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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 1877723, member: 42773&quot;]Anyone who has children will be familiar with their incessant bickering over property, but two of the sons of Constanine the Great, Constantine II and Constans, elevated sibling rivalry to epic proportions. On the death of Constantine I in 337, his three sons ruthlessly murdered any family members that may have had any claim to the throne, and divided the Roman Empire between themselves and a cousin, Dalmatius.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constans was assigned the praetorian prefectures of Italy and Africa, but he was only 14 at the time, so his older brother, Constantine II, appointed himself as Constans’ guardian. Have any of you parents ever put one sibling in charge of another? As you can imagine, this arrangement did not suit Constans in the least. The boys held a council at Vimanicium in 338 to redraw the boundaries, and Constans managed to pocket the prefecture of Illyricum and the diocese of Thrace. This annoyed Constantine II tremendously: it’s mine, no it’s mine, give it back, shut up!</p><p><br /></p><p>To make matters worse, when Constans came of age, Constantine II refused to give up his guardianship, and the matter escalated. Constans dispatched a body of Illyrian troops which cornered Constantine II in Aquilea and assassinated him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constans had some fun for a while, raping and pillaging the Franks, Picts, and Scots, but he gained a reputation for misrule. In addition to that, the Roman legions were annoyed at the emperor’s preference for foreign bodyguards and his openly homosexual lifestyle. They sided with the usurper Magnentius, and assassinated Constans in 350, paving the way for the sole rule of Constantius II.</p><p><br /></p><p>(A note to all would-be dictators: don’t alienate your legions!)</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins of Constans and Constantine II...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s28.postimg.org/731kvkegd/constans2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s28.postimg.org/92ms0py5p/constantineii.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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