So...lets see if I have his whole family: Constantine the Great Crispus Delmatius Hanniballianus Constantine II Constans Constanitius II Neptian Constantius Gallus Julian II Helena Fausta Claudius Gothicus Constantius Chlorus? I miss any? stainless
Stemmata - De Imperatoribus Romanis: The Stemmata of the Neo-Flavian Emperors (The Constantinians). Clicking on the individual boxes will produce a Biography of the selected personage and a comprehensive Bibliography. James
I would not place Constantine as being related to Claudius II. There is no real proof that he had any family connection to that emperor. The main source for this assertion is the Historia Augusta which is a questionable document when it comes to accurate historical reference (to say the least) although it is true that Constantine himself made this claim.The claim is that Claudius and his brother Quintillus had another brother named Crispus (the name of Constantine's first son whom he killed...and they call him a saint?) The daughter of Crispus, Claudia, is said to have married Eutropius and she was the mother of Constantius I (Chlorus) who is, of course, Constantine's father. Most seem to think that he made that assertion to lend more credibility to his own reign and connect his family to an emperor that was well respected, generally remembered with favor...he was a popular emperor who died early and was not killed by his successor like so many of the time. Constantines ascension to the throne was unlawful, without the consent of the other members of the tetrarch (he claimed he was forces to accept the title of Augustus by his troops)...the biggest mistake Galerius could have made was to legitimize Constantine (although as Caesar, not Augustus) and this began his quest to eliminate all rivals (AND partners in power), he broke from the Tetrarch system and zealously fought to hold on to power and eventually, with his defeat of Licinius, he became sole emperor and the tetrarch was dead for good. Because of the radical changes he made, the somewhat shady manner in which he ascended to power, and his sole rule I am sure he felt a need to further legitimize his right. In the end...Constantine is a very unlikely candidate for sainthood. So I would look upon his supposed relation to Claudius II with skepticism...a claim that cannot be either proven true or false.
