Constantinus

• Constantine, a well-known Roman emperor, born A. D. 274, died A. D. 323, Eutr. 10, 2 sqq.; Lact. Mort. Pers. 18 sqq.; Amm.21, 10, 8.
• —Hence, Constantīnĭānus, a, um, adj., of or pertaining to Constantine: genus, Amm.27, 5, 1: lavacrum, id. 27, 3, 8.

the second son of Constantius Chlorus, and the first whom he had by his second wife, Theodora, was probably murdered by his nephew, the emperor Constantius. He is mentioned only by Zonaras (vol. i. p. 246, ed. Paris). There is much doubt respecting him, although it appears from Julianus (Epist. ad Pop. Athen. p. 497, ed. Paris), that Constantius put two uncles to death; so that we are forced to admit three brothers of Constantine the Great, one of whom, Hannibalianus, died before him, while his brothers Constantius and Constantinus survived him. The passage in Philostorgius (2.4) "Μετ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον afterr the empress Fausta was suffocated in a bath) ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν φαρμάκοις κατὰ τὴν Νικομήδειαν διατρίβοντα ἀναιρεθῆναι" says clearly, that at the death of Constantine the Great there was more than one brother of him alive. [Constantius II.] [W.P]

the tyrant, emperor in Britain, Gaul, and Spain, was a common soldier in the Roman army stationed in Britain in the beginning of the fifth century of our aera, during the reign of the emperor Honorius. In A. D. 407 these troops rebelled, and chose one Marcus emperor, whom they murdered soon afterwards. They then swore obedience to one Gratianus, and having got tired of him, they killed him likewise, and chose one of their comrades, Constantine, in his stead. They had no other motive for selecting him but the fact that he bore the venerated and royal name of Constantine. Although little fitted for the duties of his exalted rank, Constantine considered that he should soon share the fate of his predecessors, if he did not employ his army in some serious business. He consequently carried his troops immediately over to Gaul, and landed at Boulogne. This country was so badly defended, that Constantine was recognized in nearly every province before the year had elapsed in which he was invested with the purple. (A. D. 407.) Stilicho, who was commissioned by the emperor Honorius, sent his lieutenant Sarus, a Goth, into Gaul, who defeated and killed Justinian, and assassinated Nervigastes. the two best generals of the usurper. Constantine was besieged by Sarus in Vienna, now Vienne in Dauphiné; but, assisted by the skill of Edobincus and especially Gerontius, the successors of Justinian and Nervigastes in the command of the army, he defeated the besiegers, and drove them back beyond the Alps. Upon this, he took up his residence at Arelatum, now Arles, and sent his son Constans, whom he created Caesar, into Spain. At the head of the Honoriani, a band of mercenary barbarians, Constans soon established the authority of his father in Spain (A. D. 408), and was rewarded with the dignity of Augustus.

In the following year Honorius judged it prudent to acknowledge Constantine as emperor, in order that he might obtain his assistance against the Goths. Constantine did not hesitate to arm for the defence of Honorius, having previously obtained his pardon for the assassination of Didymus (Didymius) and Verinianus (Verenianus), two kinsmen of Honorius, who had been killed by order of Constantine for having defended Spain against his son Constans; and he entered Italy at the head of a strong army, his secret intention being to depose Honorius and to make himself master of the whole Western empire. He had halted under the walls of Verona, when he was suddenly recalled to Gaul by the rebellion of his general, Gerontius, who, having the command of the army in Spain, persuaded the troops to support his revolt. In a short time, Gerontius was master of Spain; but, instead of assuming the purple, he had his friend Maximus proclaimed emperor, and hastened into Gaul, where Constantine had just arrived from Italy. Constans, the son of Constantine, was taken prisoner at Vienna, and put to death, and his father shut himself up in Arles, where he was besieged by Gerontius. This state of things was suddenly changed by the arrival of Constantius, the general of Honorius, with an army strong enough to compel Gerontius to raise the siege and to fly to the Pyrenees, where he perished with his wife. Constantius commanded part of his troops to pursue him; with the other part he continued the siege, as is related under Constantius, and afterwards compelled Constantine to surrender on condition of having his life preserved. Constantine and his second son Julian were sent to Italy; but Honorius did not keep the promise made by his general, and both the captives were put to death. The revolt of Constantine is of great importance in the history of Britain, since in consequence of it and the rebellion of the inhabitants against the officers of Constantine, the emperor Honorius gave up all hopes of restoring his authority over that country, and recognized its independence of Rome,--a circumstance that led to the conquest of Britain by the Saxons. (A. D. 411.) (Zosim. lib. v. ult. and lib. vi., the chief source; Oros. 7.40-42; Sozom. 9.11_13; Jornandes, de Reb. Goth. p. 112, ed. Lindenbrog; Sidon. Apoll. Epist. 5.9; Prosper, Chron., Honorio VII. et Theodosio II. Coss, Theodosio Aug. IV. Cons.)

[W.P]

surnamed the Younger, Roman emperor, A. D. 337-340, the second son of Constantine the Great, and the first whom he had by his second wife, Fausta, was born at Arelatum, now Aries, in Gaul, on the 7th of August, A. D. 312. As early as A. D. 316, he was created Caesar, together with nis elder brother, Crispus, and the younger Licinius, and he held the consulship several times. In commemoration of the fifth anniversary of his Caesarship, in 321, the orator Nazarius delivered a panegyric (Panegyr. Veter. ix.), which, however, is of little importance. In 335 he was entrusted with the administration of Gaul, Britain, and Spain. After the death of his father, 337, he received in the division of the empire between the three sons of the Great Constantine and his nephews, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, the same provinces which he had governed under his father, and a part of Africa. Being the eldest surviving son of Constantine, he received some exterior marks of respect from the other emperors, but he had no authority over them. Dissatisfied with his share of the spoil, he exacted from his younger brother Constans the rest of Africa and the co-administration of Italy. Constans refused to give up those provinces. Constantine declared war against him, and invaded Italy by sea and by land, and at Aquileia met with the army of Constans, who approached from Dacia. Having rashly pursued the enemy when they gave way in a mock flight, Constantine was suddenly surrounded by them and fell under their swords. (A. D. 340.) His body was thrown into the river Alsa, but was afterwards found and buried with royal honours. He was twice married, but the names of his wives are not known; they probably both died before him, and he left no issue. Monody on his death

An unknown author pronounced a monody on his death. Editions

This is contained in Havercamp's edition of Eutropius. Further Information

Zosim. lib. ii. ; Zonar. lib. xiii.; Euseb. Vita Const. 4.40-49 ; Prosper, Chron. Acyndino et Proculo Coss; more authorities are given in the lives of his brothers, Constantius and Constans.

