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Constantius II
–
Roman Emperor
: 337-361 A.D. –
Bronze AE2 Centenionallis 21mm (4.10 grams)
Sirmium Mint: 351 A.D.
Reference: C.142 (3f.) – RIC.23 – LRBC.1586
D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed & cuirassed bust right, A behind, star
to right.
HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS (‘by this sign you shall conquer’), emperor standing left,
holding labarum with Chi-Rho & spear; to the right stands Victory, crowning him
with wreath & holding palm branch; III in left field,
☼SIRM☼ in exergue.
This is the only coin type to specifically refer to Constantine the Great’s
vision of 310 and dream of 312 that led him to accept Christianity. This coin
was struck under Vetranio in the name of Constantius II during the turbulent
period of Magnentius’ revolt in 350 AD. The reverse legend (‘by this sign you
shall conquer’) refers to the divinely inspired vision of Constantine the Great
before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, and thus alludes to Vetranio’s loyalty
to the house of Constantine. Vetranio eventually handed over his legions to
Constantius II at Naissus, afterward withdrawing into an honorable retirement at
Prusa in Bithynia.
HOC. SIGNO. VICTOR ERIS – Victory crowning the emperor, who stands in military
dress, holding in his right hand a labarum, on which appears the monogram
of Christ, and in his left a spear. The monogram of Christ was introduced by
order of Constantine the Great on a standard, when setting out on his campaign
against Maxentius. This standard being carried into the middle of the ranks,
where the danger appeared the greatest, and invariably bringing victory with it,
according to Eusebius, it at length became the belief, that success was to be
attributed to the standard alone; and hence is gathered the sense of the legend,
HOC SIGNO VICTORY ERIS, which, in all probability, was inscribed upon the actual
standard.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
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Labarum of Constantine I, displaying the “Chi-Rho” symbol above.
The labarum was a
vexillum
(military standard) that displayed
the “Chi-Rho”
symbol
☧
, formed from the first two
Greek letters
of the word “Christ”
—
Chi
and
Rho
. It was first used by the
Roman emperor
Constantine I
. Since the vexillum consisted of
a flag suspended from the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to
symbolize the
crucifixion
of
Christ
.
Later usage has sometimes regarded the terms “labarum” and “Chi-Rho” as
synonyms. Ancient sources, however, draw an unambiguous distinction between the
two.
Etymology
Beyond its derivation from Latin labarum, the etymology of the word is
unclear. Some derive it from Latin /labāre/ ‘to totter, to waver’ (in the sense
of the “waving” of a flag in the breeze) or laureum [vexillum] (“laurel
standard”). According to the
Real Academia Española
, the related
lábaro
is also derived from Latin labărum
but offers no further derivation from within Latin, as does the Oxford English
Dictionary.[5]
An origin as a loan into Latin from a Celtic language or
Basque
has also been postulated. There is a
traditional Basque symbol called the
lauburu
; though the name is only attested from
the 19th century onwards the motif occurs in engravings dating as early as the
2nd century AD.
Vision of Constantine
A coin of Constantine (c.337) showing a depiction of his labarum
spearing a serpent.
On the evening of October 27, 312, with his army preparing for the
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
, the emperor
Constantine I
claimed to have had a vision
which led him to believe he was fighting under the protection of the
Christian God
.
Lactantius
states that, in the night before the
battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to “delineate the heavenly sign on
the shields of his soldiers”. He obeyed and marked the shields with a sign
“denoting Christ”. Lactantius describes that sign as a “staurogram”, or a
Latin cross
with its upper end rounded in a
P-like fashion, rather than the better known
Chi-Rho
sign described by
Eusebius of Caesarea
. Thus, it had both the
form of a cross and the monogram of Christ’s name from the formed letters “X”
and “P”, the first letters of Christ’s name in Greek.
