremonial chair) and the right to be surrounded by the lic-TORES. These 12 guardians normally walked before the consul officiating for the month and walked behind his associate. Usually, the inauguration of a consul took place on January 1, by a law passed in 153 b. c.e. (Previously, the inauguration was held on March 15, as decreed in 222 B. C.E.) The candidates marched to the capital with the senators, members of the Equestrians and other important figures. Prayers were offered solemnly, as were the oaths. To the Romans, the entire ceremony was serious and even the thought of offending tradition was fraught with dread. Thus, when Emperor COMMODUS proposed to go to his inauguration dressed as a gladiator on January 1, 193 C. E., the group plotting his assassination was so horrified that they murdered him the night before his oath-taking.
There can be little doubt that the rulers of the empire dismissed the consuls easily. Tiberius sent the consular robes to Claudius as a joke and grew angry when his lame relative pressed him for the office’s full powers. GAIUS CALIGULA also appointed Claudius, his uncle, to the office, both as a humorous distraction and to gain popularity Family members routinely served, many under-age. From the time of Cicero no one under 43 (or perhaps 42) could be consul, a regulation frequently ignored.
With the division of the empire into East and West, the consulship was equally divided, sometime in the late fourth century C. E. The emperors in Constantinople assumed the title consul perpetuus, and in the West the consuls disappeared altogether in 534 C. E.
Census An Italian god of several identities whose festival, CONSUALIA, was held on the days of August 19 or 21 and December 15. Consus may have been associated with corn or with the harvest, although his altar stood in the Circus Maximus. The fact that this altar was placed underground, covered with dirt, probably implied an association with the underworld; corn was also planted in the earth and stored in subterranean holds. As a result of the games held during the god’s festival, Consus was also known as Neptunus Equestrius to Livy.
Cenventus Name given to the small associations of Roman citizens living abroad but outside the colonies. It was quite common for Romans in the provinces to associate freely with each other, given their generally superior legal status. Groups of them came together to form boards within their own towns, to discuss problems or issues of interest. They elected their own committee head, a curator, and kept in touch both with Rome and with other such organizations throughout the empire. Another kind of conventus was the judicial summons made in the provinces when the governor or magistrate paid a visit to a town, city or large community so chosen for the honor. A provincial head would arrive on the scene and normally be greeted by artificially enthusiastic crowds. He would then conduct all necessary legal business before departing for the next conventus. For smaller, non-colonial townships and cities, the reception of the title conventus brought considerable prestige and wealth because of the number of visitors lured to the scene to have cases heard.
Cerbule, Gnaeus Demitius (1) (fl. mid-first century C. E.) Praetor, master of the Roman roads and father of the famed general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (2)
In 21 C. E., Corbulo called attention to the deplorable condition of the roads in Italy. He argued that corruption among magistrates and contract workers was such that no remedy could be found unless drastic measures were put into effect. Corbulo consequently received a commission to watch over each officer in charge of a road, the curator viarum. He administered the roads for much of the reign of Tiberius, and in 39 C. E., Caligula drafted him to help acquire funds. All former highway repairmen, alive or dead, were fined for obviously embezzling some of the money used on roads. Caligula took his share, and presumably so did Corbulo. In 43 C. E., Claudius put an end to the fines. Corbulo was then forced to return some of his reward money to help reimburse those who had endured previous punishments.
Cerbule, Gnaeus Demitius (2) (d. 67 c. e.) Roman general who preserved Roman supremacy in Germania and in the East
Corbulo was probably the son of the head of the roads during the reigns of Tiberius and gaius caligula (see CORBULO [1]) and early on achieved some success as a military officer. In 47 C. E., he received the rank of legate for Germania inferior and took command of Roman troops in the face of the invading Chauci. He won a series of engagements over the Germans, including a battle of the Rhine, using triremes rowed up the great river. Once the Chauci were repulsed, Corbulo disciplined the legions of the province. Known as a strict and stern general, he not only brought the legionaries back to full strength and morale but also shattered the resolve of the surrounding tribes, especially the Frisii.
Corbulo regretted, however, his lack of free movement as a general; Germania, in his view, was ripe for subjugation. When Claudius forbade any actions in that direction, he remarked: “How happy must have been the generals in older days!”