[W.P]

called NOVUS CONSTANTI'NUS, emperor of the East,A. D. 641, the son of the emperor Heraclius by his first wife, Eudoxia, was born in May, 612, and succeeded his father on the 11th of March (February), 641, together with his younger half-brother Heracleonas, the succession being thus established by the testament of their father. Constantine died as early as the 22nd of June (25th of May) A. D. 641, after a reign of 103 days, either from ill-health, or probably from poison administered to him by his step-mother Martina. His successor was his brother Heracleonas. [Heracleonas ; Constans II.] Constantine distinguished himself personally in a war against the Persians. Advised by his rapacious treasurer, Philagrius, he sacrilegiously ordered the grave of his father to be robbed of a golden crown of seventy pounds' weight, which stuck so fast to the head of the dead emperor, that the corpse was mutilated in removing the crown from it. (Theophan. pp. 251, 275, &c., ed. Paris; Cedren. p. 430, &c., ed. Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. pp. 71, 87, &c., ed. Paris ; Glycas, p. 276, ed. Paris.) [W.P]

surnamed POGONA'TUS or Barba'tus, emperor of the East, A. D. 668-685, the eldest son of Constans II., succeeded his father in 668. Constans having lost his life by assassination at Syracuse, his murderers, who seemed to have had great power, and who were assisted by the Greek army stationed in Sicily, chose as emperor one Mizizus, Mecentius, or Mezzetius, an Armenian. Constantine fitted out an expedition against the usurper, quelled the rebellion in 669, and put Mizizus to death. After a short stay at Syracuse, Constantine sailed back to Constantinople, carrying with him the body of his father; but no sooner was he gone, than an Arabic fleet, perhaps invited thither by the rebels, appeared off Syracuse. The place was taken by surprise and partly destroyed, and the riches and statues, the plunder of Rome, collected there by Constans, were carried by the Arabs to Alexandria. The Greek troops in Asia revolted soon after the return of the emperor. They would be governed by a " Trinity," and not by a sole sovereign, and demanded that Constantine should divide his authority with his two brothers, Heraclius and Tiberius, who had the title but not the power of Augusti. This rebellion was likewise soon quelled, and Constantine pardoned both his brothers. At the same time, an Arabic army commanded by Ukbah and Dinár invaded the remaining part of the Greek dominions in Africa (Mauretania), penetrated as far as the shores of the Atlantic, and ravaged the country so fearfully, that both the Greek and Berber inhabitants rose in despair, and, under the command of a native chief named Kussileh, surprised the Moslems, and killed nearly all of them. This however was no advantage to the emperor, since Kussileh succeeded in seizing the supreme power in that country.

In 671 the Arabs equipped a powerful fleet with the intention of laying siege to Constantinople. They conquered Smyrna and nearly all the islands of the Grecian archipelago, and began the blockade of Constantinople in the spring of 672 ; but, after a protracted siege of five months,were compelled to sail back, after sustaining immense losses from the Greek fire, which had just been invented by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, and was first employed in that siege. Yezíd, the son of the khalif Mú'awiyah, who commanded the Arabic forces, returned in the following spring, and, during a period of seven years, regularly appeared before Constantinople in the spring, and sailed to his winter-quarters in the autumn, but was not able to take the city. During the last siege, in 679, the Arabic fleet lost so many ships by the Greek fire, that Yezíd was compelled to make a hasty retreat, and not having a sufficient number of ships for his numerous forces, despatched a body of 30,000 men by land for Syria, while he embarked the rest on board his fleet. But his fleet was destroyed by a storm, and the land army was overtaken and cut to pieces by a Greek army commanded by Florus, Petronas, and Cyprianus. This unfortunate campaign, and the war at the same time with the Maronites or Druses of Mount Lebanon, pressed so heavily upon the khalif Mú'awiyah, that, wishing for peace, he signed the conditions offered him by Constantine, and he thus became liable, for the period of thirty years, to an annual tribute of 3000 pounds of gold accompanied by rich presents of slaves and horses. By this glorious peace the authority of the Greek emperor rose to such a height, that all the minor powers of Asia sought his protection. But his name was less dreaded in Europe, for he was compelled by the Bulgarians to cede to them that country south of the Danube which is still called Bulgaria.

In 680 Constantine assembled the sixth general council at Constantinople, by which the Monothelists were condemned and peace was restored to the church. In 681 the emperor's brothers, Heraclius and Tiberius, were both deprived of their dignity of Augustus, which title Constantine conferred upon his son Justinian. We know almost nothing of the last five years of the reign of Constantine : he died in the month of September, 685, and was succeeded by his son, Justinian II.

