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Constantine III (usurper)
Encyclopedia
Flavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine III (died 411 by 18 September) was a Roman
general who declared himself Western Roman Emperor in Britannia
in 407 and established himself in Gaul
. Recognised by the Emperor Honorius
in 409, collapsing support and military setbacks saw him abdicate in 411. He was captured and executed shortly afterwards.
invaders, including the Vandals, the Burgundians
, the Alans
and the Sueves
, crossed the Rhine
perhaps near Mainz
, and overran the Roman defensive works in a successful invasion of the Western Roman Empire
. This was a mortal blow to the Western Empire, from which it never recovered. The Roman authorities were never able to eject or destroy these invaders, most of whom eventually settled in Spain and North Africa, nor to face the movements of the Franks, Burgundians and Visigoths in Gaul at the same time. Also, a contributing factor of major importance was the disunity among the Romans themselves. A unified Empire with the full support of a loyal population willing to make the necessary sacrifices to overcome invaders/settlers had shown in the past it was possible to keep the Empire's borders secure.
At the time of this invasion, the provinces of Britain
were in revolt, setting up and pulling down a series of usurpers, which ended with the elevation of Constantine early in 407. Fearful of a Germanic invasion and desperate for some sense of security in a world rapidly falling apart, the Roman military in Britain chose as their leader a man named after the famed emperor of the early fourth century, Constantine the Great, who had himself risen to power through a military coup in Britain. A common soldier, but one of some ability, Constantine moved quickly. He crossed the English Channel
to the continent at Bononia
and (historians have assumed) took along with him all of the mobile troops left in Britain, thus denuding the province of any first line military protection and explaining their disappearance in the early fifth century.
Constantine's two generals Iustinianus
and the Frank
Nebiogastes
, leading the vanguard of his forces, were defeated by Sarus
, and Stilicho
's lieutenant, with Nebiogastes being first trapped in, then killed outside, Valence
. However, Constantine sent another army headed by Edobichus
and Gerontius
, and Sarus was forced to retreat into Italy
, needing to buy his passage through the Alpine
passes from the brigand Bagaudae
, who controlled them. Constantine secured the Rhine frontier, and garrisoned the passes that led from Gaul
into Italy. By May 408 he had made Arles
his capital, where he appointed Apollinaris, the grandfather of Sidonius Apollinaris
, as prefect.
, which was a stronghold of the House of Theodosius and loyal to the ineffectual emperor, would organize an attack from that direction while troops under Sarus and Stilicho attacked him from Italy in a pincer maneuver, he struck first at Hispania. He summoned his eldest son Constans
from the monastery
where he was dwelling, elevated him to Caesar
, or co-emperor, and sent him with the general Gerontius towards Hispania. The cousins of Honorius were defeated without much difficulty and two— Didymus and Theodosiolus—were captured, while two others—Lagodius and Verianus—managed to escape to safety in Constantinople
.
Constans left his wife and household at Saragossa under the care of Gerontius to return to report to Arles. Meanwhile the loyalist Roman army mutinied at Ticinum
(Pavia
) on 13 August, which was followed by the execution of the patrician Stilicho on 22 August. As a by-product of these events, the actions of an intrigue within the Imperial court, the general, Sarus, abandoned the western army followed by his men; this left the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna
without any significant military power, and also facing the problem of a Gothic
army under Alaric
roaming unchecked in Etruria
. So, when Constantine's envoys arrived to parley at Ravenna, the fearful Honorius eagerly recognized Constantine as co-emperor, and the two were joint consul
s for the year 409.
, where they broke through Constantine's garrisons and entered Hispania. While Constantine prepared to send his son Constans back to deal with this crisis, word came that his general Gerontius had rebelled, raising his own man as co-emperor. Despite Constantine's best efforts, his fear of an attack from Hispania did come to pass the following year, when Gerontius advanced with the support of his barbarian allies.
About the same time Saxon pirates raided Britain, which Constantine had left defenseless. Obviously upset that Constantine had neglected them in his efforts to establish his own empire and had failed to defend them against the assaults they had hoped he would prevent, the Roman inhabitants of Britain and Armorica
rebelled against Constantine's authority and expelled his officials.
Constantine's response to this tightening circle of enemies was a final desperate gamble: he marched on Italy with the remaining troops left to him, encouraged by the entreaties of one Allobich who wanted to replace Honorius with a more capable ruler. But this invasion ended in defeat, with Allobich losing his life and Constantine forced to retreat into Gaul in the late spring of 410. Constantine's position grew even more untenable; his forces facing the rebel Gerontius were defeated at Vienne
(411), where his son Constans was captured and executed. Constantine's Praetorian prefect Decimus Rusticus
, who had replaced Apollinaris a year earlier, abandoned Constantine, to be caught up in the new rebellion of Jovinus
in the Rhineland
. Gerontius trapped Constantine inside Arles and besieged him.
