The Roman Emperors of Britain, page 19
Constantine formally sought recognition from Galerius. Lactantius writes that a ‘portrait of Constantine, adorned with laurels’ was sent to the east. Galerius’s first instinct was to ‘commit both the portrait and its bearer to the flames’ as he had wanted to appoint Licinius as Caesar. Cooler heads prevailed acknowledging Constantine had wide support in the army. However instead of Augustus, Galerius appointed him Caesar and promoted Severus in the west. Constantine diplomatically accepted and bided his time. The Tetrarchy in the summer of 306 became as follows:
Table 6. The Tetrarchy c. 306–8.
Augustus
Caesar
East
Galerius
Maximinus Daia
West
Severus
Constantine
The political situation was further complicated when, in October of the same year, the praetorian guard in Rome proclaimed Maxentius, the son of the former Augustus Maximian I, emperor. A complex series of shifting alliances and battles ensued. Severus marched on Maxentius. The usurper offered his father the role as co-emperor, making him Augustus for a second time. The presence of their old commander caused many of Severus’s troops to desert. Severus fled but was later captured at Ravenna in the spring of 307 and killed, or forced to commit suicide, later that year.
In 308 Maximian broke with his son in Rome and sided with Constantine. This instability forced Diocletian to temporarily come out of retirement. The resulting meeting at Carnuntum on the Danube forced Maximian to abdicate again. Galerius got his way and elevated his ally Licinius to western Augustus over the head of Constantine. Diocletain went back into retirement and lived long enough to see the system he had put in place fall apart. In 310 his old friend and fellow Augustus Maximian rebelled against Constantine in the west and was forced to commit suicide. A year later his former Caesar, Galerius died, likely of cancer. Maximinus Daia stepped up to eastern Augustus but the position of Caesar remained vacant when Diocletian died in late 311.
The provinces of Britannia were largely untouched by these events although its likely Constantine withdrew troops to the continent to assist his campaigns. Constantine defeated Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 whilst Licinius destroyed Maxinimus Daia in 313. One notable result of Constantine’s victory was the final disbanding of the praetorian guard. Both men were now undisputed Augusti of west and east respectively. Whilst the Tetrarchy was now effectively dead each man appointed their own Caesar. Another civil war erupted almost immediately followed by an uneasy truce for several years. This broke down c. 321 and by 324 Licinius was defeated leaving Constantine the undisputed sole Augustus.
The impression one gets from these momentous events is that Constantine left Britain in 306 never to return. However evidence suggests he may have come back on more than one occasion in his early years as western Caesar:13
• A coin dated to 307 states: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB rev. ADVENTVS AVGG.
• Further coins issues 310–312 and 313–314
• References in Eusebius’s Vita Constantini.
• He received the title Britannicus Maximus in 315.
Birley suggests that it is during one of these visits that he possibly created a fifth province, Valentia.14 This is a point we will come back to later as some suggest it was created as the result of the Roman response to the ‘barbarian conspiracy’ of 367. The contemporary writer Eusebius in Vita Constantini, the Life of Constantine, tells us: ‘With mild and sober injunctions to godliness he equipped his troops, then campaigned against the land of the Britons and those who dwell at the very Ocean where the sun sets’.15
It is a little ambiguous when exactly this occurred and could be mistaken for the campaign with his father. Later the source is more clear. After the death of Constantius he dealt with rebellious tribes on the Rhine. The next line is placed after these events and points to campaigns on the continent. The following then implies a second campaign in Britain: ‘When these matters were settled to his satisfaction, he turned his attention to the other parts of the inhabited world, and first crossed to the Britains, which lie enclosed by the edge of Ocean; he brought them to terms, and then surveyed the other parts of the world, so that he might bring healing where help was needed.16
When the emperor finally left Britain it was considered a rich and prosperous province. His reign was to see many significant changes. Not least was the Edict of Milan in 313 which allowed for the recovery of loses some Christian communities had suffered under Diocletian. Not only did it recognise certain rights and ‘freedom of worship’ but it also allowed certain privileges and positive advantages.17 The Council of Nicaea in 325 resulted in a codified doctrine known as the Nicene Creed. It would be wrong to thing this settled religious matters. Forms of Christianity considered heretical continued: Notably Donatism and Arianism, and later Pelagianism. However it wasn’t until the reign of Theodosius I, another of our emperors who visited Britain, that Christianity became the official state religion. Other important reforms are worth noting.
