Name of several Roman and Later Roman emperors.
Constantine I., known as “The Great” (d. 337), see above.
Constantine II. (317–340), son of Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (337–340), was born at Arelate (Arles) in February 317. On the 1st of March in the same year he was created Cæsar, and was consul in 320, 321, 324 and 329. The fifth anniversary of his Cæsarship was celebrated by the panegyrist Nazarius. He gained the credit of the victories of his generals over the Alamanni (331, for which he received the title Alamannicus), and over the Goths (332). From 335 he administered the Gallic portion of the empire as Cæsar till his father’s death (May 22, 337). On the 9th of September in the same year he assumed the title of Augustus, together with his brothers Constans and Constantius, and in 338 a meeting was held at Viminiacum, on the borders of Pannonia, to arrange the distribution of the empire. In accordance with the arrangements made by his father, Constantine received Britain, Spain and the Gauls; Pontus, Asia, the East, and Egypt fell to Constantius; Africa, Pannonia and the Italies to the youngest brother Constans, whose dominions were further increased by the addition of Macedonia, Dalmatia and Thrace, originally intended for Delmatius, a nephew of Constantine I. and one of the victims of the general massacre of that emperor’s kinsmen. By virtue of his seniority, Constantine claimed a kind of control over his brothers. Constans, an ambitious youth encouraged by intriguing advisers, declined to submit; and Constantine, jealous of his prerogatives and dissatisfied with his share in the empire, demanded from Constans the cession of Africa and equal authority in Italy. After protracted but unavailing negotiations, Constantine in 340 invaded Italy. He had advanced as far as Aquileia, when he fell into an ambuscade and lost his life. His body was thrown into the little river Alsa, but subsequently recovered and buried with royal honours.
See Zosimus ii. xii.; Aurelius Victor, Epit. 41; Eusebius, Vita Constantini, iv.; O. Seeck in Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencyclopädie, iv. pt. 1 (1900); Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. 18.
Constantine III., son of the emperor Heraclius (d. 641) by his first wife Eudocia, succeeded his father as joint-emperor with Heracleonas, the son of Heraclius by his second wife Martina. Court intrigues nearly led to a civil war, which was prevented by the death of Constantine (May 641), after a brief reign of 103 days. He was supposed to have been poisoned by order of his stepmother Martina.
Constantine IV. Pogonatus (the “bearded”), son of Constans II., was emperor from 668 to 685. After his father’s death he set out for Sicily, where an Armenian named Mizizius had been declared emperor. Having defeated and put the usurper to death, he returned to the capital. For six years (672–677) the Arabs under the caliph Moawiya besieged Constantinople, but the ravages caused amongst them by the so-called “Greek fire,” heavy losses by land and sea, and the inroads of the Christian Mardaites (or Maronites) of Mount Lebanon, obliged Moawiya to make peace and agree to pay tribute for thirty years. The attacks of the Slavs and Avars upon Thessalonica were heroically repulsed by the inhabitants. But Constantine, exhausted by the war with the Arabs, was unable to prevent the Bulgars, a tribe of Finno-Ugrian race, from crossing the Danube and settling in the district where their name still survives. The Bulgarian kingdom was established under its first king Isperich in 679. The tribute paid by the Arabs was used to purchase the goodwill of the new settlers. In order to restore peace in the church, Constantine summoned an ecumenical council (the sixth) at Constantinople, which held its sittings from the 7th of November 680 to the 16th of September 681. The result was the condemnation of the Monothelites and a recognition of the doctrine that two wills, neither opposed nor intermingled, were united in the person of Christ, in accordance with his twofold nature.