, who arrived at Arles, put Gerontius to flight and then took over the siege of Constantine in Arles. Constantine held out, hoping for the return of his general Edobichus who was raising troops in northern Gaul amongst the Franks
, but on his return Edobichus was defeated by a simple stratagem. Constantine's last slender hope faded when his last troops guarding the Rhine abandoned him to support Jovinus and he was forced to surrender. Despite the promise of safe passage, and Constantine's assumption of clerical offices, Constantius imprisoned the former soldier and had him beheaded on his way to Ravenna
in either August or September 411.
Although Gerontius committed suicide in Hispania, and Athaulf the Visigoth
later suppressed the revolt of Jovinus, Roman rule never returned to Britain after the death of Constantine III: as the historian Procopius
later explained, "from that time onwards it remained under [the rule] of tyrants."
chronicles and Geoffrey of Monmouth
's highly popular and legendary Historia Regum Britanniae
, where he comes to power following Gracianus Municeps
' reign, which had ended with his assassination. Geoffrey actually seems to have conflated the historical Constantine III with an unrelated Cornish king of the same name, Custennin Gorneu (the Welsh name Custennin is derived from Latin Constaninus; it is possible that Geoffrey picked up the name from a Welsh Arthurian genealogy resembling those found in Bonedd yr Arwyr #30a and Mostyn MS 117 #5), which has led to much confusion among modern scholars; beyond their names, Geoffrey's fictional Constantine does not resemble the historical one. Geoffrey states that Britain was in civil crisis after the death of Gracianus, so the people called for help from their cousins in Brittany
. The contemporary king of Brittany, Aldroenus, did not wish to rule both Brittany and Britain, and so sent his brother to rule instead as Constantine II.
Constantine accepted the kingship and repelled the Huns
and Picts
who had invaded Britain. Geoffrey reports that co-leaders Guanius and Melga, previously exiled to Ireland
, had led an invasion force composed of Scots (Gaels
), Picts
, Norwegians, Dacians
and "others" into Britain. They had seized Alba
as far as Hadrian's Wall
and from there began their devastation in the island. Constantine led an army of Britons to victory against them. He was then proclaimed king at a council held at Silchester
. Constantine reportedly married "a lady, descended from a noble Roman family". His unnamed wife was a former student of Guidelium, Archbishop of London. The name has found its place in several modern genealogies. On the other hand genealogist David Hughes has suggested the wife of Constantine III to be "Severa", an alleged daughter of Honorius and niece of Theodosius I
. This Honorius is identified by the poem "In Praise of Serena" by Claudian
and the "Historia Nova" by Zosimus
to have been a brother of Theodosius I and father of Serena
.
Geoffrey reports that Constantine and his wife were parents to Constans, Ambrosius Aurelianus
, and Uther Pendragon
. Constans, the eldest, was delivered to the church of Amphibalus
in Winchester
to "take upon him the monastic order". Aurelius and Uther were assigned to education under Guidelium. Constantine reigned for ten years before being assassinated by an unnamed employee of his, identified only as a Pict. The Pict "under pretence of holding some private discourse with him, in a nursery of young trees where nobody was present, stabbed him with a dagger." His death was reportedly followed by a succession crisis. The nobility of the kingdom argued over who should follow him on the throne. "Some were for setting up Aurelius Ambrosius; others Uther Pendragon; others again some other persons of the royal family." Vortigern
, identified in the text as the "king of the Gewisseans", instead offered the throne to Constans. Constans left monastic life and travelled with Vortigern to London
. Vortigern declared him King, "...though not with the free consent of the people. Archbishop Guithelin was then dead, nor was there any other than durst perform the ceremony of his unction, on account of his having quit the monastic order. However, this proved no hindrance to his coronation, for Vortigern himself performed the ceremony instead of a bishop."
In some versions of the legend, Vortigern was Constantine's seneschal
. This story was repeated in many retellings of the Arthurian cycle, including Robert de Boron
's Merlin and the Lancelot-Grail
Cycle, though the narrative greatly contradicts the known history of this period.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
general who declared himself Western Roman Emperor in Britannia
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
in 407 and established himself in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. Recognised by the Emperor Honorius
Honorius
Honorius may refer to:* Honorius , western Roman emperor 395–423* Honorius of Canterbury , archbishop of Canterbury 627–653* Honoratus of Amiens , bishop of Amiens...
in 409, collapsing support and military setbacks saw him abdicate in 411. He was captured and executed shortly afterwards.