Besides the wars which signalized the reign of Constantine IV., there is an event not less remarkable, which most probably took place during the same period. We allude to the new division of the empire, which had hitherto been administered according to the ancient system, so that, for instance, all the Asiatic dominions were ruled by a civil governor or proconsul, and the whole army stationed in that part of the empire had likewise but one chief commander, the praefect of Asia. The constant incursions of the Arabs required the presence of different moveable corps stationed in the frontier provinces, the commanders of which were independent of one another : these bodies were called themata (θέματα), from thema (πέμα), a position. This name was afterwards given to the districts in which such corps were stationed, and its use became so general, that at last the whole empire was divided into twenty-nine themata, seventeen of which were in the eastern and southern or Asiatic part of the empire, and twelve in the northern and western parts, from the Cimmerian Bosporus to Sicily. This important change in the administration of the empire took place in the latter years of the reign of Heraclius, or in the reign of Constantine IV., that is, from about 635 to 685. But although we do not precisely know the year, there are many reasons for believing that Constantine IV. was the originator of that plan. [Constantinus VII.] (Cedren. p. 436, &c., ed. Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 89, &c., ed. Paris; Glycas, p. 278, &c., ed. Paris; Theophan. p. 289, &c., ed. Paris; Paulus Diacon. De Gestis Longobard. 5.30.) [W.P]

surnamed COPRO'NYMUS (ὁ Κοπρώνυμος), because he polluted the baptismal font at the time of his baptism, emperor of the East, A. D. 741-775, was the only son of the emperor Leo III. Isaurus. He was born in 719, and succeeded his father in 741. The unfortunate commencement of his reign is related in the life of the emperor Artavasdes, p. 370b. The downfall of this usurper in 743 and the complete success of Constantine caused much grief to pope Zacharias, who had recognized Artavasdes because he protected the worship of images, while Constantine was an iconoclast, at whose instigation a council held at Constantinople in 754 condemned the worship of images throughout the whole Eastern empire. Constantine was most cruel in his proceedings against the orthodox : he anathematized Joannes Damascenus and put to death Constantine, the patriarch of Constantinople, St. Stephanus, and many other fathers who had declared for the images. In 751 Eutychius, exarch of Ravenna, was driven out by Astolf (Astaulphus), king of the Longobards, who united that province with his dominions after the dignity of exarch had been in existence during a period of 185 years. A war having broken out between Astolf and Pipin the Short, king of the Franks, the latter conquered the exarchate and gave it to pope Stephen (755), the first pope who ever had temporal dominions, the duchy of Rome being still a dependency of the Eastern empire. Constantine sent ambassadors to Pipin, Astolf, and the pope, to claim the restitution of the exarchate; but the negotiations proved abor tive, since the emperor could not give them sufficient weight by the display of a formidable army in Italy; for his troops were engaged in disastrous wars with the Arabs, who ravaged Pamphylia, Cilicia, and Isauria; with the Slavonians, who conquered Greece; and with the Bulgarians, who penetrated several times as far as the environs of Constantinople. The Bulgarian king, Paganus, however, suffered a severe defeat from Constantine in 765, in which he was treacherously killed, and Constantine entered his capital in triumph; but in the following year he sustained a severe defeat from the Bulgarians, and was compelled to fly ingloriously, after losing his fleet and army. Constantine still flattered himself with regaining Ravenna, either by force or arms; but after Charlemagne became king of the Franks he relinquished this hope, and united his dominions on the continent of southern Italy with the island of Sicily, putting all those provinces under the authority of the Patricius or governor-general of Sicily. The continental part of the new province or Thema of Sicily was sometimes called Sicilia secunda, whence arose the name of both the Sicilies, which is still the regular designation of the kingdom of Naples. In 774, the empire was once more invaded by the Bulgarians under their king Telericus; but Constantine checked his progress, and in the following year fitted out a powerful expedition to chastise the barbarian. Having resolved to take the command of it in person, he set out for the Haemus ; but some ulcers on his legs, the consequence of his debaucheries, having suddenly burst, he stopped at Arcadiopolis, and finally went on board his fleet off Selembria, where he died from an inflammatory fever on the 14th of September, 775.

Constantine V. was a cruel, profligate, and most fanatical man; but he was, nevertheless, well adapted for the business of government. He was addicted to unnatural vices; his passion for horses procured him the nickname of Caballinus. He was thrice married : viz. to Irene, daughter of the khagan or khan of the Khazars; a lady called Maria; and Eudoxia Melissena. His successor was his eldest son, Leo IV., whom he had by Irene. During the reign of Constantine V. the beautiful aqueduct of Constantinople, built by the emperor Valens, which had been ruined by the barbarians in the time of the emperor Heraclius, was restored by order of Constantine. (Theophan. p. 346, &c., ed. Paris; Cedren. p. 549, &c., ed. Paris; Nicephor. Gregoras, p. 38, &c., ed. Paris ; Glycas, p. 283, ed. Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 105, ed. Paris.) [W.P]

emperor of the East, reigned, together with his brother Stephanus, after the deposition of their father, Romanus Lecapenus, but was soon compelled to cede the throne to the lawful sovereign, Constantine Porphyrogenitus. (A. D. 945.) [Constantinus VII.]

emperor of the East, A. D. 976-1028, the son of the emperor Romanus II., was born in A. D. 961, and began to reign, together with his elder brother, Basil II., in 976 ; but, addicted to idleness and luxury, he took no part in the administration of the empire. After the death of Basil in 1025, he became sole emperor; but, fortunately for his subjects, who suffered much from the Arabians during his miserable administration, he died three years afterwards, in 1028. Constantine IX. was the last of the Macedonian dynasty. His successor was Romanus Argyrus, the husband of his daughter Zoe, whom he had by his wife Helena Augusta. [Basilius II.]

(ὁ Μονομάχος), emperor of the East, A. D. 1042-1054. His surname was given him on account of his personal courage in war. In 1042 the government of the empire was in the hands of two imperial sisters, Zoe, the widow of the emperor Romanus Argyrus, and afterwards of Michael IV. the Paphlagonian, and Theodora, a spinster, who were placed on the throne by the inhabitants of Constantinople, after they had deposed the emperor Michael V. Calaphates, the adopted son of Zoe. The two sisters being afraid of their position, Zoe proposed to Constantine Monomachus that he should marry her; and as she was rather advanced in age, being then upwards of sixty, she allowed the gallant warrior to bring his beautiful mistress, Sclerena, with him to the imperial palace, where the two ladies lived together on the best terms. Constantine was saluted as emperor, and conferred the dignity of Augusta upon Sclerena. Soon after the accession of Constantine, Georgius Maniaces, a brother of Sclerena, who was renowned for his victories over the Arabs, and who then held the command in Italy, raised a rebellion. At the head of a chosen body of troops he crossed the Adriatic, landed in Epeirus, joined an auxiliary army of Bulgarians, and marched upon Constantinople. An assassin delivered the emperor from his fears : Maniaces was murdered by an unknown hand in the midst of his camp.

