Flavia Maxima Constantia
| Flavia Maxima Constantia | |
|---|---|
| Augusta | |
| Empress of the Roman Empire | |
| Reign | 374 AD - 383 AD |
| Born | 361/362 AD |
| Died | 383 AD |
| Spouse | Gratian |
| Father | Constantius II |
| Mother | Faustina |
Flavia Maxima Constantia (361/362 – 383) was the first Empress consort of Gratian of the Western Roman Empire. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Constantia was a posthumous child of Constantius II by his third wife Faustina. Her paternal grandparents were Constantine the Great and Fausta.
Constantia's paternal uncles included Crispus, Constantine II and Constans. Her paternal aunts included Constantina, wife of first Hannibalianus and secondly Constantius Gallus, and Helena, wife of Julian the Apostate.
On 5 October 361, Constantius II died of a fever at Mopsucrenae, near Tarsus, Cilicia. He was heading west to face a revolt by Julian, his first cousin and brother-in-law. In a reported deathbed decision, Constantius officially acknowledged Julian as his heir. When Constantia was born sometime after, Julian was already firmly established on the throne.
On 26 June 363, Julian was fatally wounded in the Battle of Samarra against the forces of Shapur II of the Sassanid Empire. He died a few hours following the conclusion of the battle. His death left Constantia the last confirmed descendant of the Constantinian dynasty.
Constantia and her mother Faustina were present when Procopius received the insignia of the imperial rites in Constantinople. Faustina and her young daughter's presence suggested that Procopius was the rightful heir of the Constantinian dynasty which was still held in reverence. Ammianus Marcellinus tells that Procopius "always bore with him on a litter the little daughter of Constantius and grand daughter of the great Constantine, with her mother Faustina, both when marching and when preparing for battle, thus exciting the soldiers to fight more resolutely for the imperial family, with which, as he told them, he himself was connected." At age four Constantia had become instrumental in another conflict for the Roman throne. On 27 May 366, Procopius was executed and Faustina does not resurface in the sources after that, but Constantia survived the fall of her kinsman.
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