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

846 CONSTANTIUS.
sopher of Sicily. (Kewva'rav-vov eihoor6jP'ov roev:ZKceoeU; Lambec. Bibl. Caesar. L. V. Cod. 333,
p. 295; Jacobs, Anthiol. Graec. xiii. p. 874; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. iv. 469.) [P. S.]
CONSTA'NTIUS I. FLA'VIUS VALE'RIUS, surnamed CHLORUS (i' Xlwpos), "the
Pale," Roman emperor, A. D. 305-306, the father
of Constantine the Great, was the son of one Eutropius, of a noble Dardanian family, and Claudia,
the daughter of Crispus, who was the (younger?)
brother of the emperors Claudius II. and Quintilius.
He was probably born in 250. Distinguished
by ability, valour, and virtue, Constantius became
governor of Dalmatia during the reign of the emperor Carus, who, disgusted with the extravagant
conduct of his son Carinus, intended to adopt and
appoint as his successor the more worthy Constantins. Death prevented Carus from carrying that
plan into execution, and the reward of Constantius
was left to the emperors Diocletian and Maximian,
who had experienced that the government of the
immense Roman empire, in its perpetual and hostile contact with so many barbarians, was a burden
too heavy not only for one, but even for two emperors, however distinguished they were. They
consequently resolved that each should appoint a
co-regent Caesar, and their choice fell upon Constantius, who was adopted by Maximian, and
Galerius, who was adopted by Diocletian. Both
the Caesars were obliged to repudiate their wives,
and Galerius was married to Valeria, the daughter
of Diocletian, while Constantius received the hand
of Theodora, the daughter of the wife of Maximian.
Their appointment as Caesars took place at Nicomedeia on the 1st of March, 292. The government of the empire was distributed among the
four princes in the following manner: Constantius
was set over the provinces beyond the Alps, that
is, Gaul, Britain, and Spain (?); Galerius received
both the Illyriae and Moesia, an extensive tract
comprising all the countries from the Inn in Germany to mount Athos and the shores of the Archipelago, and from the Adriatic Sea to the mouth of
the Danube; Maximian governed Italy and Africa;
and Thrace, Egypt, and all the Asiatic provinces
were reserved for the authority of Diocletian. The
first and most important business of Constantius
was the reunion of Britain with the empire, as
Carausius had succeeded in making himself independent of the authority of Diocletian and Maximian. [CARAUSIUS.] After the murder of Carausins by Allectus in 293, this officer seized the
government; but Britain was taken from him
after a struggle of three years [ALLECTUS], and
Constantius established his authority there. Some
time afterwards, the Alemanni invaded Gaul. A
pitched battle took place, in 298, between them
and Constantius at Lingones, in Lugdunensis
Prima, now Langres: the Romans were nearly
routed, when Constantius restored the battle, defeated the enemy, and killed either 60,000 or 6000
barbarians. They suffered another defeat at Vindonissa, now Windish, in Switzerland: there are
doubts with regard to this battle. After the
abdication of Diocletian and Maximian, in 305,
Constantius and Galerius assumed the title and
dignity of Augusti, and ruled as co-emperors.
Constantius died fifteen months afterwards (25th
of July, 306) at Eboracum, now York, on an expedition against the Picts, in which he was accompanied
by his son Constantine, whom he had by his first

CONSTANTIUS.
wife, Helena, whom he had repudiated. The same
Constantine, afterwards the Great, succeeded him
in his share of the government. Constantius was
one of the most excellent characters among the
later Romans, and it is to be regretted that we
know so little about him. His administration of
his provinces procured him great honour, for he
took the most lively interest in the welfare of the
people, and was so far from imitating the rapacity
of other governors, that he was not even provided
with such things as are necessary to men of his
rank, though a vulgar appellation calls them luxuries. In his abstinence from luxuries he seems,
however, to have shewn some affectation. The
Pagans praised him for his humanity, and the
Christians for his impartiality and toleration,
Theophanes calls him Xpoe-ravos'pwV, or a man of
Christian principles. His conduct during the persecution of the Christians by Diocletian was very
humane. It is not known whence he received the
surname of Chlorus, or the Pale, which is given
to him only by later Byzantine writers. Gibbon
(vol. ii. p. 118, note I. ed. 1815) observes, that any
remarkable degree of paleness seems inconsistent
with the rubor mentioned in the Panegyrics (v.
19). Besides his son and successor, Constantine,
Constantius had by his second wife, Theodora,
three sons and three daughters, who are mentioned
in the genealogical table prefixed to the life of
CONs-rANTINus I. (Eutrop. ix. 14-23; Aurel. Vict.
Caes. 39, &c., Epil. 39; Zosim. ii. 7, &c.; Theophan. pp. 4-8, ed. Paris; Panegyric. Jeter. iv. 3,
vi. 4, 6; Euseb. Vit. Const. i. 13-21; Treb. Pollio, Claudius, 3. 13; Ael. Spart. Ael. Verus, 2;
Vopiscus, Carinus, 16, 17, Aurelianus, 44, Probuzs,
22; Amm. Marc. xix. 2.) [W. P.]
COIN OF CONSTANTIUS I.
CONSTA'NTIUS II., FLAVIUS JULIUS,
Roman emperor, A. D. 337-361, whose name is
sometimes written Flavius Claudius Constantius,
Flavius Valerius Constantius, and Constantinus
Constantius. He was the third son of Constantine
the Great, and the second whom he had by his second wife, Fausta; he was born at Sirmium in Pannonia on the 6th of August, A. D. 317, in the consulate of Ovidius Gallicanus and Septimius Bassus.
He was educated with and received the same careful education as his brothers, Constantine and Constans, was less proficient in learned pursuits and
fine arts, but surpassed them in gymnastic and
military exercises. He was created consul in
326, or perhaps as early as 324, and was employed
by his father in the administration of the eastern
provinces. At the death of his father in 337,
Constantius was in Asia, and immediately hastened to Constantinople, where the garrison had
already declared that none should reign but the
sons of Constantine, excluding thus the nephews
of the late emperor, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus,
from the government of those provinces which had
been assigned to them by Constantine, who had
placed Dalmatius over Greece, Macedonia, Thrace,