Constantia Postuma
361 – 383 · Generation XVIII
Constantia (AD 361 – AD 383). Married Gratian around AD 374. Born after her father’s death — the last of Constantine’s house, married into the next. Her father, Constantius II, died of fever in Cilicia in November 361, and she was born into the reign of his cousin Julian; after Julian fell fighting the Persians in 363, she was the last confirmed descendant of the Constantinian line. That lineage made her useful: the usurper Procopius carried the small girl and her mother, Faustina, in a litter among his troops to rally them to the old dynasty, until his execution in 366. In 374, aged about twelve, she was sent west to marry Gratian, son and co-ruler of Valentinian I, and narrowly escaped capture by Quadi and Sarmatian raiders near Sirmium. The young couple were soon left in charge at Trier. She was still alive in 380 but died, of unknown causes, in 383; her remains reached Constantinople that August, days after Gratian’s assassination, and were buried in December.
Place in the family
- Constantia Postuma was a granddaughter of Constantine the Great.
Line of descent: Constantius Chlorus → Constantine the Great → Constantius II Flavius Julius → Constantia Postuma.
Parents
- Constantius II Flavius Julius (317 – 361)
- Faustina of Constantinople (340 – 366)
Partners
- Married Gratian Flavius (359 – 383) in 374
Life
- 361 — Born
- 374 — Married Gratian
- 383 — Died