Roman Emperor Constantine II
Constantine II or as he was known by his full name, Flavius Claudius Constantinus was a Roman emperor who reigned from the year 337 AD to 340 AD. He was born as the eldest son to Constantine I and Fausta sometime in the year 316 AD at Arles and from birth onwards was raised in the Christian faith.
March 1st, in the year 317 AD marked the date when Constantine was made a Caesar and by the year 323 AD at the very young age of seven, he had already taken part in the campaign of his father against the Sarmatians. Upon the death of his older half-brother Crispus, he was assigned to the lofty position of commander of Gaul, a very important position indeed for a man of any age, and made all the more impressive in that the title was bestowed upon a youth who was merely ten years of age!
An inscription which has been known to date from the year 330 AD, reports the appellation of Alamannicus given to Constantine, which supports the many existing reports that his generals won a great victory over Alamanni. The remarkable military career of Constantine was only furthered by his father Constantine I, granting him the position of field commander during the highly successful military campaign against the Goths in the year 332 AD.
His rise to power as the leader of the Roman Empire was occasioned by the death of his father in the year 337 AD. It was upon this event that Constantine was pronounced emperor, a position which he shared with his two brothers, Constantius II and Constans.
The three brothers saw fit to divide the Roman Empire into three distinct sections in Pannonia during September of that very same year. After the division, Constantine found himself in control over all the territories in Gaul, Britannia and Hispania.
Constantine's reign as emperor of the Roman Empire was fraught with constant struggles between the different Christian factions in the land. At that time, the Western portion of the empire had thrown their support behind the tenets of Trinitarism in direct opposition to the teachings of Arianism.
Constantine made steps to free Athanasius and this action therefore opened up the way to his eventual return to Alexandria. This very same action however, would put Constantine at odds against his brother Constantius II who was at the time a known supporter of Arianism.
While he enjoyed a fairly benevolent relationship with his brother Constans, particularly during the latter's early years when he served as the guardian of his younger brother, this relationship would soon end in bitter conflict. Constans domain then consisted of the countries of Italia, Africa and Illyricum.
Upon the younger brother's coming of age, Constantine against all expectation refused to give up hold of the guardianship. This resulted in open warfare between the two brothers, a warfare which culminated in a battle in Italy in the year 340 AD. Constantine was subsequently defeated at Aquileia and later died from wounds received in the battle.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 22/07/2008