Constantine V. Copronymus (Gr. κόπρος), son of Leo III. the iconoclast, was emperor 740–775. Immediately after his accession, while he was engaged in a campaign against the Arabs, his brother-in-law, an Armenian named Artavasdus, a supporter of the image-worshippers, had been proclaimed emperor, and it was not till the end of 743 that Constantine re-entered Constantinople. When he felt his position secure, he determined to settle the religious controversy once for all. In 754 he assembled at the palace of Hiereion 338 bishops, by whom the worship of images was forbidden as opposed to all Christian doctrine and a curse pronounced upon all those who upheld it. But in spite of the severity with which the resolution was enforced, the resistance to iconoclasm continued, chiefly owing to the attitude of the monks, who exercised great influence over the common people. A vigorous campaign against monasticism took place; the monasteries were closed, and many of them pulled down or converted into barracks; monks and nuns were compelled to marry, and exiled in large numbers to Cyprus; the literary and artistic treasures were sold for the benefit of the imperial treasury. One of the most important results of the struggle was the defection of the pope, who sought and obtained protection from Pippin, king of the Franks. All attempts to induce Pippin to throw over his new protégé failed, and from this time onward the nominal dependence of Rome and the papacy on emperors at Constantinople ceased. Constantine has been described by the orthodox historians of his time as a monster of iniquity; but, in spite of the harshness and occasional cruelty with which he treated his religious opponents, for which an excuse may be found in the obstinate fanaticism of the monks, it is now generally admitted that he was one of the most capable rulers who ever occupied the Byzantine throne. He restored the aqueduct built by Valens and destroyed by the barbarians in the reign of Heraclius, re-peopled Constantinople (after it had been devastated by a great plague) and some of the cities of Thrace, revived commercial prosperity, and carried on a number of wars, in which, on the whole, he was successful, against the Arabs, Slavs and Bulgarians. In the year of his death he set out on an expedition against the last named, but a violent attack of fever obliged him to discontinue his journey. He died on board his fleet on his way home.
Constantine VI., grandson of Constantine V., was emperor 780–797. At ten years of age he succeeded his father, Leo IV., under the guardianship of his mother Irene, who held the reins of government for ten years. In 782 the Arabs under Hārūn al-Rashīd penetrated as far as the Bosporus, and exacted an annual tribute as the price of an inglorious peace. Even when Constantine came of age, Irene practically retained the supreme power. At length Constantine had her arrested, but foolishly pardoned her shortly afterwards. Disastrous campaigns against the Bulgarians and Arabs afforded her an opportunity of rousing the contempt and hatred of the people against their ruler. On his return to Constantinople, Constantine managed to escape to the Asiatic coast, but being brought back practically by force he was seized and blinded. According to some, he died on the same day; according to others, he survived for several years. With Constantine VI. the Syrian (Isaurian) dynasty became extinct.
See Theophanes, and the biographies of the patriarch Tarasius and Theodore of Studium; also F. C. Schlosser, Geschichte der bilderstürmenden Kaiser des oströmischen Reichs (Frankfurt am Main, 1812); other works s.v. Irene.
Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus (Gr. Porphyrogennētos, “born in the purple”) (905–959), East Roman emperor, author and patron of literature, was the son of Leo VI. the Wise. Though nominally emperor from 912–959, it was not until 945 that Constantine could really be called sole ruler. During this period he had been practically excluded from all real share in the government by ambitious relatives. Though wanting in strength of will, Constantine possessed intelligence and many other good qualities, and his reign on the whole was not unsatisfactory. He was poisoned by his son Romanus in 959. Constantine was a painter and a patron of art, a literary man and a patron of literature; and herein consists his real importance, since it is to works written by or directly inspired by him that we are indebted for our chief knowledge of his times. He was the author or inspirer of several works of considerable length. (1) De Thematibus, an account of the military districts (Themata) of the empire during the time of Justinian, chiefly borrowed from Hierocles and Stephanus of Byzantium. (2) De administrando imperio, an account of the condition of the empire, and an exposition of the author’s view of government, written for the use of his son Romanus; it also contains most valuable information as to the condition and history of various foreign nations with which the Byzantine empire had been brought into contact on the east, west and north. (3) De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae, which describes the customs of the Eastern Church and court. (4) A life of Basilius I., his grandfather, based on the work of Genesius. (5) Two treatises on military subjects are attributed to him; one on tactics, which, as the title shows, was really written by his grandson Constantine VIII., the other a description of the different methods of fighting in fashion amongst different peoples. (6) A speech on the despatch of an image of Christ to Abgar, king of Edessa. Of works undertaken by his instructions the most important were the Encyclopædic Excerpts from all available treatises on various branches of learning. (1) Historica, in 53 sections, each devoted to a special subject; of these the sections De legationibus, De virtutibus et vitiis, De sententiis, De insidiis, have been wholly or partly preserved. (2) Basilica, a compilation from the different parts of the Justinian Corpus Juris, subsequently the textbook for the study of law. (3) Geoponica, agricultural treatises, for which see Cassianus Bassus. (4) Iatrica, a medical handbook compiled by one Theophanes Nonnus, chiefly from Oribasius. (5) Hippiatrica, on veterinary surgery, the connection of which with Constantine is, however, disputed. (6) Historia animalium, a compilation from the epitome of Aristotle’s work on the subject by Aristophanes of Byzantium, with additions from other writers such as Aelian and Timotheus of Gaza.