Corbulo’s reputation was enhanced by his reception of the triumphal insignia from Claudius. When Nero, therefore, searched for an officer to salvage Roman policy in ARMENIA in 54 C. E., he turned to Corbulo. After arriving in Cilicia, he found the governor of Syria, Ummidius Quadratus, waiting for him. Eager not to lose power or prestige, Quadratus insisted on sharing in all major decisions; not surprisingly, a bitter fight erupted between them. Nero settled the dispute by having laurels placed on the imperial fasces or insignia, as a credit to each man. Corbulo then repeated his work in Germania, where the legions were relentlessly and mercilessly drilled and beaten into shape. The pleasant climate and good living in Syria ended in 58, when the reformed troops finally set out to reclaim Armenia from the Parthians.
Since the occupation of the kingdom by Parthia in 54 (and by its King Vologases I), Armenia had been ruled by the pro-Parthian Tiridates. Corbulo now besieged him militarily and politically, using the client states of Iberia, Cappadocia, and Commagene to pressure his borders. When the Armenian ruler and his Parthian masters refused to yield during negotiations, the Roman general marched on the capital of Artaxata, capturing it in 58 and then netting the other major city of tigranocerta as well. Tiridates, ousted from the country, tried to reclaim the dominion but could not; Corbulo pacified all of Armenia.
In 60-61, Nero chose to place a new client on the throne, tigranes. Corbulo was ordered to assume the governorship in Syria, as Quadratus had died. Tigranes proved an incompetent monarch and in 61 attacked a small region of Parthia, Adiabene; he soon called for help from Syria when Vologases moved against him. Despite the strong possibility that Corbulo may have approved of the sortie, his position in Syria gave him no powers in dealing with the Armenian question. Thus, Rome sent out the appallingly bad general, Caesennius Paetus, to annex all of the region, as Tigranes could not hold the throne. Paetus bungled his task. Corbulo did not march from Syria. The Parthian king and the ousted Tiridates, instead, agreed to Roman terms. Armenia would be a client to Rome once more. Nero ordered Paetus to return to Italy, and Corbulo received the position equal to his skills. He obtained the maius imperium, the power over all of the adjoining provinces and the client states therein. He continued to administer most of the East until 66, when a conspiracy surfaced in Rome.
Plots against Nero were common. When Annius Vinicianus began his, Corbulo naturally was implicated. Vinicianus had married Corbulo’s daughter; as the foremost military figure of the time, Corbulo’s name surfaced as a successor to the tyrant. In 67, Corbulo received a summons to Greece. Joining several other governors, namely the scribonii brothers, the loyal general bowed before his emperor and heard the imperial command for him to commit suicide.
Cordius (Gordius) (d. after 221 c. e.) Charioteer and imperial favorite
A charioteer during the reign of Emperor Elagabalus (218-222), Cordius reportedly taught the emperor to drive a chariot and subsequently became one of his favorite courtiers. In Elagabalus’s series of eccentric appointments, Cordius received the post of Prefect of the Watch, to the consternation of the Praetorian Guard, who considered him wholly unqualified. Late in 221, he was included in a list of officials removed from office at the demand of the Praetorians.
Corduba Also called Corduva, the provincial capital of the senatorial province of Baetica in Spain. Very little of the ancient city survived the Islamic period, although the organization of the city reportedly was based upon the original design. The capital contained all of the necessary Roman structures, including a forum and baths.
Cordus, Aulus Cremutius (d. 25 c. e.) Writer a highly respected figure of the early first century Cremutius Cordus authored History, in which he commended Marcus brutus and Gaius CASSIUS. The work was elevated by AUGUSTUS, who may have accorded Cordus the honor of having him read from it out loud in the palace. By 25, Cordus had reached considerable age but had lost none of his wit. A determined opponent of the notorious prefect Lucius Aelius sejanus, he commented upon a statue of Sejanus in the Theater of Pompey, saying: “Now Pompey’s theater is truly destroyed.” In 25, Sejanus accused Cordus of improper writings in his History, especially with regard to Brutus and Cassius. Cordus was found guilty. He subsequently returned home and starved himself to death. The books of Cordus were then burned by the aediles, although his daughter, Marcia, hid many copies. GAIUS CALIGULA later rehabilitated him posthumously.
Corinth City in Greece. Once one of the great trading centers of the ancient world, Corinth was reborn under the empire. For centuries the city served as the heart of Hellenic commercial ties with the world, and its buildings, stretching across the Isthmus of Corinth, were magnificent. Not surprisingly, the Republic sought to include the city in its list of second century b. c.e. conquests. In 146 B. C.E., L. Mummius laid siege and brutally destroyed Corinth. The population saw no means of rebuilding, and the city became a deserted shell.
