The Book of Emperors: A Translation of the Middle High German Kaiserchronik

XXVII. Constantius Chlorus

205 raised up the ark—and I know that they all confirmed they had never seen such a strange form of vengeance, which they denounced as diabolical. They all agreed that this vengeance must come from the king, who would now be visited by evil himself—he deserved to die a bitter death. All of them swore they would make this happen, since so many of their kinsmen now lay dead. The king was warned and escaped to Syria, where afterwards he was killed as an act of respect for the Romans. He ruled for four years. XXVII Constantius Chlorus The story of Constantine I, “the Great,” who became the first Roman emperor to tolerate Christianity and who favored it in a way that led to mass conversions of Romans, is predictably one of the high points in the Book of Emperors. What follows is the story of Constantine’s father, Constantius Chlorus—a caesar or junior emperor in Diocletian’s system of plural rulers, 293–305, and augustus or senior emperor from 305 until his death in 306—told in a way that focuses upon young Constantine. Many biographies of Constantine , both long and short, were transmitted through the Middle Ages, with the fictional story of Constantius’ affair with Helena, as well as Constantine’s illegitimate birth and need to overcome that taint. These elements survived in a Byzantine version written around 900 and probably used in Latin translation as one of our author’s sources. His own innovations include a Western Roman and German setting for the events, with the substitution of Trier for Drepanum in the Byzantine Empire as Helena’s home. The story of overcoming the seven usurpers historically belongs to Constantine’s son, Constantius II, but is assigned here to Constantine ’s father. 206 Chapter Twenty-seven the Book tells us that Constantius held the Empire. You probably heard before that by the Bodensee [Lake Constance] there is a city named Constance, which was built in his honor. He took a lady of Trier for himself, and she bore him a fine son named Constantine, but then Constantius decided to keep this lady only as his concubine. As a boy, Constantine developed great courage and many other excellent traits. He [later] loved the holy faith and added something specially his own to holy baptism.1 Sparing no labors, he gave firm support to Christianity as no other earthly lord has ever done since in this world. As soon as Constantius found out that his son was so capable, he placed his subjects in the Trier region under Constantine’s authority, in spite of the fact that he was not yet of age, for he was turning into a bold hero. King Constantius sent his messengers to the land of Trier and offered the [future] queen devotion and love, as well as an honorable marriage. Helena swore that she would rather die than ever consent to see him again, but the worthy Constantine spoke to his mother: “My dearest lady, please hasten to change your mind about my father, now that he is offering you an honorable marriage. Even if no one else should advise you to do so, I am your only son, and you should accept for my sake. It would be a shameful thing to have the princes refer to me as ‘the concubine’s son.’ All of Rome’s dominions serve my father in awe. You, too, milady, are descended from kings and dukes, and such noble birth is ill-suited to being a concubine . You should make every effort to come into your rightful happiness, respected by people all over the world. Bring great honor to your family, and help me establish mine as well. Then I can take much more pleasure in fulfilling my duty.” To this Lady Helen replied, “My son, for the sake of your honor, I will do as you ask since you are indeed my only son. Now send the messengers on their way and have the Romans come to escort me with royal honors. Yes, I will be glad to do as you ask.” 1. This probably refers to Constantine’s reported introduction of a substantial monetary gift to poor people upon their baptism, which comes up in the next chapter. Constantius Chlorus 207 When the king heard this message from her, he bade his men hurry with preparations for having the queen...