On Constantine VII. generally the most important work is A. Rambaud, L’Empire grec au dixième siècle (1870); see also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. 53, and G. Finlay, Hist. of Greece, ii. 294 (1877). Many of his works will be found in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, cix., cxii., cxiii.; for editions of the rest, C. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur (1897), and the article by Cohn in Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (1900) should be consulted. The former contains a valuable note on the “Gothic Christmas” described in detail in the De cerimoniis; see also Bury in Eng. Hist. Rev. xxii. (1907).
Constantine VIII. This title is given by Gibbon to the son of Romanus I. Lecapenus, one of the colleagues of Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus, but it is now generally bestowed upon Constantine, the brother and colleague of Basil II. from 976–1025, sole ruler 1025–1028. An absolute contrast to his brother, he gave himself up to a life of pleasure and allowed the administration to fall into the hands of six eunuchs.
Constantine IX. Monomachus, emperor 1042–1054, owed his elevation to an old admirer, Zoë, the widow of Romanus III. Argyrus (1028–1034) and of Michael IV. the Paphlagonian (1034–1041), who, after the brief reign of Michael V. Calaphates (Dec. 1041–April 1042), was proclaimed empress with her sister, Theodora. Quarrels broke out between the sisters, and, in order to secure her position, Zoë married Constantine, with whom she shared the throne till her death in 1050. In his old age Constantine, who had once been a famous warrior, utterly neglected the defences of the empire and reduced his army by disbanding 50,000 of his best troops; on the other hand, he spent extravagant sums on luxuries and the erection of magnificent buildings. Rebellions broke out at home and abroad; the Normans conquered Lombardy, which subsequently (1055) became the duchy of Apulia, and thus Italy was lost to the empire; the Petchenegs (Patzinaks) crossed the Danube and attacked Thrace and Macedonia; and the Seljuk Turks made their appearance on the Armenian frontier.
Constantine X. Ducas, emperor 1059–1067, succeeded Isaac I. Comnenus. But the choice was not justified, for Constantine, who as the friend and minister of Isaac had shown himself a capable statesman and financier, proved incompetent as an emperor. He devoted himself to philosophical trifling, petty administrative and judicial details, while his craze for economy developed into avarice. He reduced the army, cut down the soldiers’ pay, failed to keep up the supply of war material, and neglected the frontier fortresses at a time when the Seljuk Turks were pressing hard upon the eastern portion of the empire. Alp Arslan, the successor of Toghrul Beg, overran Armenia in 1064, and destroyed its capital Ani. The Magyars occupied Belgrade, the Petchenegs (Patzinaks) continued their inroads, and in 1065 the Uzes (called by the Greeks Comani), a Turkish tribe from the shores of the Euxine, crossed the Danube in vast numbers, ravaged Thrace and Macedonia, and penetrated as far as Thessalonica. The empire was only saved by an outbreak of plague amongst the invaders and the bravery of the Bulgarian peasants. In the year before Constantine’s death the remnant of the Byzantine possessions in Italy was finally lost to the empire, and the chief town, Bari, taken by the Normans.
