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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Aethelred, post: 2725326, member: 81808&quot;]I have been working on 4th Century coins a lot over the last few days and as a result reading about that era. In particular I have been thinking about some of the executions that took place late in the reign of Constantine the Great.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantine defeated Licinius the Elder in AD 324 and allowed him to retire, but had him executed in 325. It is commonly said that he didn&#039;t want to allow Licinius to live and had him killed at the first opportunity, but I can see no reason why he couldn&#039;t execute him right away if that is what he really wanted. That would not have been an uncommon response to a defeated enemy in this era. For this reason I suspect that Licinius the Elder might have been involved in some sort of plot against Constantine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then in early AD 326 while on their way to Rome, Constantine suddenly executes Crispus and a bit later his (Constantine&#039;s) wife Fausta. The two executions do appear to be related. One story is that Fausta accused Crispus of attempted rape to get him out of the way so that her three sons (Constantine II, Constans and Constantius II) would have a clear path to power after Constantine&#039;s death.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, it should be noted that the execution of Licinius the Younger (aged about 10) seems to have been related in some way to the execution of Crispus and I believe this argues against accusations of sexual impropriety. I cannot help but wonder if there might have been some sort of information about the (alledged) plot by Licinius the Elder the year before that implicated some of those executed in AD 326?</p><p><br /></p><p>I know this topic gets discussed often here, but I&#039;ve never seen a poll so I&#039;m adding one. I hope that you will not only vote, but also share your personal theory about what happened, show off any coins you have that you think add to this topic and that a friendly discussion will ensue.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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