Appearance and character
Constantine had long, shoulder-length hair, some of it false.18 He wore elaborate jewellery, bracelets and robes with flowery designs. His a high-crested helmet, rich with gems, was replaced by a diadem, adorned with a double strand of pearls. He was a ‘superb general... mastery, coldly intelligent organiser and leader an administrator, a man of action with an immense capacity for forming schemes and carrying them out’.19
He could be tolerant, patient and had an ironic humour. However he was also ‘ruthlessly ambitious’ and ‘dedicated to his own personal success, and despotically determined at all costs to achieve it’.20
Eutropius writing a generation after Constantine died records just how murderous he could be: ‘the pride of prosperity caused Constantine to depart his former agreeable mildness of temper. Falling first upon his own relatives, he put to death his son, an excellent man; his sister’s son, a youth of amiable disposition; soon afterwards his wife, and subsequently many of his friends’.21 His enduring image is perhaps that represented by the statue at York Minster.
Reforms
Whilst the praetorian guard was disbanded praetorian prefects were retained. By the end of his reign the number of prefects had been increased to five but their functions were now administrative, fiscal and juridical.22 Two new military commands were created: magister militum and magister equitum, master of the infantry and cavalry respectively. It is thought that it was at this point he introduced the title of Comes, or Count. The post of dux had also evolved. From the first century this had been simply a descriptive terms meaning commander. By the third century it was being used to describe a permanent command in a geographical area, often along a border, but subordinate to the provincial governor. By the time of Constantine it had become a the supreme military commander of a region separate from the civilian governor. The comitatenses were posted back from the frontier areas and troops began to be billeted in towns. The frontier alae and cohortes units became limitanei, from the Latin limes, or frontier. He continued Diocletian’s policy of in creating more numerous but smaller provinces. In Rome the magister officiorum, Master of Offices, controlled his personal bodyguard, scholae. The senate was increased from 600 to 2,000.
Figure 51. Statue of Constantine the Great in York. (Wikimedia Commons)
Constans
Flavius Julius Constans was the youngest son of Constantine, born c. 323. He was just 10 years of age when he was given the title Casear by his father. At 14 he became joint Augustus with his older brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II, on the death of their father. The relative stability of their father’s reign did not last long. First a number of rivals were eliminated, among them family members. Constantine II, the eldest, held the western provinces including Britain. The young Constans held Italy, Africa and Illyricum. Constantius ruled in the east. Being still young Constans was very much the junior partner. When he reached adulthood he was in a position to exert his own authority. Aggrieved at not receiving what he felt was a fair share, Constantine II invaded Italy in 340. Marching across the Alps he was ambushed and killed by Constans’ troops outside Aquileia.
Constans took over his brother’s part of the empire and travelled to Britain in 343.23 This came soon after he had defeated a Frankish incursion and the fact that he travelled in January or February, when the crossing is dangerous, suggests there was a pressing reason. The sources aren’t particularly clear. One writer makes it clear there was no revolt or rebellion taking place: ‘as it was, affairs in Britain were stable, and there was no necessity to leave the land to enjoy the wonders of Ocean’.24 Another states: ‘In winter, which has never been done at any time, nor will be done, you pounded the swelling and raging waves of Ocean with your oars... the Briton was terrified at the unexpected face of the Emperor’.25 Ammianus Marcellinus makes a passing reference that the emperor Julian (reigned 361–3), ‘was afraid to go in person to help the Britains when they were ravaged by the Scots and Picts, as Constans had done’. It is likely there was a campaign in northern Britain beyond the frontier. Constans would have been 20 years old at this point and we can see his image in the bust in figure 52.