A still greater danger arose in 1043 from an invasion of the Russians, who appeared with a powerful fleet in the Bosporus, while a land force penetrated as far as Varna : but the fleet was dispersed or taken in a bloody engagement, and the Russian army was routed by Catacalo.

In 1047, while absent on an expedition against the Arabs, Constantine received news of another rebellion having broken out, headed by Tornicius, a relative of the emperor, who assumed the imperial title, and laid siege to Constantinople. The emperor hastened to the defence of his capital, broke the forces of the rebel in a decisive battle, and Tornicius, having fallen into the hands of his pursuers, was blinded and confined to a monastery. Constantine was not less fortunate in a war with Cacicus, the vassal king of Armenia and Iberia, who tried to make himself independent; but, unable to take the field against the imperial armies, he was at last compelled to throw himself at the feet of the emperor and implore his clemency. His crown was taken from him, but he was allowed to enjoy both life and liberty, and spent the rest of his days in Cappadocia, where his generous victor had given him extensive estates. Iberia and Armenia were reunited under the immediate authority of the Greeks.

While the frontiers of the empire were thus extended in the East, Thrace and Macedonia suffered dreadfully from an invasion of the Petchenegues, who were so superior to the Greeks in martial qualities, that they would have conquered all those provinces which they had hitherto only plundered, but for the timely interference of the emperor's body-guards, composed of Waregians or Normans, who drove the enemy back beyond the Danube, and compelled them to beg for peace. (A. D. 1053.) At the same time the Normans made great progress in Italy, where they finally succeeded in conquering all the dominions of the Greek emperors. In the following year, 1054, the great schism began, which resulted in the complete separation of the Greek and Roman churches, and put an end to the authority of the popes in the East. Constantine did not live to see the completion of the schism, for he died in the course of the same year, 1054. Constantine was a man of generous character, who, when emperor, would not revenge many insults he had received while he was but an officer in the army. He managed, however, the financial department in an unprincipled manner, spending large sums upon the embellishment of Constantinople and other luxuries, and shewing himself a miser where he ought to have spared no money. Thus, for economy's sake, he paid off his Iberian troops, 50,000 in number, who were the bulwark of Greece, and who were no sooner disbanded than the frontier provinces of the empire were inundated by Arabs and Petchenegues, so that, although he augmented the extent of his dominions by the addition of Iberia and Armenia, he contributed much to the rapid decline of Greek power under his successor. The successor of Constantine X. was the empress Theodora mentioned above. (Cedren. p. 754, &c., ed. Paris; Psellus in Zonar. vol. ii. p. 247, &c. ed. Paris; Glycas, p. 319, &c., ed. Paris; Joel, p. 183, &c., ed. Paris.) [W.P]

(ὁ Δοῦκας) emperor of the East, A. D. 1059-1067, was chosen by the emperor Isaac I. Comnenus, who abdicated in 1059, as his successor, in preference to his own children, because he thought him to be the most worthy of his subjects. It proved, however, that, although Constantine was undoubtedly one of the best subjects of Isaac, he still was not fit to rule in those troublous times. Previously to his election, Constantine had been very active in putting Michael VI. Stratioticus on the throne (A. D. 1056), but he deserted him in the following year and espoused the party of Isaac Comnenus, who succeeded in seizing the government. Thence their friendship arose. When he ascended the throne, the people expected that he would take vigorous measures against those swarms of barbarians who were attacking the empire from all sides, and they were the more justified in their expectations as Constantine was an able general. But he loved talking quite as much as action, and instead of preparing for war, he addressed the people in a long elaborate speech on the duties of an emperor under the circumstances of the times. So fond was he of speeches, that he said he preferred the crown of eloquence to the crown of Rome, nor can we feel sure whether he really meant so or not, for both those crowns were rather dusty then. Having reduced his army from motives of economy, he saw, his empire suddenly invaded (in 1064) by a host, or probably the whole nation, of the Uzes, for they are said to have been 600,000 men strong. While they ravaged Thrace and Macedonia, the Hungarians crossed the Danube and seized Belgrade, the key of the empire. Fortunately for the Greeks, the plague broke out in the camps of those barbarians, and so much diminished their numbers that they hastened back to their steppes beyond the Danube. During the same time the Turks-Seljuks made similar attacks upon the Greek domains in Asia, and the Normans obtained possession of the rest of the emperor's dominions in Italy. Bani, the capital of them, was taken shortly before the death of the emperor, which happened in A. D. 1067. Constantine had many good qualities, though they were overshadowed by petty and strange passions. Love of justice induced him to recall immediately on his accession all those who were exiled for political crimes, and to undertake a great number of lawsuits, which, accustomed as he was to follow his sophistical genius, he believed to be just, while they proved to be mere chicaneries. When it became known that his love of war had turned into love of legal intrigues, many officers of his army abandoned the profession of arms, and became advocates for the purpose of rising to honours and making their fortunes. Constantine conferred the title of Augustus upon his three sons, Michael, Andronicus, and Constantine, who were all under age, and whom he destined to succeed him and to reign conjointly under the regency of his widow Eudoxia. But she was unable to keep the throne alone, and married Romanus Diogenes for the sake of protection and support, and this distinguished general, who was created emperor, must be considered as the real successor of Constantine XI. (Scylitzes, p. 813, &c., ed. Paris ; Psellus in Zonar. vol. ii. p. 272, &c., ed. Paris ; Glycas, p. 324, &c., ed. Paris; Nicephorus Bryenn. p. 19, &c., ed. Paris.) [W.P]

DUCAS, emperor of the East, the youngest son of the preceding, succeeded his father Constantine XI. in 1067, together with his brothers Michael and Andronicus, under the regency of their mother Eudoxia, who married Romanus III. Diogenes and made him emperor. After the capture of Romanus by the Turks in 1071, Constantine and his brothers were proclaimed emperors, but Michael, the eldest, was the real ruler. Constantine was confined in a monastery by the emperor Nicephorus III. Botaniates about 1078. His final fate is not well known. He died either in the same year in consequence of cruel tortures to which he had been exposed, or as late as 1082, in a battle between the emperor Alexis I. and Robert Guiscard. Anna Comnena calls him Constantius (p. 117, ed. Paris). [Michael VII.; ROMANUS III] [W.P]

surnamed DRAGASES (ὁ Παλαιόλογος ὁ δραγάσης), the last emperor of the East, A. D. 1448-1453, was the fourth son of the emperor Manuel II. Palaeologus. He was born in A. D. 1394, and obtained the throne after the death of his elder brother, the emperor John VII., in 1448. He first married Theodora, daughter of Leonardo, count of Tocco, a lord in the Peloponnesus, and, after her death, Catharina, daughter of Notaras Palaeologus Catelusius, prince of Lesbos, by neither of whom he left issue.

