Quaestor Rubellius

“I have asked the Quaestor Rubellius, as final legal authority, and General Dacius, as a friend to both of us, to investigate certain charges that have been brought against you, Caesar Crispus,” Constantine said formally. “Are you satisfied to let them constitute a court for deciding this matter?”

“Your will is my command, Dominus.” The voice was strained and its tone hopeless.

“I am inclined to overlook one charge against you,” Constantine told him, “since you were known to be intoxicated and not in full possession of your senses.”

He saw a look of hope spring into Crispus’ eyes, only to die away when he added: “But another and graver charge has been made by an informer, a crime against the state, which I cannot ignore. Have you anything to say before Quaestor Rubellius reports to us on his investigation?”

“No, Dominus.”

“Then proceed please, Rubellius.”

The quaestor’s report was made even more damning by Dacius’ concurrence. It told of an ambitious and highly capable young man, who had been dazzled when important men among the Senate and nobles of Rome had honored him with a triumph reminiscent of the days when heroes of the Empire had been welcomed to its capital with every honor the state and the gods of Rome could bestow.

East at Ryzantium

It revealed how a carefully planned campaign of flattery and persuasion had been launched to gain Crispus’ confidence and convince him that the cause of the Empire was being poorly served by Constantine’s rumored intention to build another capital in the East at Ryzantium. And it recounted how, in the past several months since the young Caesar had come to Rome to arrange the celebration of his father’s twentieth year as Augustus, argument after argument had been marshaled to convince him that Constantine should be forced to follow the example of Diocletian and Maximian, relinquishing power at the end of the twentyyear period and placing Crispus at the head of a state divided into two parts.

Edict of Milan and attacking

Licinius, on the other hand, had espoused paganism more and more openly in recent years, rescinding the Edict of Milan and attacking the church in order to seize its wealth for the building of the army with which he planned to destroy his brother wearer of the purple. To this end, he had developed a weapon whose extent he had been able to keep largely secret a vast fleet recruited from the maritime countries under his rule. At the Hellespont, the mouth of the waterway separating Europe from Asia, he now assembled more than three hundred and fifty ships of war under the command of an admiral named Amandus.

Constantine reacted to the knowledge that the coming conflict would be fought both on land and sea with two swift maneuvers. At Thessalonica, near the head of the Grecian Sea, he ordered that work be carried on night and day in the shipyards to build a fleet of two hundred war galleys and more than a thousand transports. In the meantime, lest Licinius attack the vital shipyards with his superior fleet and cripple this phase of the war, Constantine hastily prepared for a campaign on land designed to keep his opponent busy.

Licinius, however, countered by attacking, seeking to throw Constantine off balance before he could marshal enough land and sea forces for a combined pincers operation against Byzantium, whose fortifications had been rebuilt since the city had fallen to Maximin Daia so easily some ten years ago. Hurriedly mobilizing to meet this new threat, Constantine sent word for Crispus and Dacius to bring as many of the regular legions from Gaul as could be spared, leaving Crocus with a small force to parry any attack across the Rhine by the ever watchful Germanic tribes. From Italy, he also brought the legions ordinarily stationed there, adding them to his

Hardbitten veterans

Army of Illyricum, a force of hardbitten veterans of the campaign against the Goths.

It was a warm June day when Crispus and Dacius, at the head of a small but seasoned army from Gaul, marched into the camp on the plains before the city of Hadrianopolis, where Licinius had chosen to make his stand. Constantine greeted the two warmly and led them to a hill overlooking the area where the crucial battle would soon be fought.

Bishop of Caesarea

“I was forced to endure imprisonment in Egypt for a while,” Eusebius said. “But God released me in time, perhaps so I could continue writing a history of the church.”

“I knew you had become Bishop of Caesarea, but I had forgotten about the latter project.”

“I feel that it will help others to know the various vicissitudes through which the church has come,” Eusebius said, “but lately I have been troubled by matters of the present that make it difficult to write objectively about the past. I hesitate to burden you with them, Dominus, but I have journeyed from Caesarea to speak to you on behalf of a priest named Arius, and his difficulties with Bishop Alexander of Egypt.”

“Why must priests bicker, if they are united in the one purpose of serving God?”

“Perhaps our zeal to serve God in the best way makes us differ,” Eusebius admitted. “Surely questions of military policy come up among your generals from time to time.”