Figure 52. Bust of Constans I. (Wikimedia Commons)
He was to be the last legitimate reigning emperor to visit Britain. As with his father the focus of his visit seems to have been in the north. The Picts were first mentioned under the reign of his grandfather, Constantius.The early fourth century Laterculus Veronensis referred to gentes barbarae, quae pullulaverunt sub imperatoribus, ‘barbarian peoples which have sprouted under the emperors’. It begins with Scoti, Picti and Calidoni. We have already noted the rise of Saxon pirates from the time of Carausius. Irish, Pictish and Saxon raiders became a common threat from the mid-fourth century and beyond. However a young Romano-Briton waving Constans off in 343 may have felt confident he held citizenship in a stable, prosperous province within the empire. Little would he know his grandson might witness the end of Roman Britain and the last emperor leave with much of the garrison.
Chapter Nine
Usurpers and Tyrants
Constans’s joint reign with his brother Constantius II lasted another seven years. By the year 350 he had lost the support of the army: ‘The rule of Constans was for some time energetic and just, but afterwards, falling into ill-health, and being swayed by ill-designing friends, he indulged in great vices; and, becoming intolerable to the people of the provinces, and unpopular with the soldiery’.1
The troops on the Rhine frontier declared for Magnentius at Autun, a successful general who had fought in Gaul under Constans. The emperor fled, attempting to reach Hispania, but he was caught at a fortress on the Pyrenees and killed.
Figure 53. Gold Solidus of Magnentius from Trier. (Wikimedia Commons)
Britain once more sided with a western usurper just as it had done under Postumus and Carausius the century before. Constantius II, the last remaining son of Constantine and Augustus in the east, refused to acknowledge Magnentius. Civil war loomed, delayed first by conflict with Persia and then by overtures of peace. Talks failed and Constantius moved west. Magnentius was defeated at Mursa Major in 351 leaving over 50,000 dead on the battle-field. Magnentius retreated west and tried to bargain for peace. Constantius was in no mood to appease his brother’s killer and crossed the Alps. At Mons Seleucus in southeastern France in 353 Magnentius lost his final battle and fled to Lugdunum. Fifty six years earlier Clodius Albinus had been driven back into the city by Septimius Severus. The same fate awaited the new usurper. Magnentius fell on his sword leaving Constantius the sole emperor. His image survives on coins such as the gold solidus in figure 53.
Carausius II, a second Pirate King?
A number of coins have been found dating to c. 354–8 which intriguingly point to a second Carausius, this time confined to Britain. Some bear the words DOMNO CARAVSIVS CES, the latter word perhaps an attempt at CAESAR. Other coins have CENSERIS or GENSERIS. Some scholars suspect these may be forgeries.2 We can say nothing more about this and so must leave it as a mystery.
Roman Britain in the mid-fourth century
Constantius cracked down on supporters of Magnentius. An imperial notary, Paulus Catena, notorious for his cruelty, was sent to Britain. Many were arrested, some on trumped up charges. The vicarious of the Diocese, Flavius Martinus, attempted to put a stop to the injustices and paid for it with accusations of treason and a threat of arrest. Taking matters into his own hands he tried to attack Catena and having failed was forced to commit suicide. Constantius II died in 361 and was succeeded by Julian, known to history as ‘Julian the Apostate’ for his pagan beliefs.