Previously to his accession, Constantine was despot or lord of a small remnant of the Byzantine empire in the Chersonnesus Taurica, and during the reign of his brother John he was invested with the principality of, or more correctly a principality in, the Pcioponnesus, which he bravely defended against the Turks. After the death of John, the throne was claimed by his surviving brothers, Demetrius, the eldest, Constantine, and Thomas. A strong party having declared for Constantine, this prince, who was still in the Peloponnesus, accepted the crown after long hesitation, as he saw that he had but few chances of defending it against the overwhelming power of the Turks, who had gradually reduced the Byzantine empire to the city of Constantinople and a few maritime places and islands in Greece. In his embarrassment he sent Phranza, the historian, to the court of sultan Mürad II., declaring that he would not exercise that power which the Greeks had conferred upon him, unless the sultan would give him his permission. Mürad having received the ambassador favourably, and given his consent, Constantine embarked on board a squadron, and soon afterwards arrived at Constantinople. He made peace with his brothers by giving them his former domain in the Peloponnesus. The beginning of his reign was quiet; but sultan Miirad died in 1450, and his son and successor, the ambitious and lofty Mohammed, was far from shewing the same sentiments towards Constantine as his father. Mohammed was then engaged in a war against the Turkish emir of Caramania, who made such a desperate resistance, that the councillors of Constantine thought this to be a favourable opportunity for making their master somewhat more independent of the sultan. They threatened to assist prince Urkhan (the eldest brother of Mohammed?), who lived at Constantinople and claimed the Turkish throne, to raise an army and to enter into a contest with Mohammed. Ambassadors having been sent to the sultan to inform him of the dispositions of the Greek court, the vizír Khalíl reproached them with their imprudent and presumptuous conduct in very severe terms, and concluded with the words, " If you will proclaim Urkhan as sultan, you may do so; you may call the Hungarians for assistance, you may try to reconquer all those countries which we have taken from you ; but know ye that you will succeed in nothing, and that instead of winning an inch of ground, you will lose the petty remains of your empire which we have left you. My master shall be informed of the subject of your message, and his will shall be done." (Ducas, p. ]32.) Soon afterwards, Mohammed made preparations for a siege of Constantinople, having declared that he would not make peace till he could reside in the capital of the Greek empire.

Constantinople was blockaded by land and by sea till the sultan's artillery was ready, which was cast at Adrianople by Urban. a Dacian * A Dacian (Δᾶξ) according to Chalcondylas, and a Hungarian according to Ducas. Gibbon (xii. p. 197, ed. 1815) says, "a Dane or Hungarian,"--either a mistake or a typographical error. or Hungarian founder, and was of greater dimensions than had ever been made before. While it was casting Mohammed took Mesembria, Anchialos, Byzon, and other towns which still belonged to the empire. On the 6th of April, 1453, Mohammed appeared under the walls of Constantinople at the head of an army of 258,000 men, carrying with him, among other pieces of large size, a gun which threw a stone ball of 1200 pounds. The city was defended by the Greeks and numerous Venetian, Genoese, and other Frankish auxiliaries or volunteers; and the Christian navy was superior to the Turkish, not in number, but in the construction of the ships and the skill of the Frankish marines.

Our limits do not allow us to give a history of this siege. Among the numerous works, in which the account is given with more or less truth or beauty, we refer to Gibbon, Le Beau, " Histoire du Bas Empire," continued by Ameilhon, and Hammer, " Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches." The contest lasted from the 6th of April till the 29th of May, 1453: prophecies had foretold its issue. On that day the last emperor of the East fell on the wall of his trembling capital: Θέλω θανεῖν μᾶλλον ἤ ζῆν, he cried out in despair when the Turks stormed the wall and he was forsaken by his guards. Surrounded by a crowd of Janissaries, and foreseeing his fate, he cried out again, " Is there no Christian who will cut off my head?" He had scarcely uttered these words when he was struck by two Turks at once, and expired unknown to them on a heap of slain. His body was afterwards discovered, and when Mohammed was in undisputed possession of the city, he ordered his head to be cut off, and had it nailed on the porphyry column on the place called Augusteum. It was afterwards sent as a trophy to the principal towns in Turkish Asia. One of the first acts of the victor was the consecration of the church of St. Sophia as a mosque, and Mohammed was the first Moslem who prayed there standing on the altar. It is said that he entered that church on horseback, but this is an idle story invented by monks. He alighted from his horse at the principal gate, entered the church with visible respect and admiration, and was so far from committing any profanation, that he killed with his own hand a Turk whom he discovered breaking up the beautiful marbles of the pavement.