From Eusebius, two accounts of a battle survive. The first, shorter one in
the
Ecclesiastical History
leaves no doubt that
God helped Constantine but doesn’t mention any vision. In his later Life of
Constantine, Eusebius gives a detailed account of a vision and stresses that
he had heard the story from the emperor himself. According to this version,
Constantine with his army was marching somewhere (Eusebius doesn’t specify the
actual location of the event, but it clearly isn’t in the camp at Rome) when he
looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek
words
Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα
. The traditionally employed
Latin translation of the Greek is
in hoc signo vinces
— literally “In this
sign, you will conquer.” However, a direct translation from the original Greek
text of Eusebius into English gives the phrase “By this, conquer!”
At first he was unsure of the meaning of the apparition, but the following
night he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the
sign against his enemies. Eusebius then continues to describe the labarum, the
military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against
Licinius
, showing the Chi-Rho sign.
Those two accounts can hardly be reconciled with each other, though they have
been merged in popular notion into Constantine seeing the Chi-Rho sign on the
evening before the battle. Both authors agree that the sign was not readily
understandable as denoting Christ, which corresponds with the fact that there is
no certain evidence of the use of the letters chi and rho as a Christian sign
before Constantine. Its first appearance is on a Constantinian silver coin from
c. 317, which proves that Constantine did use the sign at that time, though not
very prominently. He made extensive use of the Chi-Rho and the labarum only
later in the conflict with Licinius.
The vision has been interpreted in a solar context (e.g. as a
solar halo
phenomenon), which would have been
reshaped to fit with the Christian beliefs of the later Constantine.
An alternate explanation of the intersecting celestial symbol has been
advanced by George Latura, which claims that Plato’s visible god in Timaeus
is in fact the intersection of the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light, a rare
apparition important to pagan beliefs that Christian bishops reinvented as a
Christian symbol.
Eusebius’ description of the labarum
“A Description of the Standard of the Cross, which the Romans now call the
Labarum.” “Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with
gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it.
On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and
within this, the symbol of the Saviour’s name, two letters indicating the name
of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by
X in its centre: and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on
his helmet at a later period. From the cross-bar of the spear was suspended a
cloth, a royal piece, covered with a profuse embroidery of most brilliant
precious stones; and which, being also richly interlaced with gold, presented an
indescribable degree of beauty to the beholder. This banner was of a square
form, and the upright staff, whose lower section was of great length, of the
pious emperor and his children on its upper part, beneath the trophy of the
cross, and immediately above the embroidered banner.”
“The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard
against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it
should be carried at the head of all his armies.”
Iconographic career under Constantine
Coin of
Vetranio
, a soldier is holding two
labara. Interestingly they differ from the labarum of Constantine in
having the Chi-Rho depicted on the cloth rather than above it, and
in having their staves decorated with
phalerae
as were earlier Roman
military unit standards.
The emperor
Honorius
holding a variant of the
labarum – the Latin phrase on the cloth means “In the name of Christ
[rendered by the Greek letters XPI] be ever victorious.”
Among a number of standards depicted on the
Arch of Constantine
, which was erected, largely
with fragments from older monuments, just three years after the battle, the
labarum does not appear. A grand opportunity for just the kind of political
propaganda that the Arch otherwise was expressly built to present was missed.
That is if Eusebius’ oath-confirmed account of Constantine’s sudden,
vision-induced, conversion can be trusted. Many historians have argued that in
the early years after the battle the emperor had not yet decided to give clear
public support to Christianity, whether from a lack of personal faith or because
of fear of religious friction. The arch’s inscription does say that the Emperor
had saved the
res publica
INSTINCTV DIVINITATIS
MENTIS MAGNITVDINE (“by greatness of mind and by instinct [or impulse]
of divinity”). As with his predecessors, sun symbolism – interpreted as
representing
Sol Invictus
(the Unconquered Sun) or
Helios
,
Apollo
or
Mithras
– is inscribed on his coinage, but in
325 and thereafter the coinage ceases to be explicitly pagan, and Sol Invictus
disappears. In his
Historia Ecclesiae
Eusebius further reports
that, after his victorious entry into Rome, Constantine had a statue of himself
erected, “holding the sign of the Savior [the cross] in his right hand.” There
are no other reports to confirm such a monument.
Whether Constantine was the first
Christian
emperor supporting a peaceful
transition to Christianity during his rule, or an undecided pagan believer until
middle age, strongly influenced in his political-religious decisions by his
Christian mother
St. Helena
, is still in dispute among
historians.