Fourth-century Britain was considered to be a prosperous diocese, described by some as ‘very wealthy’.3 It was productive enough for Julian to send 600 grain ships from Britain to supply troops on the Rhine. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that many luxurious and large villas were still being built.4 It has been described as the ‘heyday or Romano-British villas’ within a ‘wealth producing agricultural economy’.5 The rural population that worked on these farms still accounted for the bulk of the population, around 90 per cent.6
At the same time there was a ‘substantial urban population’,7 and evidence of maintenance and new construction exists within towns up to the mid-fourth century.8 The population, especially in urban areas and the more romanised south-east, had a sense of Roman identity.9 It is interesting to note at this point that it is these very areas that experienced an increase in Germanic material culture and settlement a century later. Equally it was the less urbanised and romanised areas of the west and north that developed (or maintained) a distinctive Romano-Brittonic cultural identity.
The second half of the fourth century showed a marked deterioration in urbanisation with towns becoming poorer and politically weaker.10 Political power shifted away from urban centres to country estates. In addition to these changes raiding from outside the empire remained a significant problem. In c. 360 a major raid by ‘the savage tribes of the Scots (Irish) and the Picts...had broken the peace that had been agreed upon, were laying waste the regions near the frontiers’.11 This ‘peace that had been agreed upon’ may well have been a treaty negotiated, or imposed, when Constans came in 343. Unlike Constans, Julian was reluctant to leave Gaul with the threat of barbarian raids across the Rhine, notably from the Alemanni. He sent his ‘master of arms’, Lupicinus instead.
Julian died in 363 and was briefly succeeded by Jovian before, in 364, Valentinian I and his brother Valens became joint Augusti in the west and east respectively. Raiding continued and we read: ‘the Alamanni were devastating Gaul and Raetia, the Sarmatae and Quadi Pannonia, while the Picts, Saxons, Scots and Attacotti were harassing the Britons with constant disasters’.12 However the most serious raid was to follow and with it came a devastating Roman response. The campaign force was lead by an experienced, battle-hardened commander, Flavius Theodosius, known as Count Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder. With him was his 20 year old son, serving on his command staff. This young man would become one of the most famous of all late-Roman emperors, Theodosius the Great.
The Barbarian Conspiracy of 367
Most of our knowledge about the major incursion of 367 comes from Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330–400).13 Serious news reached Valentinian in northern Gaul. A barbarica conspiratione (barbarian conspiracy) had plunged Britain into ‘a state of extreme need’. Nectraridus, comes maritime tractus (commander of the seacoast region) had been killed and Fullofaudes, a ‘general’, had been ambushed and taken prisoner. We can see the organisation of the late Roman Empire in the west in figure 54.
It is speculated that Fullofraudes was the Dux Britanniarum in northern Britain. However it is not certain when this rank came into existence. It may have been introduced by Stilicho towards the end off the fourth century. Another possibility is the comes Britanniarum which made the holder the senior military commander in Britain. Regarding Nectraridus, the comes maritime tractus it is suggested that this post is synonymous with the later comes litoris Saxonici. This might be unlikely if the raids were in the north and thus it could be an as yet unknown command.14 The word tractus suggests a region rather than litoris which implies a coastline. Irish raiders could easily target the south-west and modern Wales as well as Lancashire and Cumbria. The Picts could of course by-pass Hadrian’s Wall by hugging either coastline.
Figure 54. The Organisation of the late Roman Empire in the West.
Who then was this savage and ferocious enemy, capable of overrunning the empire’s frontier troops? Ammianus isn’t completely clear although in the subsequent passage he lists the following: the Picts (divided into two tribes: the Dicalydones and Verturiones); the Attacotti, ‘a warlike race of men’; and the Scots (Irish). All of who were ‘ranging widely and causing great devastation’. The phrase widely seems to mean in the north and west as he goes onto to describe the Franks and Saxons raiding the Gallic regions by land and sea ‘with cruel robbery, fire, and the murder of all who were taken prisoners’.
It does sound like a complete break-down of authority. How organised it was is open to debate.
Whatever the case the emperor’s initial response clearly didn’t work. Severus, commander of the household troops, was sent but quickly recalled. A second commander, Jovinus, sent back a report full of alarm and requested reinforcements. Enter Theodosius, ‘a man most favourably known for his services in war’, who hastened to the coast with a powerful force.
