Oh, haha, I knew about the deathbed baptism (though I had to be reminded) but I don't think I knew he was baptized by an Arian! AWKWARD.
Incidentally, regarding the question as to why Constantine waited till his deathbed (when he'd made Christiany the state religion decades earlier and had his children raised as Christians): Mike Duncan thinks it wasn't that Constantine wasn't a sincere believer but that he was, and that he was pretty convinced he'd go to hell unless he got baptized shortly before his death, since baptism clears you from all your sins even more thoroughly than confessing them does. (Especially at a point where confession/penance/absolution as later practiced in institional Christiany might not yet have been practiced this way. But the idea that baptism would cleanse you completely certainly was.) And given his track record, you can see why Constantine thought hell as a strong possibility.
I am actually surprised that Gallus and Julian were allowed to live, though?
Well, they were literally children. (Julian was born in 331, youngest of the sons of Julius Constantius the son of Theodora and Chlorus, and the "Massacre of the Princes" took place in 337.) Meanwhile, Constantine's half brothers, who'd been much younger than him - Constantine the Great had been 18 or so when the first Chlorus/Theodora offspring was born) were in the prime of their lives, between 30 and 40, when Constantine died, whereas the Constantine/Fausta sons, Constantine (II), Constantius (II) and Constans, were 21 or so, 20 or 19 and a teenager, respectively. You can see why Constantius, that precocious Mafia boss of an Imperial Offspring, concluded his uncles would be taken as far better candidates for the throne to the army (who wanted experienced men) than he and his untried brothers who were just about to earn their laurels (or not) in the upcoming war against the Persians, and so he used the opportunity of the entire Theodora line being in Constantinople for Constantine's funeral to wipe them out. Both the uncles and their older sons who were his own age and could potentially avenge them.
As to why he didn't kill Gallus and Julianus as well: could be for a mixture of reasons. First of all, he didn't carry out these killings himself. (Otherwise the story that it was just disgruntled soldiers with a Theodora line hate-on would not have worked even for the most credulous, and remember, as opposed to his pagan predecessors, Constantius was a Christian monarch, meaning killing your family is now officially frowned upon and has to be explained.) And while Soldiers would have been cool with killing a bunch of adult princes, they might have balked at killing little boys on behalf of a guy who was himself hardly grown up. Secondly, maybe he was playing the long game. He was the middle son, remember, and could not have been sure he could win against his other two brothers. It might be good to have some more options to threaten the others with in a few years. But that's just speculation.
!! The twist ending!
If I were Julian, growing up in the knowledge that my Christan uncle had murdered most of my family and the Christian bishops, including the Pope, let him get away with it without denouncing him because they did not want to loose their new state support, I would not have been too impressed with the new religion, either.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Constantinian Aftermath
Date: 2023-01-09 12:26 pm (UTC)Incidentally, regarding the question as to why Constantine waited till his deathbed (when he'd made Christiany the state religion decades earlier and had his children raised as Christians): Mike Duncan thinks it wasn't that Constantine wasn't a sincere believer but that he was, and that he was pretty convinced he'd go to hell unless he got baptized shortly before his death, since baptism clears you from all your sins even more thoroughly than confessing them does. (Especially at a point where confession/penance/absolution as later practiced in institional Christiany might not yet have been practiced this way. But the idea that baptism would cleanse you completely certainly was.) And given his track record, you can see why Constantine thought hell as a strong possibility.
I am actually surprised that Gallus and Julian were allowed to live, though?
Well, they were literally children. (Julian was born in 331, youngest of the sons of Julius Constantius the son of Theodora and Chlorus, and the "Massacre of the Princes" took place in 337.) Meanwhile, Constantine's half brothers, who'd been much younger than him - Constantine the Great had been 18 or so when the first Chlorus/Theodora offspring was born) were in the prime of their lives, between 30 and 40, when Constantine died, whereas the Constantine/Fausta sons, Constantine (II), Constantius (II) and Constans, were 21 or so, 20 or 19 and a teenager, respectively. You can see why Constantius, that precocious Mafia boss of an Imperial Offspring, concluded his uncles would be taken as far better candidates for the throne to the army (who wanted experienced men) than he and his untried brothers who were just about to earn their laurels (or not) in the upcoming war against the Persians, and so he used the opportunity of the entire Theodora line being in Constantinople for Constantine's funeral to wipe them out. Both the uncles and their older sons who were his own age and could potentially avenge them.
As to why he didn't kill Gallus and Julianus as well: could be for a mixture of reasons. First of all, he didn't carry out these killings himself. (Otherwise the story that it was just disgruntled soldiers with a Theodora line hate-on would not have worked even for the most credulous, and remember, as opposed to his pagan predecessors, Constantius was a Christian monarch, meaning killing your family is now officially frowned upon and has to be explained.) And while Soldiers would have been cool with killing a bunch of adult princes, they might have balked at killing little boys on behalf of a guy who was himself hardly grown up. Secondly, maybe he was playing the long game. He was the middle son, remember, and could not have been sure he could win against his other two brothers. It might be good to have some more options to threaten the others with in a few years. But that's just speculation.
!! The twist ending!
If I were Julian, growing up in the knowledge that my Christan uncle had murdered most of my family and the Christian bishops, including the Pope, let him get away with it without denouncing him because they did not want to loose their new state support, I would not have been too impressed with the new religion, either.