After the death of Emperor Constantine, who could be described as a world-historical charisma, the Roman Empire went back into the era of civil war.
The life of Emperor Constantine was almost bloody, but even worse after his death, it could be called a bloody clan.
Successors of Constantine
For the time being, I would like to line up the people who were candidates for the successor to Emperor Constantine.
Crisps (eldest son):Son of his first wife Minervina
Constantine II (second son):Son of Empress Fausta
Constantius (third son):Son of Empress Fausta
Constance (fourth son):Son of Empress Fausta
Dharmatius:Nephew
Hannibalianus:Nephew
Gallus:Nephew
Julian:Nephew
There were quite a few successors, but as usual, a few years after Constantine's death, it was almost annihilated.
Constantine died only in his eldest son, Crispus, during his lifetime. His cause of death was execution due to unjust communication with his Empress Fausta.
It is unclear if it really happened, but Fausta has since been murdered and is believed to have been attributed to Constantine.
After the death of Emperor Constantine, his nephews Dalmatius and Hannibalianus were murdered by someone.
It is not known who this is even in modern times, but the theory of being a eunuch official in the court and the theory of Constantius have been whispered since ancient times, probably three children born between the late emperor and Fausta. Certainly someone on the camp.
Since the dominated system was not a Roman culture, but an oriental monarchy, a castrated male eunuch official was also introduced into the palace. Even in China, which is far away, eunuch officials are wielding power, sometimes killing wise men and leading them to exile. In particular, Zhao Gao, who led to the destruction of Qin, is tremendous.
There was a famous eunuch official at that time called Eusebius, and there was a story that this person was involved in the plot of the palace, and it was said that the emperor could not understand without this person.
It can be said that the situation around here was similar to the custom of the eunuch official raising the children of the empress, as in the history of China.
This may be due to the fact that the three sons were still in their twenties when they succeeded to the throne.
Divide and Rule
The sons of Constantine agreed to divide the empire into three parts.
Constantine II ruled the west of the empires such as Spain and Gaul, Constantius ruled the east, and Constantine ruled Rome, Dacia, and North Africa.
They are 20, 19, and 17 years old, respectively, and have no military experience.
The first to drop out was Constantine II. He demanded that his younger brother Constance ceded the territory of North Africa, but refused to do so. It may be said that human immaturity is just about to die.
As a result, the west was annexed to the territory of Emperor Constance, and two-thirds of the Roman Empire was in his possession.
Around this time, his brother, Emperor Constantius, was full of measures against the enemy Sasanian Empire in the east, and there was no request for territorial ceding, and the divide and rule by the two emperors continued for 10 years.
The next sent off was in 350 AD, when a general named Magnentius rebelled with the permission of Emperor Constance.
Since Magnentius himself was from a barbarian tribe, he embraced Marcellinus, a high-ranking Roman bureaucrat, and started a battle with the Emperor's army. ..
The surviving Emperor Constantius concludes a consensus with the Sassanid Empire and hurries to fight Magnentius.
At that time, a person named Vitraniao, who was confused by the annoyance, also called himself the emperor, and Rome was greatly ruined.
When Constantius suppressed the rebellion of Vitrania by negotiation, he appointed Gallus, the nephew and cousin of the late emperor, as the deputy emperor, and succeeded in winning the battle with the thief Magnentius.
The battle was quite fierce, with tens of thousands of casualties and a large number of elite and talented soldiers in the empire leaving the Roman Empire.
The decline of prosperous nations and businesses is mostly due to internal conflicts, but no nation would have been as applicable as Rome at that time.
Magnentius, who lost the war, chose to commit suicide, and Rome did not move toward peace.
Constantius and his cousins
Gallus may have been crazy because of his long imprisonment.
After the murder of Constantine's younger brother and father, Julius Constantius, Gallus and his younger brother Julian had long experienced imprisonment.
When I thought that the imprisonment had been lifted, I was appointed as a deputy emperor, so it was natural that I didn't know what it was, but even so, my ability and talent as a politician was zero.
His relationship with the bureaucrats left by Constantine was the worst, and his support was disregarded. This is not uncommon in Japan, as there are bureaucrats who disregard the instructions of new ministers and governors.
Still, Gallus's dissatisfaction exploded.
At one point a rebellion broke out in one of the towns in Palestine. Gallus was angry at this, and when he suppressed the rebellion, he condemned all the people living in the town to death. It doesn't matter if he participated in the rebellion.
The hatred that exploded in this case goes to the bureaucrats who ignored him and executes these people one after another. The method of execution was also overwhelming because it was routed around the city.
I don't know if he boiled his karma in this situation, or if he thought the disturbers should get rid of it, but Constantius gave Gallus death.
Gallus was summoned to Milan and escorted to Paula's fortress as it was, where Eusebius, the eunuch official, was said to have been.
The eunuch official became the presiding judge himself, tortured Karus, and was forced to confess that he planned to kill Constantius, and was executed as it was.
The successor to Constantine, who had eight, had become two before he knew it.
However, the remaining Justinian was quite excellent.
Justinian always regained his inferiority and gained solid military service, though not as much as he was active in the first century of the Roman Civil War and during the Punic Wars.
For every one he wins, he wins the trust of the soldiers, and his men eventually want Julian to take the throne.
Eventually Julian shook his fangs against Emperor Constantius, but he no longer had any power left.
The emperor, who had an incurable illness, had no children, and after 24 years of reign, he finally recognized Justinian as his successor.
In this way, the battle for the successor of Constantine was over, and his reign was entrusted to the young Justinian.