The conquest of Constantinople was an event of the greatest importance to the Sultans. During upwards of one thousand years that city had been looked upon by the nations of the East as the sacred seat of both the supreme temporal and spiritual power, and being masters of Constantinople, the Sultans at once were considered as the heirs of the Roman emperors. Until then the obedience paid to them was but submission to the sword of a conqueror: it was now both fear and habit, and the transient impression of victory acquired the strength of hereditary duty. With the fall of Constantinople, darkness spread over the East; but the Muses flying from the Bosporus found a more genial home on the banks of the Arno and the Tiber. Almost four centuries have elapsed since the first Mohammedan prayer was offered in St. Sophia; yet all the power and glory of the Sultans have been unable to root out of the minds of the Greeks the remembrance of their past grandeur, and at the present moment the duration of the Turkish power in Constantinople is less probable than the revival of a new Greek empire. (Phranzes, lib. iii., &c.; Ducas, 100.34, &c.; Chalcocondyles, lib. vii., &c.; Leonardus Chiensis, Hist. Constant. a Turc. expugnatae, 1st ed., Nürnberg, 1544, 4to., a small but curious work, written a few months after the fall of Constantinople.) [W.P]

[ACR'OPOLITA, Georgius.]

of ANTIOCH, also called Constantius, was a presbyter at the metropolitan church of Antioch, lived about A. D. 400, and was destined to succeed bishop Flavianus, Porphyrius, however, who wished to obtain that see, intrigued at the court of Constantinople, and succeeded in obtaining an order from the emperor Arcadius for the banishment of Constantine. With the aid of some friends, Constantine escaped to Cyprus, where he seems to have remained during the rest of his life. He survived St. Chrysostom, who died in A. D. 407. Constantine edited the Commentary of St. Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews, consisting of thirty-four homilies, arranged by the editor. Among the Epistles of St. Chrysostom, two, viz. Ep. 221 and 225, are addressed to Constantine, who is perhaps the author of two other Epistles commonly attributed to St. Chrysostom, viz. Ep. 237 and 238. (Cave, Hist. Lit. ii. p. 135, ad an. 404.) [W.P]

(Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Κεφαλᾶς), was the compiler of the most important of the Greek Anthologies, the one which is known by the name of the Palatine Anthology. His personal history is entirely unknown, but in all probability his Anthology was composed at the beginning of the tenth century of our era. An account of the literary history of the Greek Anthology is given under Planudes. [P.S]

Diaconus and chartophylax at the metropolitan church of Constantinople, wrote " Oratio encomiastica in Omnes Sanctos Martyres," the Greek text of which is extant in MS., and which is referred to in the Acts of the second council of Nicaea in " Acta Patruim." He lived before the eighth century. (Cave, Hist. Lit. ii. D. P. 10; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. x. p. 288, xi. p. 270, xii. p. 239.) [W.P]

[Harmenopulus.]

a Jurist, a contemporary of Justinian. In A. D. 528, he was one of the commissioners appointed to form the first code. He was then, and in A. D. 529, when the first code was confirmed, mentioned by Justinian with several official titles: vir illustris, comes sacrarum largitionum inter agentes, et magister scrinii libellorum et sacrarum cognitionum. (Const. Haec quae necessario, § 1, Const. Summa Reipublicae, § 2.) A Second Constantinus who was an advocate at Constantinople

A person of the same name, who is described as an advocate at Constantinople, without any of these official titles, was one of the commissioners appointed to compile the Digest, A. D. 530 (Const. tanta, § 9), and was also one of the commissioners appointed to draw up that new edition of the Code which now forms part of the Corpus Juris. (Const. Cordi, § 2.) Works Edicts Editions

In the collection of Edicta Praefectorum Praetorio, first published by Zachariae (Anecdota, Lips. 1843) from a Bodleian manuscript, are three edicts of Constantinus (p. 272). The edicts in this collection belong to the time of Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian. (A. D. 491-565.) Zachariae thinks that the author of these three edicts was the (constantinus who was praef. praet. of the East under Anastasius, as appears from Cod. 8, tit. 48. s. 5, and Cod. 2, tit. 7. s. 22, and that his full name was Asper Alypius Constantinus. (p. 260, nn. 19, 20.) [J.T.G]

or Licudex, protovestiarius, became patriarch of Constantinople about A. D. 1058, and died in 1066. We have two Decreta Synodalia of him, on "Criminal Slaves," and on "Priests being arrested for Murder," which are contained with a Latin translation in Leunclavius, Jus Graeco-Romanum. (Cave, Hist. Lit. i. p. 613, ad an. 1058.) [W.P]

[Manasses.]

archidiaconus, lived about 1276, patronized the union of the Greek and Latin Churches, died in exile in Bithynia, and wrote two treatises "De Ecclesiastica Unione Latinorum et Graecorum," and "De Processione Spiritus Sancti," both, in the Greek text with a Latin translation, contained in Leo Allatius, "Graecia Orthodoxa." (Cave, Hist. Lit. i. p. 738; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. xi. p. 272, 397.) [W.P]

surnamed NICAEUS from the place of his abode, by which surname alone he is usually designated in the Basilica, was a Graeco Roman jurist. (Basil. iii. p. 372.) He was posterior to Garidas, who flourished in the latter half of the eleventh century of the Christian aera, for in Basilica, ii. pp. 653, 654, he cites the Στοιχεῖον of Garidas. He was a commentator upon the Novells of Justinian (Bas. iii. p. 113), and upon the books of the Basilica. (Bas. ii. p. 651, iii. p. 240.) Nic. Comnenus (Praenot. Mystag. p. 371) cites his exposition of the Novells. In Bas. iii. p. 208, he speaks of Stephanus as his teacher (ὁ διδάσκαλος ἡμῶν Στέφανοσ̓; but by this expression He may have referred to the jurist Stephanus, who was a contemporary of Justinian, as an English lawyer might call Coke his master. Reiz, however (ad Theoph. p. 1245), thinks it more probable, that he referred to an Antonius Stephanus, judge and magistrate, who is said by Nic. Comnenlus (Papadopoli) (Praenot. Mystag. p. 404) to have written scholia on the Ecloga of Leo; but G. E. Heimbach (Anecdota, i. p. 221) has in this case clearly exposed the fabrication of Comnenus. In the scholia of Constantinus Nicaeus appended to the Basilica are citations of Cyrillus, Stephanus, and Thalelaeus (iii. p. 141), of Joannes Nomophylus, with whom he disagrees (ii. p. 549), of the Institutes (iii. p. 616), of the Digest (iii. p. 275, ii. p. 650), of the Novells of Leo (iii. p. 186), and of the Basilica (ii. pp. 550, 615, 616, 619, iii. pp. 194, 240). (Reiz, ad T/woph. p. 1238; Assemani, Bibl. Jur. Orient. 2.100.20, p. 404; Pohl, ad Suares. Notit. Basil. p. 134, n. (ς); Heimbach, de Basil. Orig. p. 75.) [J.T.G]

(Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Ῥόδιος), is the author of three epigrams in the Greek Anthology (Jacobs, Paralip. e Cod. Vat. 201-203, xiii. pp. 738-740), the first of which was written, as appears from internal evidence, during the joint reign of the emperors Leo and Alexander, that is, between A. D. 906 and 911. Reiske supposed him to be the same person as Constantinus Cephalas, who compiled the Palatine Anthology. [Constantinus Cephalas.] The poetry of Constantine himself is barbarous in the last degree. (Jacobs, Anthol. Graec. xiii. pp. 874, 875; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. 4.469.) [P.S]

(Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Σικελός), is the author of an epigram in the Greek Anthology on the chair (Θρόνος) from which he taught, which is followed in the Vatican MS. by the reply of Theophanes. (Jacobs, Paralip. e Cod. Vat. 199, 200, xiii. pp. 737, 738.) Since each poet's name has the title μακαρίον added to it, it would appear that they were both dead before the time when the Palatine Anthology was compiled, that is, the beginninig of the tenth century. From the subject of the above-mentioned epigram it is inferred, that Constantine was a rhetorician or philosopher. There is extant in MS. an anacreontic poemi by Constantine, a philosopher of Sicily. (Κωνσταντίνου Φιλοσόφον τον σικελοῦ; Lambec. Bibl. Caesar. L. V. Cod. 333, p. 295; Jacobs, Anthol. Graec. xiii. p. 874; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. 4.469.) [P.S]

(1) Flavius Valerius Aurelius Claudius, known as The Great, son of the emperor Constantius Chlorus and Helena (q.v.), was born A.D. 272, at Naïsus, a city of Dacia Mediterranea. When Constantine's father was associated in the government by Diocletian, the son was retained at court as a kind of hostage, but was treated with great kindness at first, and was allowed several opportunities of distinguishing himself. After the abdication of Diocletian, Constantius and Galerius were elevated to the rank of Augusti, while two new Caesars, Severus and Maximin, were appointed to second them. Constantine was not called to the succession. Diocletian, partial to Galerius, his son-in-law, had left the nomination of the two new Caesars to the latter; and the son of Constantius, whose popularity and talents had excited the jealousy of Galerius, and whose departure, although earnestly solicited by his father, was delayed from time to time under the most frivolous pretences, with difficulty at length obtained permission to join his parent in the West, and only escaped the machinations of the emperor by travelling with his utmost speed until he reached the western coast of Gaul. He came just in time to join the Roman legions, which were about to sail under his father's command to Britain, in order to make war upon the Caledonians. Having subdued the northern barbarians, Constantius returned to York (Eboracum), where he died in the month of July, in the year 306. Galerius, sure of the support of his two creatures, the Caesars, had waited impatiently for the death of his colleague, to unite the whole Roman Empire under his individual sway. But the moderation and justice of Constantius had rendered him the more dear to his soldiers from the contrast of these qualities with the ferocity of his rival. At the moment of his death, the legions stationed at York, as a tribute of gratitude and affection to his memory, and, according to some, at his dying request, saluted his son Constantine with the title of Caesar and decorated him with the purple. Whatever resentment Galerius felt at this, he soon perceived the danger of engaging in a civil war. As the eldest of the emperors, and the representative of Diocletian, he recognized the authority of the colleague imposed upon him by the legions. He assigned to him the administration of Gaul and Britain, but gave him only the fourth rank among the rulers of the Empire with the title of Caesar.

Under this official appellation Constantine administered the prefecture of Gaul for six years (A.D. 306-312), perhaps the most glorious, and certainly the most virtuous, period of his life. The title and rank of Augustus, which his soldiers had conferred upon Constantine, but which Galerius had not allowed him to retain, the latter gave to Severus, one of his own Caesars. This dignity had been expected by Maxentius, son of the abdicated emperor Maximian, the former colleague of Diocletian. Indignant at his disappointment, Maxentius caused himself to be proclaimed emperor by his army; and, to strengthen his usurpation, he induced his father to leave his retreat and resume the imperial title. A scene of contention followed, scarcely paralleled in the annals of Rome. Severus marched against the two usurpers; but was abandoned by his own troops, surrendered, and was slain. Galerius levied a great army, and marched into Italy against Maximian and Maxentius, who, dreading his power, retired to Gaul and endeavoured to procure the support of Constantine. This politic chief did not consider it expedient to provoke a war at that time and for no better cause; and, Galerius having withdrawn from Italy and returned to the East, Maximian and Maxentius returned to Rome. To aid him in the struggle, Galerius conferred the title of emperor on his friend Licinius; and thus there were at once six pretenders to the sovereignty of the Empire—namely, Galerius and Licinius; Maximian and his son Maxentius; Maximin, who had been nominated Caesar by Galerius; and Constantine, the son and successor of Constantius. Among these rivals Constantine possessed a decided superiority in prudence and abilities, both military and political. The harsh temper of Maximian soon led to a quarrel between him and his son Maxentius. Leaving Rome, he went to Gaul, to Constantine, who had become his son-in-law when he and his son were endeavouring to make head against Galerius. Here also Maximian found himself disappointed of that power which he so greatly longed to possess; and having plotted against Constantine, was detected and put to death. Galerius died not long after (311), leaving his power to be divided between his Caesars, Maximin and Licinius; so that there were now four competitors for the Empire: Constantine, Maxentius, Maximin, and Licinius. Maxentius speedily provoked open hostilities with Constantine, who marched at the head of a powerful army towards Rome.

