A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

CONSTANTINUS.

CONSTANTINUS. 837

the showy pomp and the vain ceremonies of an
Asiatic court. His life is an example of a great
historical lesson: the West may conquer the East,
"but the conqueror will die on his trophies by the
poison of sensuality.
As Constantine the Great was a successful
political reformer, and the protector of a new
religion, he has received as much undeserved reproaches as praise; the Christian writers generally
deified him, and the Pagan historians have cast
infamy on his memory. To judge him fairly was
reserved for the historians of later times.
(Euseb. Vita Constantini; Eutrop. lib. x.;
Sextus Rufus, Brev. 26; Aurel. Vict. Epit. 40,
41, de Caes. 40, &c.; Zosim. lib. ii., Zosimus is
a violent antagonist of Constantine; Zonar. lib.
xiii.; Lactant. de Mort. Persecut. 24-52; Oros.
lib. vii.; Amm. Marc. lib. xiv., &c., Excerpta, p.
710, &c., ed. Valesius. The accounts of, and the
opinions on, Constantine given by Eumenius,
Nazarius, &c., in the Panegyrics (especially vi.xi.), and by the emperor Julian, in his Caesars as
well as in his Orations, are of great importance,
but full of partiality: Julian treats Constantine
very badly, and the Panegyrics are what their
name indicates. Among the ecclesiastical writers,
Eusebius, Lactantius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theophanes, &c., are the principal; but it has already
been observed that their statements must be perused with great precaution. The Life of Constantine by Praxagoras, which was known to the
Byzantines, is lost. Besides these sources, there
is scarcely a writer of the time of Constantine and
the following centuries, who does not give some
account of Constantine; and even in the works of
the later Byzantines, such as Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Cedrenus, we find valuable additions
to the history of that great emperor. The most complete list of sources, with critical observations, is contained in Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs. See
also Manso, Leben Constantins des Grossen.) [W. P.]
COIN OF CONSTANTINUS I.
CONSTANTI'NUS II. FLA'VIUS CLAU'DIUS, surnamed the Younger, Roman emperor,
A. D. 337-340, the second son of Constantine
the Great, and the first whom he had by his second
wife, Fausta, was born at Arelatum, now Arles, in
Gaul, on the 7th of August, A. D. 312. As early
as A. D. 316, he was created Caesar, together with
his elder brother, Crispus, and the younger Licinius, and he held the consulship several times. In
commemoration of the fifth anniversary of his
Caesarship, in 321, the orator Nazarius delivered
a panegyric (Panegyr. Veter. ix.), which, however,
is of little importance. In 335 he was entrusted
with the administration of Gaul, Britain, and
Spain. After the death of his father, 337, he received in the division of the empire between the three
sons of the Great Constantine and his nephews,
Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, the same provinces
which he had governed under his father, and a
part of Africa. Being the eldest surviving son of

Constantine, lie received some exterior marks of
respect from the other emperors, but he had no
authority over them. Dissatisfied with his share
of the spoil, he exacted from his younger brother
Constans the rest of Africa and the co-administration of Italy. Constans refused to give up those
provinces. Constantine declared war against him,
and invaded Italy by sea and by land, and
at Aquileia met with the army of Constans, who
approached from Dacia. Having rashly pursued
the enemy when they gave way in a mock flight,
Constantine was suddenly surrounded by them and
fell under their swords. (A. D. 340.) His body was
thrown into the river Alsa, but was afterwards
found and buried with royal honours. He was
twice married, but the names of his wives are not
known; they probably both died before him, and he
left no issue. An unknown author pronounced a
monody on his death, which is contained in Havercamp's edition of Eutropius. (Zosim. lib. ii.;
Zonar. lib. xiii.; Euseb. Vita Const. iv. 40--49;
Prosper, Chron. Acyndino et Proculo Coss; more
authorities are given in the lives of his brothers,
Constantius and Constans.) [W. P.]
COIN OF CONSTANTINUS II.
CONSTANTI'NUS III., FLA'VIUS HERA'CLIUS,called NOVUS CONSTANTI'NUS,
emperor of the East,A. D. 641, the son of the emperor
Heraclius by his first wife, Eudoxia, was born in
May, 612, and succeeded his father on the 11th of
March (February), 641, together with his younger
half-brother Heracleonas, the succession being thus
established by the testament of their father. Constantine died as early as the 22nd of June (25th
of May) A. D. 641, after a reign of 103 days, either
from ill-health, or probably from poison administered to him by his step-mother Martina. His
successor was his brother Heracleonas. [HERACLEONAS; CONSTANS II.] Constantine distinguished himself personally in a war against the
Persians. Advised by his rapacious treasurer,
Philagrius, he sacrilegiously ordered the grave of
his father to be robbed of a golden crown of seventy
pounds' weight, which stuck so fast to the head of
the dead emperor, that the corpse was mutilated
in removing the crown from it. (Theophan. pp.
251, 275, &c., ed. Paris; Cedren. p. 430, &c., ed.
Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. pp. 71, 87, &c., ed. Paris;
Glycas, p. 276, ed. Paris.) [W. P.]
CONSTANTINUS IV., FLA'VIUS, surnamed POGONA'TUS or BARBA'TUS, emperor of the East, A. D. 668-685, the eldest son
of Constans II., succeeded his father in 668.
Constans having lost his life by assassination at
Syracuse, his murderers, who seemed to have had
great power, and who were assisted by the Greek
army stationed in Sicily, chose as emperor one
Mizizus, Mecentius, or Mezzetius, an Armenian.
Constantine fitted out an expedition against the
usurper, quelled the rebellion in 669, and put
Mizizus to death. After a short stay at Syracuse,
Constantine sailed back to Constantinople, carrying with him the body of his father; but no sooner