Background
On 31 December in 406 several tribes of BarbarianBarbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
invaders, including the Vandals, the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
, the Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
and the Sueves
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
, crossed the Rhine
Crossing of the Rhine
31 December 406, is the often-repeated date of the crossing of the Rhine by a mixed group of barbarians that included Vandals, Alans and Suebi...
perhaps near Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, and overran the Roman defensive works in a successful invasion of the Western Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. This was a mortal blow to the Western Empire, from which it never recovered. The Roman authorities were never able to eject or destroy these invaders, most of whom eventually settled in Spain and North Africa, nor to face the movements of the Franks, Burgundians and Visigoths in Gaul at the same time. Also, a contributing factor of major importance was the disunity among the Romans themselves. A unified Empire with the full support of a loyal population willing to make the necessary sacrifices to overcome invaders/settlers had shown in the past it was possible to keep the Empire's borders secure.
At the time of this invasion, the provinces of Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
were in revolt, setting up and pulling down a series of usurpers, which ended with the elevation of Constantine early in 407. Fearful of a Germanic invasion and desperate for some sense of security in a world rapidly falling apart, the Roman military in Britain chose as their leader a man named after the famed emperor of the early fourth century, Constantine the Great, who had himself risen to power through a military coup in Britain. A common soldier, but one of some ability, Constantine moved quickly. He crossed the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern 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 in the Strait of Dover...
to the continent at Bononia
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
and (historians have assumed) took along with him all of the mobile troops left in Britain, thus denuding the province of any first line military protection and explaining their disappearance in the early fifth century.
Constantine's two generals Iustinianus
Iustinianus
Iustinianus was a Roman military commander who supported the usurper Constantine III.- Life :Iustinianus was an officer of the Western Roman army in Britain. In 407 the general Claudius Constantine rebelled against Emperor Honorius and appointed Iustinianus and Nebiogastes magistri militum of the...
and the Frank
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
Nebiogastes
Nebiogastes
Nebiogastes was a Roman military commander who supported the usurper Constantine III.- Life :Nebiogastes was an officer of the Western Roman army in Britain. In 407 the general Claudius Constantine rebelled against Emperor Honorius and appointed Nebiogastes and Iustinianus magistri militum of the...
, leading the vanguard of his forces, were defeated by Sarus
Sarus (Goth)
Sarus was a Gothic chieftain and commander for the emperor Honorius . He was known for his hostility to the prominent Gothic brothers Alaric I and Ataulf, and was the brother of Sigeric, who ruled the Goths briefly in 415.-Career:...
, and Stilicho
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...
's lieutenant, with Nebiogastes being first trapped in, then killed outside, Valence
Valence, Drôme
Valence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
. However, Constantine sent another army headed by Edobichus
Edobichus
Edobichus was a general of the Roman usurper Constantine III.- Life :Edobichus was a Frank. He was already an experienced soldier when in 407, after the deaths of the generals Nebiogastes and Iustinianus, the Western usurper Constantine III appointed him and Gerontius as his magistri militum...
and Gerontius
Gerontius (general)
Gerontius was a general of the Western Roman Empire, who first supported the usurper Constantine III and later opposed him in favour of another usurper, Maximus of Hispania.- Usurpation of Constantine III :Gerontius probably was of Breton origin...
, and Sarus was forced to retreat into Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, needing to buy his passage through the Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
passes from the brigand Bagaudae
Bagaudae
In the time of the later Roman Empire bagaudae were groups of peasant insurgents who emerged during the "Crisis of the Third Century", and persisted particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gallia and Hispania, where they were "exposed to the depredations of the late Roman state, and the great...
, who controlled them. Constantine secured the Rhine frontier, and garrisoned the passes that led from Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
into Italy. By May 408 he had made Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
his capital, where he appointed Apollinaris, the grandfather of Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
, as prefect.
Recognition as co-emperor
In the summer of 408, as the Roman forces in Italy assembled to counterattack, Constantine had other plans. Fearful that several cousins of the Emperor Honorius in HispaniaHispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, which was a stronghold of the House of Theodosius and loyal to the ineffectual emperor, would organize an attack from that direction while troops under Sarus and Stilicho attacked him from Italy in a pincer maneuver, he struck first at Hispania. He summoned his eldest son Constans
Constans II (usurper)
Constans II was the eldest son of the Roman usurper Constantine III and was appointed co-emperor by him from 409 to 411. He was killed during the revolts and fighting that ended his father’s reign.- Career :...
from the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
where he was dwelling, elevated him to Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
, or co-emperor, and sent him with the general Gerontius towards Hispania. The cousins of Honorius were defeated without much difficulty and two— Didymus and Theodosiolus—were captured, while two others—Lagodius and Verianus—managed to escape to safety in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
Ticinum
Ticinum was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name a little way above its confluence with the Padus ....
(Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
) on 13 August, which was followed by the execution of the patrician Stilicho on 22 August. As a by-product of these events, the actions of an intrigue within the Imperial court, the general, Sarus, abandoned the western army followed by his men; this left the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
without any significant military power, and also facing the problem of a Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
army under Alaric
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
roaming unchecked in Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
. So, when Constantine's envoys arrived to parley at Ravenna, the fearful Honorius eagerly recognized Constantine as co-emperor, and the two were joint consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
s for the year 409.
March on Italy
That year was the high-water mark of Constantine's success. But by September, the tribes that had overrun the Rhine defenses, and had spent the intervening two years burning and plundering their way through Gaul, had reached the PyreneesPyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
, where they broke through Constantine's garrisons and entered Hispania. While Constantine prepared to send his son Constans back to deal with this crisis, word came that his general Gerontius had rebelled, raising his own man as co-emperor. Despite Constantine's best efforts, his fear of an attack from Hispania did come to pass the following year, when Gerontius advanced with the support of his barbarian allies.
About the same time Saxon pirates raided Britain, which Constantine had left defenseless. Obviously upset that Constantine had neglected them in his efforts to establish his own empire and had failed to defend them against the assaults they had hoped he would prevent, the Roman inhabitants of Britain and Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
rebelled against Constantine's authority and expelled his officials.
Constantine's response to this tightening circle of enemies was a final desperate gamble: he marched on Italy with the remaining troops left to him, encouraged by the entreaties of one Allobich who wanted to replace Honorius with a more capable ruler. But this invasion ended in defeat, with Allobich losing his life and Constantine forced to retreat into Gaul in the late spring of 410. Constantine's position grew even more untenable; his forces facing the rebel Gerontius were defeated at Vienne
Vienne, Isère
Vienne is a commune in south-eastern France, located south of Lyon, on the Rhône River. It is the second largest city after Grenoble in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture. The city's population was of 29,400 as of the 2001 census....
(411), where his son Constans was captured and executed. Constantine's Praetorian prefect Decimus Rusticus
Decimus Rusticus
Decimus Rusticus of Treves and Lyon he was a Master of the Offices and the praetorian prefect of Gaul between 409 and 410 or 413. He was one of those responsible for the withdrawal from Britannia...
, who had replaced Apollinaris a year earlier, abandoned Constantine, to be caught up in the new rebellion of Jovinus
Jovinus
Jovinus was a Gallo-Roman senator and claimed to be Roman Emperor .Following the defeat of the usurper known with the name of Constantine III, Jovinus was proclaimed emperor at Mainz in 411, a puppet supported by Gundahar, king of the Burgundians, and Goar, king of the Alans...
in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. Gerontius trapped Constantine inside Arles and besieged him.
Surrender and execution
At the same time a new general was found to support Honorius. The future Constantius IIIConstantius III
Flavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
, who arrived at Arles, put Gerontius to flight and then took over the siege of Constantine in Arles. Constantine held out, hoping for the return of his general Edobichus who was raising troops in northern Gaul amongst the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, but on his return Edobichus was defeated by a simple stratagem. Constantine's last slender hope faded when his last troops guarding the Rhine abandoned him to support Jovinus and he was forced to surrender. Despite the promise of safe passage, and Constantine's assumption of clerical offices, Constantius imprisoned the former soldier and had him beheaded on his way to Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
in either August or September 411.
Although Gerontius committed suicide in Hispania, and Athaulf the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
later suppressed the revolt of Jovinus, Roman rule never returned to Britain after the death of Constantine III: as the historian Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
later explained, "from that time onwards it remained under [the rule] of tyrants."
Legend
Constantine III is also known as Constantine II of Britain. He was remembered as a King of the Britons in the WelshWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
chronicles and Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's highly popular and legendary Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
, where he comes to power following Gracianus Municeps
Gracianus Municeps
Gracianus Municeps was a legendary King of the Britons, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, a fictional account of British history...