As for the labarum itself, there is little evidence for its use before 317.In
the course of Constantine’s second war against Licinius in 324, the latter
developed a superstitious dread of Constantine’s standard. During the attack of
Constantine’s troops at the
Battle of Adrianople
the guard of the labarum
standard were directed to move it to any part of the field where his soldiers
seemed to be faltering. The appearance of this talismanic object appeared to
embolden Constantine’s troops and dismay those of Licinius.At the final battle
of the war, the
Battle of Chrysopolis
, Licinius, though
prominently displaying the images of Rome’s pagan pantheon on his own battle
line, forbade his troops from actively attacking the labarum, or even looking at
it directly.[16]
Constantine felt that both Licinius and
Arius
were agents of Satan, and associated them
with the serpent described in the
Book of Revelation
(12:9).
Constantine represented Licinius as a snake on his coins.
Eusebius stated that in addition to the singular labarum of Constantine,
other similar standards (labara) were issued to the Roman army. This is
confirmed by the two labara depicted being held by a soldier on a coin of
Vetranio
(illustrated) dating from 350.
Later usage
Modern ecclesiastical labara (Southern Germany).
The emperor
Constantine Monomachos
(centre
panel of a Byzantine enamelled crown) holding a miniature labarum
Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as
Constantius II (7 August 317 – November 3 361) was a
Roman Emperor
(337-361) of the
Constantinian dynasty
.
Constanti.jpg/250px-Bust_of_Constantius_II_(Mary_Harrsch).jpg) us
joins the lengthy list of emperors whose career was marked by a seemingly
endless series of wars both domestic and foreign. He served as Caesar from 324
until his father’s death in 337 at which time he shared the title of Augustus
with two other brothers, Constantine II and Constans. To make sure no more
Johnny-come-latelies in his family would try their hand at being emperor too it
is thought that he engineered a bloodbath that left nary a relative. Constantine
II died in battle and Constans was murdered by the men of Magnentius, the first
of several usurpers. This left Constantius finally as sole legitimate emperor
and he moved quickly to suppress Magnentius, an endeavor he eventually
accomplished. The strife didn’t end there, however, as he still had to deal with
other revolts and wars on every corner of the empire. Caught in these
never-ending battles he died while on his way to battle Julian II.
Flavius Iulius Constantius was born at
Sirmium
(now
Sremska Mitrovica
in
Serbia
) in province of
Pannonia
, the third son of
Constantine the Great
, and second by his second
wife Fausta
, the daughter of
Maximian
. Constantius was made
Caesar
by his father on 13 November 324.
When the elder
Constantine
died at
Constantinople
on 22 May 337, Constantius was
nearest of his sons to that city, and despite being on campaign in the eastern
provinces, immediately returned to the city to oversee his father’s funeral.
The
Massacre of 337
The role of Constantius in the massacre of his relatives
(those descended from the second marriage of his paternal grandfather
Constantius Chlorus
and
Theodora
) is unclear.
Zosimus
, writing 498-518 claims that
Constantius “caused” the soldiers to murder his relatives, as opposed to
actually ordering the action.
Eutropius
, writing between 350 and 370, writes
that Constantius merely sanctioned “the act, rather than commanding it”.
However, it must be noted that both of these sources are hostile to Constantius
– Zosimus
being a pagan,
Eutropius
a friend of
Julian
, Constantius’ cousin and, ultimately,
his enemy.
Whatever the case, Constantius himself, his older brother
Constantine II
, his younger brother
Constans
and three cousins,
Gallus
, his half-brother
Julian
and
Nepotianus
, son of
Eutropia
, were left as the only surviving males
related to Constantine.
Division
of the Empire
Meeting at Sirmium not long after the massacre, the three
brothers proceeded to divide the Roman Empire among them, according to their
father’s will. Constantine II received
Britannia
,
Gaul and
Hispania
; Constans (initially under the
supervision of Constantine II)
Italia
,
Africa
, Illyricum,
Thrace
,
Macedon
and
Achaea
; and Constantius the East.
