Constans

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Constans

Flavius Julius Constans (320-350), was a Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
who ruled from 337 to 350. Constans was the third and youngest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta

Fausta

Fausta Flavia Maxima, Roman Empress, She was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Maximianus . To seal the alliance between them for control of the Tetrarchy, Maximianus married her to Constantine I in 307....
, Constantine's second wife.

In 337 he succeeded his father, jointly with his older brothers Constantine II

Constantine II (emperor)

Flavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine II, was List of Roman Emperors from 337 to 340. The eldest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, he was born at Arles, and was raised as a Christian....
and Constantius II

Constantius II

Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty....
, receiving Italy, Pannonia

Pannonia

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Flavius Julius Constans (320-350), was a Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

Fausta

In 337 he succeeded his father, jointly with his older brothers Constantine II

Constantine II (emperor)

Constantius II

Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty....
, receiving Italy, Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
and Africa as his portion. Constantine II, who ruled over Gaul, Spain and Britain, attempted to take advantage of his youth and inexperience by invading Italy in 340, but Constans defeated Constantine at Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient history Roman Republic city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic Sea at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times....
, where the older brother died. The invasion was the effect of brotherly tensions between the two emperors. Constantine II was, at first, Constans's guardian. As Constans grew older, Constantine II never relinquished that position.

In 341-2, Constans led a successful campaign against the Franks

Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
and in the early months of 343 visited Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
. The source for this visit, Julius Firmicus Maternus

Julius Firmicus Maternus

Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Christian Latin writer and notable astrologer, who lived in the reign of Constantine I and his successors....
, does not give a reason for this but the quick movement and the danger involved in crossing the channel

English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
in the dangerous winter months, suggests it was in response to a military emergency of some kind, possibly to repel the Picts

Picts

The Picts were a confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman Empire times until the 10th century....
and Scots

Gaels

The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group which originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man. They are speakers of the Goidelic languages languages ? Irish language, Scottish Gaelic and Manx language....
.

Regarding religion, Constans was tolerant of Judaism but promulgated an edict banning pagan sacrifices in 341. He suppressed Donatism in Africa and supported Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heresy at the First Council of Nicea, later exonerated and then pronounced a heretic again after his death....
, which was championed by his brother Constantius the latter. Constans called the Council of Sardica

Council of Sardica

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Rite, which includes the whole southern part of Bulgaria....
, which unsuccessfully tried to settle the conflict.

In 350, the general Magnentius

Magnentius

Flavius Magnus Magnentius was a Roman usurper .Born in Samarobriva , Gaul, Magnentius was the commander of the Herculians and Iovians, the imperial guard units ....
declared himself emperor with the support of the troops on the Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
frontier, and later the entire Western portion of the Roman Empire. Constans lacked any support beyond his immediate household, and was forced to flee for his life. Magnentius' supporters cornered him in a fortification in Helena, southwestern Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
, where he was killed by Magnentius's assassins.

External links

, De Imperatoribus Romanis site.