It was while Constantine was proceeding on this momentous expedition that he made an open and public declaration in favour of Christianity. Before that time, the persecuting edicts of Diocletian had been much mitigated by the forbearance and leniency of Constantius; and Constantine not only followed his father's example in being merciful to the persecuted Christians, but even showed them some marks of positive favour. Very considerable numbers of them, in consequence, flocked to his standard and swelled the ranks of his army. Their peaceful, orderly, and faithful conduct, contrasting most favourably with the turbulent and dissolute behaviour of those who formed the mass of common armies, won his entire confidence. To what extent this led Constantine to form a favourable opinion of Christianity, or inclined him to view with esteem and respect the tenets which had produced such results, cannot be ascertained. How far, also, his avowed reception of Christianity was influenced by the prudence of the politician, how far by the conviction of the convert, it is impossible to determine. The accounts of his dream and his vision (see Labarum), which united to enforce his trust in Christianity, bear too much the aspect of fiction, or of having been the illusive consequences of mental anxiety, brooding intensely on the possible results of a great religious revolution, to be woven into the narrative of sober history. The story goes, however, that on his march to Rome, either at Autun in Gaul, or near the Rhine, or at Verona in Italy, Constantine beheld in the sky a brilliant cross with the inscription Ἐν τούτῳ νίκα, “By this conquer!” and that on the night before his decisive battle with Maxentius a vision appeared to him in his sleep, bidding him inscribe the shields of his soldiers with the sacred monogram of the name of Christ. This, at least, is certain, that Constantine caused the Cross to be employed as the imperial standard, and advanced with it to promised victory. After the armies of Maxentius, led by his generals, had sustained two successive defeats, that emperor himself, awakening from his sensual and inactive life at Rome, advanced against his formidable assailant, and met him near the little river Cremera, about nine miles from the city. Maxentius lost the day, after a bloody conflict, and, in endeavouring to enter the city by the Milvian bridge, was precipitated into the Tiber, where he perished (October 27th, 312).

Constantine was received at Rome with acclamations; Africa acknowledged him, as well as Italy; and an edict of religious toleration, issued at Milan, extended the advantages, hitherto enjoyed by Gaul alone, to this prefecture also. After a brief stay at Rome, during which he restored to the Senate their authority, disbanded the Praetorian Guard, and destroyed their fortified camp, from which they had so long awed the city and given rulers to the Empire, Constantine proceeded to Illyricum to meet Licinius, with whom he had formed a secret league before marching against Maxentius. The two emperors met at Milan, where their alliance was ratified by the marriage of Licinius to Constantine's sister. During this calm interview, Constantine prevailed upon Licinius to repeal the persecuting edicts of Diocletian, and to issue a new one, by which Christianity was encouraged, its teachers were honoured, and its adherents advanced to places of trust and influence in the State. After the overthrow of Maximin by Licinius, and his death at Nicomedia, Constantine and his brother-in-law were now the only two that remained of the six competitors for the Empire; and the peace between them, which had seemed to be established on so firm a basis, was soon interrupted by a strife for sole supremacy. In the first war (A.D. 315) Constantine wrested Illyricum from his competitor. After an interval of eight years the contest was renewed. Licinius was beaten before Adrianople, the 3d of July, 323, and Constantine the Great was recognized as sole master of the Roman world.

The seat of empire was now transferred to Byzantium (q.v.), which took from him the name of Constantinople. Several edicts were issued for the suppression of idolatry; and the churches and property restored to the Christians, of which they had been deprived during the last persecution. A reconstruction of the Empire was effected upon a plan entirely new, and this renovated Empire was pervaded by the worship and the institutions of Christianity. That much of the policy of the statesman was mixed up with this patronage of the new religion can easily be imagined. But still, it would be wrong to make him, as some have done, a mere hypocrite and dissembler. The state of his religious knowledge, so far as we have any means of judging, was certainly very inadequate and imperfect; but he was well aware of the characters of the two conflicting religions, Christianity and Paganism, and the purity of the former could not but have made some impression upon his mind.

The private character of Constantine has suffered, in the eyes of posterity, from his stern treatment of Crispus, his son by his first wife, whom he had made the partner of his Empire and the commander of his armies. Crispus was at the head of the administration in Gaul, where he gained the hearts of the people. In the wars against Licinius he had displayed singular talents, and had secured victory to the arms of his father. But from that moment a strong and unnatural jealousy stifled every paternal feeling in the bosom of the monarch. He detained Crispus in his palace, surrounded him with spies and informers, and at length, in the month of July, 324, ordered him to be arrested in the midst of a grand festival, to be carried off to Pola in Istria, and there put to death. A cousin of Crispus, the son of Licinius and Constantine's sister, was at the same time sent, without trial, without even an accusation, to the block. His mother implored in vain, and died of grief. It is fair, however, to say that Niebuhr found evidence to support the view that Crispus aimed at supplanting his father. Fausta, the daughter of Maximian, the wife of Constantine, and the mother of the three princes who succeeded him, was shortly after stifled in the bath by order of her husband for infidelity.

In the following year the celebrated Council of Nicaea was held, at which he opposed the Arians, probably on political grounds only, as being the weaker party; for just before his death he received baptism from an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia.

Constantine died at the age of sixty-three, at Nicomedia, July 22d, 337, after a reign of thirtyone years from the death of his father, and of fourteen from the conquest of the Empire. He left three sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius, among whom he divided his Empire. The first, who had Gaul, Spain, and Britain for his portion, was conquered by the armies of his brother Constans, and killed in the twenty-fifth year of his age, A.D. 340. Magnentius, the governor of the provinces of Rhaetia, murdered Constans in his bed, after a reign of thirteen years; and Constantius, the only surviving brother, now become the sole emperor, A.D. 353, punished his brother's murderer, and gave way to cruelty and oppression. He visited Rome, where he enjoyed a triumph, and died (361) in his march against Julian , who had been proclaimed emperor by his soldiers at Paris.

See the works of Eusebius (De Vita Constantini), Zosimus (Bk. II.), Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, and the Panegyrici Veteres (vi. 10); also Manso's Leben Constantins des Grossen; Burckhardt, Die Zeit Constantins des Grossen; and Broglie, L'Église et l'Empire Romain.

(2) The son of the preceding. See above.

(3) A usurper who had himself proclaimed emperor in Britain during the reign of Honorius and Arcadius, in A.D. 407, reigning for four years and securing possession of Gaul and Spain, until defeated in 411 by Constantius, the able general of Honorius. By him Constantine was taken prisoner, carried to Ravenna, and there put to death.

(4) The name of several emperors of the Eastern Empire. See Byzantinum Imperium.