Claudia (mother of Constantius)

Claudia was the purported mother of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus according to ancient sources. These sources claim her to be a relative of Roman emperors Claudius Gothicus and Quintillus, a claim modern historians tend to view with suspicion.

Attestation

The Historia Augusta, an ancient but notoriously unreliable source, states that Constantius' father was a nobleman named Flavius Eutropius and his mother Claudia, who was the daughter of Crispus, the brother of emperors Claudius Gothicus and Quintillus.[1] The historians Zosimus and Zonaras go even further, writing that Claudia was actually the daughter of Claudius Gothicus himself.[2] Eutropius was uncertain if Claudia was the daughter or sister of Claudius Gothicus.[lower-alpha 1][3]

Analysis

Modern historians have speculated that these connections with Claudius Gothicus and his brother Quintillus were fabricated by Constantius' son Constantine the Great to forge a more prestigious ancestry for himself during his reign, as well as to distance his father's memory from that of his adoptive father emperor Maximian (as well as the rest of the Tetrarchy).[4] Claudius Gothicus had been a well liked emperor who had not been assassinated or killed in battle but died a natural death, he was pagan but hadn't persecuted Christians,[5] and since the myth of him being the bastard son of Gordian II;[lower-alpha 2] as well as the claims of him being related to yet another emperor, Probus, existed, he was a good choice for dynastic purposes.[2] It was also convenient because Claudius Gothicus' reign was short and his greatest claim to fame was his military victory near Naissus, close to where Constantine was supposedly born. Giving Claudius's brother the name Crispus may also have been a way to try to explain Constantine's eldest son's name.[6]

Timothy D. Barnes speculated that instead of Claudia the emperor's mother may have been named "Julia Constantia" or similar.[7] Vern L. and Bonnie Bullough have proposed that Constantius Chlorus may have been born from of his parents in a "concubinage" (concubinatus) relationship, instead of in a marriage (conubium), thus explaining why Chlorus himself took his own son Constantinus by his possible concubine Helena (though some historians believe they were in a lawful marriage) as his full heir.[8]

Legacy

Fictional or not, Constantine appears to have wanted to associate himself with Claudius Gothicus and works glorifying him were written in this wake.[9] He also named one of his sons Flavius Claudius Constantinus, and his two other sons who became emperors (Constantius II and Constans) also stressed their connection to their supposed ancestor.[10] Constantine's move to invent fictional ancestry may also have been copied by his brother-in-law and rival emperor Licinius who began to circulate writings that he was descended from emperor Philip the Arab.[11]

Possible depictions

The woman standing behind Constantine and pointing at his eldest son Crispus on the Gemma Constantiana has been speculated by several historians to be a depiction of Constantine's grandmother Claudia.[12] Annie Nicolette Zadoks-Josephus Jitta came to this conclusion the second time she analyzed the cameo,[13] and G.M.A. Richter agreed with her.[14] Jitta argued this because the woman depicted wears a typical Claudian headdress[lower-alpha 3] and is pointing at Crispus, thus attempting to draw attention to the connection with her supposed father also named Crispus, and by proxy Gothicus.[15] Martin Henig also believed the lady to represent Claudia.[16]

See also

Notes
  1. The Historia Augusta also claims Claudius Gothicus had sisters, one of whom was named "Constantina".[1]
  2. Mentioned in the Epitome de Caesaribus.
  3. Jitta notes that such wear actually belonged to the time of Claudius "I", not Claudius "II" Gothicus, but that such confused artistry was not unusual in the fourth century.[15]

References
  1. Syme, Ronald (1983). Historia Augusta Papers. Clarendon. p. 71. ISBN 9780198148531.
  2. Hekster, Olivier (2015). Emperors and Ancestors: Roman Rulers and the Constraints of Tradition. Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture & Representation. OUP Oxford. p. 225. ISBN 9780191056550.
  3. Jovanović, Aleksandar (2006). Тло Србије: завичај римских царева. Princip-Bonart Pres. p. 126. ISBN 9788685215100.
  4. Cameron, Averil; Hall, Stuart (1999). Eusebius' Life of Constantine. Clarendon Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780191588471.
  5. Southern, Patricia (2015). The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine (second, reworked ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781317496939.
  6. Lieu, Samuel; Montserrat, Dominic (2002). From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views: A Source History. Routledge. pp. 68–69. ISBN 9781134871186.
  7. Doležal, Stanislav (January 2020). "Two of Constantine's "official lies"". Graeco-Latina Brunensia: 65 – via ResearchGate.
  8. Bullough, Vern L.; Bullough, Bonnie (1978). Prostitution: An Illustrated Social History. Crown Publishers. p. 51.
  9. Drinkwater, J. F. (1987). The Gallic Empire: Separatism and Continuity in the North-western Provinces of the Roman Empire, A.D. 260-274. Coronet Books. p. 64. ISBN 9783515048064.
  10. Harries, Jill (2012). "8: The sons of Constantine". Imperial Rome AD 284 to 363. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748653959.
  11. Shahîd, Irfan (1984). Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs (illustrated ed.). Dumbarton Oaks. p. 84. ISBN 9780884021155.
  12. Belkin, Kristin Lohse; Healy, Fiona; Muller, Jeffrey M. (2004). A House of Art: Rubens as Collector: Rubenshuis & Rubenianum. BAI. p. 282. ISBN 9789076704692.
  13. Historia. Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte. Vol. 33. F. Steiner. 1950. p. 97.
  14. Drijvers, Jan Willem (1992). Helena Augusta. BRILL. p. 193. ISBN 9789004094352.
  15. Bulletin van de Vereeniging tot Bevordering der Kennis van de Antieke Beschaving. Archaeologisch Instituut. 1965. p. 93.
  16. Smith, R. R. R. (14 July 2021). "Maiestas Serena: Roman Court Cameos and Early Imperial Poetry and Panegyric". The Journal of Roman Studies. Cambridge University Press. 111: 75–152. doi:10.1017/S0075435821000459. S2CID 237800530 – via Cambridge.org.
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