Fausta

Flavia Maxima Fausta Augusta

Constantine at first tried to present Maximian’s suicide as an unfortunate tragedy, but later started spreading another version where Fausta was involved in her father’s downfall. Barnes observed that the story “shows clear signs of being invented during Constantine’s war against Maxentius.”[3]

During her marriage, she had 5 children.

In 326, Fausta was put to death by Constantine, following the execution of Crispus, his eldest son by Minervina.^[1] The circumstances surrounding the two deaths were unclear. Various explanations have been suggested; in one, Fausta is set against Crispus, as in the anonymous Epitome de Caesaribus,^[8] or conversely her adultery, perhaps with the stepson who was close to her in age, is suggested.

According to the Latin Epitome de Caesaribus and the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius (as epitomized by Photius), Fausta was executed by being locked in a bath which was over heated,^[8] in connection with the death of Crispus, which "people [thought]" was caused by Fausta's accusation of unclear nature.

But Constantine, having obtained rule over the whole Roman Empire by remarkable success in wars, ordered his son Crispus to be put to death, at the behest (so people think) of his wife Fausta. Later he locked his wife Fausta in overheated baths and killed her, because his mother Helena blamed him out of excessive grief for her grandson.^[9]

Zosimus, on the other hand, suggests adultery as the reason:

He killed Crispus, who had been deemed worthy of the rank of Caesar, as I have said before, when he incurred suspicion of having sexual relations with his stepmother Fausta, without taking any notice of the laws of nature. Constantine’s mother Helena was distressed at such a grievous event and refused to tolerate the murder of the young man. As if to soothe her [feelings] Constantine tried to remedy the evil with a greater evil: having ordered baths to be heated above the normal level, he deposited Fausta in them and brought her out when she was dead.^[10]

In

Although Hans Pohlsander dismissed the idea of Fausta’s death being accidental, viewing the condemnation of memory to be certain proof that Constantine intended to kill his wife, David Woods’ response was that, “Accidents continue to happen even to people deep in disgrace.”[15] He suggested that Crispus and Fausta were not actually executed, offering the connection of overheated bathing with contemporaneous techniques of abortion,^[16] a suggestion that implies an unwanted, adulterous pregnancy from her relationship with Crispus^[17] and a fatal accident during the abortion.

Constantine I ordered the

1. ^ ^{a b c} Woods 1998, p. 70.
2. ^ Drijvers 1992, p. 500.
3. ^ Barnes 1973, p. 41-42.
4. ^ Hans Pohlsander, Fausta (293-326 A.D.)
5. ^ Drijvers 1992, p. 500-501.
6. ^ ^{a b} Drijvers 1992, p. 501.
7. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 217.
8. ^ ^{a b} Woods 1998, pp. 70–71.
9. ^ Epitome de Caesaribus, 42.11–12
10. ^ Barnes, Timothy. Constantine Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire, 145.
11. ^ Garland, Lynda. Questions of Gender in Byzantine Society, 108.
12. ^ Drijvers 1992, p. 505.
13. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 221.
14. ^ Woods 1998, p. 73.
15. ^ Woods 1998, p. 86.
16. ^ Woods 1998, p. 76.
17. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 222.
18. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 220.
19. ^ Julian, "Panegyric in honour of Constantius", 9. The full text of Panegyric in honour of Constantius at Wikisource
20. ^ Pohlsander 1996, p. 54.

Bibliography

• Barnes, T. D. (7 December 1973). "Lactantius and Constantine". The Journal of Roman Studies. 63: 29–46.
  S2CID 163051414
  .
• Barnes, Timothy D. (1982). The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  ISBN 0-674-28066-0
  .
• Drijvers, Jan Willem (1992). "Flavia Maxima Fausta: Some Remarks".
  JSTOR 4436264
  .
• Pohlsander, Hans A. (1996). The Emperor Constantine. Routledge.
  ISBN 0-415-31938-2
  .
• Stephenson, Paul (2010). Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor. London, Quercus.
  ISBN 978-1-4683-0300-1
  .
• Woods, David (1998). "On the Death of the Empress Fausta". Greece & Rome. 45 (1): 70–86.
  doi:10.1093/gr/45.1.70
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fausta.

• "Fausta, Flavia Maximiana" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.

Royal titles
Preceded by Galeria Valeria (or Minervina)	Empress of Rome 307–326 with Galeria Valeria (307–311) Valeria Maximilla (307–312) Flavia Julia Constantia (313–324)	Succeeded by Daughter of Julius Constantius