Τῆςβασιλείαςἡσυμφωνία

Abstract Chapter 3 argues that the reign of Constantine’s successor Constantius II is best understood in light of his attempts to continue Constantine’s political theology and system of legitimacy. Section 3.1 discusses Constantius’ reception in contemporary and later sources, and its distorting impact on his place in history. Section 3.2 argues that Constantine’s late theological-political system directly caused the succession crisis leading to the “massacre of the princes”; section 3.3 explores Constantius’ alliance with Eusebian clerics in the East as an attempt to cement continuity with his father and so legitimate his position. Finally, the complex, violent relationship among the three sons of Constantine, which closely parallels the period’s theological and episcopal conflicts, is explored in section 3.4. Through political and ecclesiastical means, Constantius asserted a clear chain of command grounded in the imitation of God and Constantine and therefore his own primacy within the new Imperial college. Constantine’s brothers, meanwhile, sought to advance their own positions by sponsoring more egalitarian theologies and using dissident bishops as tools to legitimize civil war.