Constans I
320 – 350 · Generation IV · Emperor (r. 337–350) · Constantinian
Constans (AD 320 – 350). Emperor (r. 337–350). (West); youngest son of Constantine I; overthrown by Magnentius. Caesar from 333, he received Italy, Illyricum, and Africa when the brothers divided their father’s empire, and soon added a victory over the Sarmatians. When Constantine II invaded Italy in 340, Constans’s forces killed him near Aquileia, and the prefecture of Gaul passed to the youngest brother. He campaigned against the Franks and in 343 crossed to Roman Britain – the last legitimate emperor to set foot there for over a thousand years. The exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, whose cause strained relations with Constantius II, praised him warmly. In 350 the officer Magnentius was acclaimed emperor at Autun and Constans was overthrown and killed; the surviving sources, perhaps colored by the victor’s propaganda, accuse him of misrule.
Place in the family
- Constans I was a son of Constantine I.
One of 11 people of Constantinian (246–366) in this archive. The house that founded Constantinople and ruled from it.
Line of descent: Constantius I → Constantine I → Constans I.
Parents
- Constantine I (272 – 337)
- Fausta (289 – 326)
Siblings
- Constantine II (316 – 340)
- Constantius II (317 – 361)
- Helena (326 – 360)