Constantine smiled. “Whenever they do, I resolve them by knocking heads together, until all think as one.” Then his face grew sober. “But priestly heads seem harder than soldierly ones; the more

I knock, often the worse they quarrel. I have almost come to believe that government should have no part in religious matters.

“But there must be a final authority,” Eusebius protested. Else how would anything be decided?”

Excommunicated Arius

“By prayer and seeking the will of God, as I have sought to settle doubtful questions in my own life. But get on with your own petition, Eusebius. I suppose you are here to ask me to reverse the decision of the synod of bishops from Egypt and Libya who excommunicated Arius two years ago.”

Eusebius looked startled. “I had no idea ”

“I kept close watch over happenings here in the East while it was ruled by Emperor Licinius,” Constantine assured him. “Still, I must confess that I cannot see what this controversy is about, or why Arius has stirred up so much trouble. Perhaps you can tell me.” “The question of the nature of God has intrigued religious philosophers since the beginning of time.”

Dacius said quietly

“What do you know of redemption?” Constantine demanded. “You’re not even a Christian.”

“I was speaking of redemption by another besides the Son of God if he really were that. By yourself.”

“Now you’re talking in riddles.” Constantine turned to Crocus. “Do you understand him?”

“I know nothing of Christianity,” the Gallic king admitted. “But I think I know what he means.”

“Then explain it to me if you please.”

“There’s no point in becoming angry at Crocus,” Dacius said quietly. ‘Today, when Nazarius was delivering his oration in praise of Crispus at the Quinquennalia and called him the ‘most noble Caesar of his august father,’ I was watching your face. I saw something reflected there I’d hoped never to see envy of your own »

son.

“That’s ridiculous.” Constantine controlled himself with a great effort. “No, you’re right. I do envy Crispus his youth, and what lies before him. I envy him the adoration of the people of Gaul and Britain that once was mine. Here in Italy and the East, I hardly seem able to please anyone anymore.” He turned upon Dacius almost savagely. “You cannot know what it is to bear the responsibilities of government. The endless complaints and bickering can drive a man mad.”

“Why listen to them? Crispus leaves such things to Eumenius, while he guards the frontier.”

Bassianus great responsibility,

“Crispus has you two and Eumenius, but who can I trust here? Once I put my confidence in Licinius and he failed me. I would have given Bassianus great responsibility, but he tried to assassinate me. You have no conception of what it is to have the whole world look to you for final judgment in all its controversies. Why, the followers of this priest Donatus alone have caused me enough trouble to last a lifetime.”

“Destroy them then,” Dacius said bluntly. “Or are you so afraid of your new god that you dare not act as the Emperor should?”

“Afraid?” Constantine found that he could examine the word without rancor. “No, not afraid. But if I accept the favor of God, I must try to live according to his laws and the principles taught by his Son.”

Christian scriptures

“Speaking of battles,” Dacius said, “when are you going to move against Licinius?”

“It may not be long now. He has begun to oppress the church and God will surely deliver him into my hands soon.”

“It’s been a long time since I read the Christian scriptures,” Dacius said, “but I seem to remember something that applies here.”

Constantine smiled. “The passage from the writings of the Apostle Paul about putting on the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit? It is one of my favorites.”

“That isn’t the one.” Dacius’ face was suddenly grave. “I remember now. It’s something Jesus of Nazareth said but perhaps you would rather not hear it.”

“Why not?”

“The words were these: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”’

Flagon of wine and a silver cup

Constantine stared at the old soldier, who had been his friend and mentor for most of his life, while the familiar red haze of explosive anger which seemed to come more and more often nowadays cast a sudden pall between them. Even in his anger, though, he realized it was not Dacius who had changed, but himself, and the realization did not serve to lessen the effect. Without answering, he went to a small table that held a flagon of wine and a silver cup, poured a full cup and drank it down without offering any to the others. When finally he turned back to the other two, his lips were still white with anger.

“If you were not who you are, Dacius,” he said stiffly, “you would be on your way to the headsman’s axe right now.”

“Truth always hurts.” Dacius’ voice was gentle and sad. “It’s when you can no longer face it that you are beyond redemption.”

