Constantina

Constantina (also named Constantia and Constantiana; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), and later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Fausta, daughter of Emperor Maximian. Constantina received the title of Augusta by her father, and is venerated as a saint, having developed a medieval legend wildly at variance with what is known of her actual character. In English she is also known as Saint Constance.

In 335, Constantina married her cousin Hannibalianus, son of Flavius Dalmatius, whom Constantine had created "King of Kings and Ruler of the Pontic Tribes". After Emperor Constantine the Great died, great purges of the imperial family occurred and her husband was executed in 337.

For the second time, Constantius II gave Constantina to Hannibalianus' and her own first cousin Gallus. Gallus was created a Caesar of the East and his name changed to Constantius Gallus to further his legitimacy around 349/350, which also presumably was the time of their marriage. Gallus was twenty-five or twenty-six at the time, whereas Constantina was substantially his senior. Her second marriage produced a daughter Anastasia, whose full name and fate are unknown.

Constantina and Constantius Gallus were then sent from Rome to Syria at Antioch to govern that portion of the Eastern Roman Empire. She would not return to Rome until her death. In 354 AD, When Constantius called for Gallus, the caesar sent Constantina to her brother, with the purpose to mitigate his position in Constantius' consideration. While on her way to meet with Constantius II, she died at Caeni Gallicani in Bithynia (Asia Minor). The cause of her death was a sudden high fever of unknown cause. Her body was sent back to Rome and entombed near Via Nomentana in a mausoleum her father, Emperor Constantine I, had started building for her. This mausoleum would later become known as the church of Santa Costanza, when Constantina was venerated as saint. Her magnificent porphyry sarcophagus is on exhibit in the Vatican Museums.

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