In 46 B. C.E., Julius caesar looked for a means of reducing the population of Italy and needed a place to settle his many retired and discharged legionary veterans. His solution, colonization, soon benefited many regions of Roman occupation, Corinth among them. Colonists arrived sometime after Caesar’s assassination in 44 b. c.e., choosing to rebuild in a style very Roman. They succeeded brilliantly, and their efforts produced a capital for the eventual province of Achaea.
Architecturally, Corinth received a massive transfusion from Rome. With the exception of the Temple of Apollo, the usual Agora (Forum) and the various stoas, the city was more Roman than Greek—a characteristic very pleasing to the appointed proconsul, who administered the province from his office near the Forum. To provide the bureaucratic organization befitting a capital, four basilicas were constructed as well. They were grouped around the Forum and stood close to the stoas and merchant centers in the city. Early on, the colonists had realized that Corinth, just as before, had to be based on commerce. Thus the city life was centered on trade and economic growth.
In a reflection of the wealth brought in by the merchants, no expenses were spared in decoration or in public entertainments. The original Greek theater was changed to a Roman structure, complete with a changeable arena for games and gladiatorial contests. A small Odeum was added to provide yet another alternate amusement. To display the city’s religious sincerity, six temples were completed sometime in the second century C. E., the same time as Herodes Atticus made his generous gifts to Greece. Corinth received a beautiful fountain from him. Reliant upon trade, Corinth was very susceptible to changes in the economic health of the empire. When the strength of Rome began to fail in the third century C. E., the effects were felt first in Corinth; then the entire colonia began to decline.
Archaeologically, Corinth is extremely interesting, with excavation work still proceeding on the site. The most bizarre episode in its history surely came in the reign of Nero. In 66 C. E., the emperor went to Greece on a grand tour. When visiting Corinth he conceived of a plan to cut a canal across the isthmus and gathered together the Praetorian Guard to begin digging. He joined them with a shovel, filling a bucket of dirt, which he carried away on his back. Fortunately for both the Corinthians and the abused guards, Nero lost interest in the project. In the empire, the original name for Corinth was Colonia Laus Julia Corinthus.
Cornelia (1) (fl. first century b. c.e.) First wife of Julius Caesar
Cornelia was the daughter of the four-time Consul Cinna. The dictator Sulla opposed the marriage and demanded that CAESAR divorce her. When Caesar refused, Sulla stripped him of his priesthood and her dowry. She bore Caesar a daughter, JULIA.
Cornelia (2) (fl. first century b. c.e.) Fifth wife of Pom-pey the Great and stepmother of Sextus Pompey and Gnaeus Pompey
Cornelia proved a kind and caring mother and was known for possessing a combination of beauty and intelligence. She knew literature, music, philosophy, and mathematics.
Cornelia supported her husband during the civil war with Julius Caesar. After the Dyrrhachium campaign, POMPEY sent her back to the city of Mitylene, on the island of Lesbos. He was apparently concerned about the coming battle with Caesar and had Sextus join her. The battle of PHARSALUS fulfilled his fears. After a rout of his army at Caesar’s hands, Pompey fled to Lesbos, and Cornelia and Sextus boarded his ship of escape. Rhodes and Antioch would not allow them to land. With no other choice, they sailed to Egypt after taking on a small troop at Cyprus. On September 29, 48 b. c.e., they reached Egypt and tried to land the following day. Before Cornelia’s horrified eyes, Pompey was murdered on the orders of Ptolemy XIII. With the scene still firmly in her mind, Cornelia and her shocked stepson landed at Tyre. After the Civil War, the magnanimous Caesar made peace with her.
Cornelia (3) (d. 90 c. e.) The ranking Vestal Virgin during the reign of Domitian
Cornelia and several of her fellow vestals were involved in a scandal and were eventually put to death. Domitian believed firmly in religious devotion and when word arrived that the vestals had broken their vows of chastity he looked into the matter personally. Domitian found them all guilty and was far more angry with Cornelia than with the others. The two sisters of the Oculata family and another, Varonilla, were executed in 83 c. E. Cornelia, however, suffered the traditional punishment of burial alive. Her lovers were then beaten to death in public view.
World History