Amandus ships

With the wind against them, Amandus’ ships had not been able to maneuver in the narrow waterway or use their sails and were therefore caught at a considerable disadvantage. The rams of the attacking fleet smashed oars and tore great holes into hulls, destroying a hundred and thirty vessels, somewhat less than half the entire fleet gathered there by Licinius. Five thousand men most of them trained mariners and therefore not easily replaceable had been killed, and Amandus himself only escaped by taking to land on the shore of Asia Minor, while what was left of his fleet retreated through the Sea of Marmara to the Bosporus.

Greece and the fertile land

To Constantine, slogging in the mud around Byzantium, the opening of the Hellespont meant far more than the defeat of a superior naval force, however joyous that news might be. From the seaports of Greece and the fertile land of Macedonia, a plentiful supply of food now began to flow to his army, as well as additional siege machines, sappers, weapons and the other tools needed for a prolonged military operation. In the meantime, a hail of missiles poured into the beleaguered city from towers raised outside the walls, and battering rams, pushed against the walls in the protection of the mobile houses covering them, had started to break holes in the fortifications.

Licinius was not long in making the move Constantine had been expecting, since it had never been the custom of the Augustus of the East to remain with his armies in defeat. With the fall of Byzantium growing daily more certain, he managed to escape with his family and treasures across the western end of the Pontus Euxinus, which was controlled by his own fleet, and gain safety on the other side. To Constantine, busy crushing the hard nut Byzantium had turned out to be, word soon came that Licinius was busy raising an army of some fifty or sixty thousand men in Bithynia, obviously expecting to make a stand there when, his forces weakened by the siege and the necessity of transporting them by water, Constantine moved on to the next phase of the attack.

Augusta or Empress Constantine

More than a quarter of a century had passed since Helena had signed the bill of divorcement at Naissus, releasing Constantius to marry Theodora and shutting herself away from any of the honors the man she had married when he was a junior officer in the Roman army would gain thereafter. Now, by the decree giving her the title of Augusta, or Empress, Constantine had restored to her, however belatedly, what she had given up so long ago.

“What use have I for titles at my age?” she said huskily, as Crispus and Dacius came up to congratulate her. But her eyes were shining with unshed tears and Constantine knew he had made her very happy.

“You must come and visit me in Gaul, Grandmother,” Crispus said. “I will stage a great gala in your honor.”

“I’m too old to travel, unless it would be to Galilee and Judea where the Saviour walked.” Her voice suddenly kindled with indignation. “Do you know that a pagan temple stands at Jerusalem over the tomb where the body of our Lord was placed, when he was brought down from the cross?”

“I didn’t know it,” Constantine admitted. “Why don’t you go there and find out whether such a thing is true. If it is, the temple shall be tom down and the tomb properly honored.”

Nicomedia and the thousands of decisions

Crispus and Dacius departed the next morning on a galley that would take them through the Sea of Marmara and the Hellespont, where the youthful Caesar had won the first of his two great naval victories. From there they would take a larger ship for Gaul. Meanwhile, Constantine went on to Nicomedia and the thousands of decisions awaiting him in connection with reorganizing the government along lines he had already decided to put into effect here in the East, based upon reforms first begun by Eumenius in Gaul and later extended to Italy and Illyricum.

Before he could even begin this work, however, he was faced with further treachery on the part of Licinius, who, even from his refuge in Thessalonica, continued to plot against his benefactor. In the end, no choice was left except to execute the former Emperor of the East, while Constantia and her son, the young Caesar Licinianus, were given refuge at her brother’s temporary court of Nicomedia.

Caesar Crispus visited Rome

“Did you say Caesar Crispus visited Rome?” Someone more observant than Marcellinus would have noticed the sudden change in Constantine’s voice and manner.

“Yes, Augustus, on the way home to Gaul. All of us were heartened when he sacrificed to Apollo. You have a worthy son to ”

“How long was he there?”

“Almost a week. The people went wild over him and would not let him go. And now ”

Constantine got suddenly to his feet. “I will talk to you and the delegation again tomorrow, Marcellinus,” he said sharply and this time even the old Senator could not fail to see that something was wrong.

“But Aug”

Constantine left the room before Marcellinus could finish what he was saying and did not stop until he was in his own private quarters and the door was shut. There he poured wine for himself with trembling hands and gulped it down, almost choking from the tension of anger constricting his throat.

So the treachery had not ended with Licinius, he told himself. Now his own son was working behind his back to build favor with the people of Rome, sacrificing to the old gods because he knew it would please them, letting himself be honored and receiving the plaudits of the crowd. What made matters even worse was Constantine’s realization that with the whole area east of the Alps almost denuded of veteran troops to build the army that had defeated Licinius and the Army of Gaul fanatically loyal to him, Crsipus could take Italy and Rome if he wished, as Constantine himself had taken it from Maxentius.