Sole
Ruler of the Roman Empire
Constantius spent much of the rest of 353 and early 354 on
campaign against the
Alemanni
on the Danubian borders. The exact
details of this campaign are uncertain, though it seems to have ended with
victory for Constantius.
The
usurpation of Julian and Problems in the East
In the meantime,
Julian
had won some victories against the
Alemanni
tribe, who had once again invaded
Roman Gaul
. As such, Constantius requested
reinforcements from
Julian
for his own campaign against Shapur II.
However, when he requested reinforcements from
Julian
’s Gaulish army, the Gaulish legions
revolted and proclaimed
Julian
Augustus.
However, on account of the immediate Sassanid threat,
Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin’s usurpation other than
by sending missives by which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of
Augustus and be satisfied with that of Caesar.
By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the
usurper with violent force; and yet the threat of the
Sassanids
remained. Constantius had already
spent part of early 361 unsuccessfully attempting to take the fortress of
Bezabde
. After a time, he had withdrawn to
Antioch
to regroup, and prepare for a
confrontation with
Shapur II
. However, as it turned out, the
campaigns of the previous year had inflicted such heavy losses on the
Sassanids
that they did not attempt another
round of engagements in 361. This allowed Constantius to turn his full attention
to facing the usurpation of
Julian
[55].
Death
As such, Constantius immediately gathered his forces and set
off west. However, by the time he reached
Mopsuestia
in Cicilia, it was clear that he was
fatally ill and would not survive to face
Julian
. Apparently, realising his death was
near, Constantius had himself baptised by
Euzoius
, the
Semi-Arian
bishop of
Antioch
, and then declared that Julian was his
rightful successor. Constantius II died of fever on 3 November 361.
Marriages
and Children
Constantius II was married three times:
First to a
daughter
of his half-uncle
Julius Constantius
, whose name is unknown. She
was a full-sister of Gallus and a half-sister of Julian. She died c. 352/3.
Second, to Eusebia, a woman of
Macedonian
origin from the city of
Thessaloniki
, whom he married before
Constantius’ defeat of Magnentius in 353. She died in 360.
Third and lastly, in 360, to
Faustina (empress)
, who gave birth to
Constantius’ only child, a posthumous daughter named
Flavia Maxima Constantia
, who later married
Emperor Gratian
.
Religious
Issues
Constantius seems to have had a particular interest in the
religious state of the
Roman Empire
. As a
Christian
Roman Emperor
, Constantius made a concerted
effort to promote
Christianity
at the expense of
Roman polytheism
(‘paganism’). As such, over
the course of his reign, he issued a number of different edicts designed
specifically to carry out this agenda (see below). Constantius also took an
active part in attempting to shape the
Christian
church.
Paganism
under Constantius
In spite of the some of the edicts issued by Constantius, it
should be recognised that he was not fanatically anti-pagan – he never made any
attempt to disband the various Roman priestly colleges or the
Vestal Virgins
, he never acted against the
various pagan schools, and, at times, he actually even made some effort to
protect paganism. Also, most notably, he remained
pontifex maximus
until his death, and was
actually deified by the Roman Senate after his death. The relative moderation of
Constantius’ actions toward paganism is reflected by the fact that it was not
until over 20 years after Constantius’ death, during the reign of
Gratian
, that any pagan senators protested
their religion’s treatment.
Christianity
under Constantius
Although often considered an
Arian
, Constantius ultimately preferred a
third, compromise version that lay somewhere in between
Arianism
and the
Nicaean Creed
, retrospectively called
Semi-Arianism
[61][62].
As such, during his reign, Constantius made a concerted attempt to mold the
Christian church to follow this compromise position, and to this end, he
convened several Christian councils during his reign, the most notable of which
were one at
Rimini
and its twin at
Seleuca
, which met in 359 and 360 respectively.
“Unfortunately for his memory the theologians whose advice he took were
ultimately discredited and the malcontents whom he pressed to conform emerged
victorious,” writes the historian
A.H.M. Jones
. “The great councils of 359-60 are
therefore not reckoned
ecumenical
in the tradition of the church, and
Constantius II is not remembered as a restorer of unity, but as a
heretic
who arbitrarily imposed his will on the
church.”
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