' reign, which had ended with his assassination. Geoffrey actually seems to have conflated the historical Constantine III with an unrelated Cornish king of the same name, Custennin Gorneu (the Welsh name Custennin is derived from Latin Constaninus; it is possible that Geoffrey picked up the name from a Welsh Arthurian genealogy resembling those found in Bonedd yr Arwyr #30a and Mostyn MS 117 #5), which has led to much confusion among modern scholars; beyond their names, Geoffrey's fictional Constantine does not resemble the historical one. Geoffrey states that Britain was in civil crisis after the death of Gracianus, so the people called for help from their cousins in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. The contemporary king of Brittany, Aldroenus, did not wish to rule both Brittany and Britain, and so sent his brother to rule instead as Constantine II.
Constantine accepted the kingship and repelled the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
and Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
who had invaded Britain. Geoffrey reports that co-leaders Guanius and Melga, previously exiled to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, had led an invasion force composed of Scots (Gaels
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
), Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
, Norwegians, Dacians
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
and "others" into Britain. They had seized Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
as far as Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
and from there began their devastation in the island. Constantine led an army of Britons to victory against them. He was then proclaimed king at a council held at Silchester
Silchester
Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading....
. Constantine reportedly married "a lady, descended from a noble Roman family". His unnamed wife was a former student of Guidelium, Archbishop of London. The name has found its place in several modern genealogies. On the other hand genealogist David Hughes has suggested the wife of Constantine III to be "Severa", an alleged daughter of Honorius and niece of Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
. This Honorius is identified by the poem "In Praise of Serena" by Claudian
Claudian
Claudian was a Roman poet, who worked for Emperor Honorius and the latter's general Stilicho.A Greek-speaking citizen of Alexandria and probably not a Christian convert, Claudian arrived in Rome before 395. He made his mark with a eulogy of his two young patrons, Probinus and Olybrius, thereby...
and the "Historia Nova" by Zosimus
Zosimus
Zosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
to have been a brother of Theodosius I and father of Serena
Serena (Roman)
Serena was a noblewoman of the late Western Roman Empire.She was the adopted daughter of Theodosius. Theodosius adopted her as his daughter, and in 384 arranged her marriage to a rising military officer, Stilicho...
.
Geoffrey reports that Constantine and his wife were parents to Constans, Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas...
, and Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
. Constans, the eldest, was delivered to the church of Amphibalus
Amphibalus
Saint Amphibalus was formerly venerated as the Christian priest traditionally sheltered by Saint Alban, who was converted by him, as a consequence of which Alban was martyred....
in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
to "take upon him the monastic order". Aurelius and Uther were assigned to education under Guidelium. Constantine reigned for ten years before being assassinated by an unnamed employee of his, identified only as a Pict. The Pict "under pretence of holding some private discourse with him, in a nursery of young trees where nobody was present, stabbed him with a dagger." His death was reportedly followed by a succession crisis. The nobility of the kingdom argued over who should follow him on the throne. "Some were for setting up Aurelius Ambrosius; others Uther Pendragon; others again some other persons of the royal family." Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
, identified in the text as the "king of the Gewisseans", instead offered the throne to Constans. Constans left monastic life and travelled with Vortigern to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Vortigern declared him King, "...though not with the free consent of the people. Archbishop Guithelin was then dead, nor was there any other than durst perform the ceremony of his unction, on account of his having quit the monastic order. However, this proved no hindrance to his coronation, for Vortigern himself performed the ceremony instead of a bishop."
In some versions of the legend, Vortigern was Constantine's seneschal
Seneschal
A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...
. This story was repeated in many retellings of the Arthurian cycle, including Robert de Boron
Robert de Boron
Robert de Boron was a French poet of the late 12th and early 13th centuries who is most notable as the author of the poems Joseph d'Arimathe and Merlin.-Work:...
's Merlin and the Lancelot-Grail
Lancelot-Grail
The Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is a major source of Arthurian legend written in French. It is a series of five prose volumes that tell the story of the quest for the Holy Grail and the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere...
Cycle, though the narrative greatly contradicts the known history of this period.
Primary sources
- ZosimusZosimusZosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
, Historia Nova, Books 5 & 6 Historia Nova - Orosius, Historiae adversum Paganos, 7.40
Secondary sources
- Jones, Arnold Hugh MartinArnold Hugh Martin JonesArnold Hugh Martin Jones — known as A.H.M. Jones — was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.-Biography:...
, John Robert Martindale, John MorrisJohn Morris (historian)John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...
, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN ISBN 0521201594 - 2 Elton, Hugh, "Constantine III (407-411 A.D.)", D.I.R.]
- C.E. Stevens, "Marcus, Gratian, Constantine", Athenaeum, 35 (1957), pp. 316–47
- E.A. Thompson, "Britain, A.D. 406-410", Britannia, 8 (1977), pp. 303–318.
- Bury, J. B., A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, Vol. I (1889)
- Gibbon, Edward, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)