Constantine brooded

Fighting for control, and losing the battle, Constantine brooded over what he considered the ingratitude of his son until finally he fell asleep, only to awaken in the grip of a nightmare in which a gleeful Crispus sacrificed his own father upon the altar of Apollo. When the dawn came, he summoned his magister memoriae and dictated a terse order removing Crispus from his position as Caesar of Gaul and Britain and naming his son Constantine II as ruler there although the boy was not yet in his teens with Eumenius, whose loyalty it did not occur to him to doubt, as acting Prefect. This done, he sent a peremptory letter to Fausta at Rome, ordering her to come at once to Nicomedia and bring the children with her.

Constantines maneuver or the fact

Licinius’ forces on the opposite bank had not missed the significance of Constantine’s maneuver or the fact that it was led by the Emperor himself, for whose death their commander would reward them hugely. The sharp bark of orders rang out in the morning air as the centurions realigned the troops who had been moving to the rear to attack Crispus and his force. But as the enemy bowmen rushed to the water’s edge to concentrate their attack upon the small force making the desperate attempt to float the bridge across the river, they were met by a withering hail of arrows from the archers commanded by Dacius.

The result was a brief period of confusion at the water’s edge, giving Constantine some of the time he needed to swim his horse across the main current, dragging the free end of the floating bridge behind him by means of a rope attached to it. Held back by the drag of the bridge, his horse lunged desperately to keep its head above the water, and, seeking to help the hardpressed animal, Constantine slipped from the saddle and swam beside it. He heard the trumpeter whose horse was swimming beside him cry out when an arrow drove through his heart, killing him instantly. And almost in the same instant, Constantine’s own mount went under when an arrow drove deep into the animal’s body.

Constantine used the sinking body

Quickly loosening the loop attaching the towrope to his saddle, Constantine used the sinking body of his own mount as a stepping stone, so to speak, and managed to throw himself across the back of the trumpeter’s horse. Seizing the reins, he urged the animal forward, and seconds later they were clear of the main pull of the current. With the horse swimming strongly now, Constantine was able to swing himself into the saddle.

Arrows were whining past him on either side, but his heart took a great leap when he looked back and saw that the bridge was safely across the main part of the current, being steadied by men of his own guard, who swam their mounts beside it. The water was a melee of dying men and horses, for the toll had been heavy, in spite of Dacius’ quick thinking in concentrating a hail of arrows against the opposite bank to protect Constantine and the daring band who were swinging the bridge across.

Drepanum and the prospect

Constantine ignored the thrust, although he knew what Dacius meant. Rumors of a new religious crisis brewing in Alexandria had come to his ears, but at the moment he preferred to put it out of his mind and enjoy the approach to Drepanum and the prospect of seeing his mother again. The town had changed little, he saw as they descended from the galley and walked along the shore. At the house where Crispus had spent his boyhood, the three of them turned in. Before they could make their presence known, Helena saw them from the garden and ran to seize Crispus in her arms.

Once again as he had occasionally during the recent war, when the soldiers had acclaimed the handsome young Caesar of Gaul for his spectacular victories, Constantine felt a twinge of jealousy for his own son. But he resolutely put the thought from him and went to embrace his mother, reminding himself that, since she had reared Crispus from a baby until he had left for Treves and his military training in Gaul, the boy would naturally seem more like a son to her than would Constantine himself.

‘1 hope you weren’t troubled during the fighting,” he said to Helena as they entered the house.

“Why would anyone bother an old woman?” Seeing her again after so long a time, it seemed to him that, like Dacius, she was ageless. For though her face was a little lined by the years, she was still beautiful.

Crispus was embracing

“You may rule the world, Flavius” it had been so long since Constantine had been addressed by his given name that for a moment he hardly realized his mother was speaking to him “but your greatest accomplishment was fathering the boy there.” Constantine looked to where Crispus was embracing the old servant, who had looked after him as a child. “He is a man,” he admitted. “A Caesar in every way.”

“Just such another as you were, though he looks more like Con stantius.”

“Father thought of you when he was dying,” he told her. “In fact his last words were of you.”

“I’m glad you could be with him. Tell me, was he happy with ” She hesitated over the name.