Constantine the Great handed over power to three sons. They did not include the previously executed son Crisp, whose name was subjected to the damnatio memoriae procedure.
Crisp's family and beginnings
Crispus's mother was Constantine's first wife named Minervina. Almost nothing is known about this woman. In 307, she was no longer alive, because Constantine remarried. Minervina managed to give birth to her husband's son Flavius Julius Crispus.
Constantine's predecessors and co-rulers Constantine Chlorus, Maxentius and Galerius married the daughters of other tetrarchs. For example, Caesar Galerius was married to the daughter of Diocletian. Therefore, as Timothy Barnes suggests, Minervina must have come from an imperial family. The researcher suggests that she was Diocletian's niece. After Constantine's proclamation in August 306, he decided to distance himself from the legacy of Diocletian. This explains why the panegyrists who glorified Constantine did not mention his kinship with the founder of the tetrarchy.
In the 310s, when Constantine ruled his part of the empire from Trier, the mentor of the young Flavius Julius Crispus was one of the Christian writers Lactantius. Saint Jerome wrote a few decades later that Lactantius taught the heir to Constantine the Latin script. Probably, the formation of Crispus included the classical authors and foundations of Christian teaching.
Image of Crisp on the coin.
In 316, Crispus received the title of Caesar. This year, his father led a successful military campaign against co-ruler Licinius. Under the terms of the agreement, Licinius lost part of his possessions, and Constantine proclaimed his sons Crispus and Constantine, as well as his son Licinius, Caesars. After the victory, Crisp accompanied his father on a tour of his domain. In the course of it, Caesar acquired the necessary managerial experience.
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In 317, Caesar Crispus settled in Trier. From there he ruled over Gaul and Britain. The army was the mainstay of Constantine, and the heir needed military experience. In 319 and 323, the young Caesar inflicted several defeats on the Franks and Aleman tribes.
Constantine's heir was married to a girl named Helen, who bore him a son in 322. The name of the wife was preserved thanks to the mention in the Code of Theodosius II of the amnesty, timed to coincide with the birth of her son in October 322. Although there is no information about the origin of Elena, it is admitted that she could be the daughter of Licinius. The marriage between the children of the older tetrarchs was supposed to strengthen their allied relations. The advisor to the young Caesar in the rank of praetorian prefect was a colleague Constantine Junius Bass.
In 321 Crispus and his younger brother Constantine were appointed consuls. Their father refused to recognize Licinius and his son as consuls. From year to year, relations deteriorated between two August - Constantine and Licinius, each of which from now on appointed his own consuls. Finally, the conflict turned into a full-fledged war, in which Crisp had a chance to prove himself.
In 324, Constantine defeated Licinius at Adrianople. The defeated emperor fled to Byzantium, and the remnants of his army surrendered to the victor. Crisp probably accompanied his father in this campaign and took part in the battle.
Pietro da Cortona. Battle of the Hellespont.
Immediately after the victory, Constantine assembled a large fleet in the Athenian port of Piraeus and placed it under the command of Crispus. Constantine's son led a squadron to the Hellespont and defeated Licinius's fleet there. The battle lasted for two days. First, Abant blocked the enemy's entrance to the Hellespont with 200 ships. Crisp entered the strait with the best 80 ships. In a narrow strait, his squadron managed to capture a number of Abant ships. Naval commander Licinia retreated to the eastern part of the Hellespont to regroup, and Crispus brought his entire fleet into the strait. The next day, in a naval battle near Gallipoli, the son of Constantine completed the rout of his enemy's fleet. Part of Abant's ships were destroyed by the unfolding storm.
After that, the loser August was forced to flee from Byzantium and take refuge in Asia Minor. Constantine crossed over to Asia Minor and again defeated Licinius. After the defeat, Licinius resigned the title of August and allowed Constantine to become the ruler of the entire empire. Part of this success was due to the emperor Crisp, who won the victory in the Hellespont.
Curse of memory: execution and oblivion of Crisp
It would seem that Crisp had everything to become his father's successor - managerial experience, military glory, popularity among the troops. But two years after the victory at the Hellespont, the young Caesar was executed.
At the beginning of 326, Constantine arrived in northern Italy. He summoned Crispus from Trier for a family celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Constantine's reign. After arriving at his father, Crisp was executed. Crisp's stepmother Faust was also killed shortly after.
Flavia Maxima Fausta was the daughter of Maximian Herculius and sister of Maxentius. In 307, she became the wife of Emperor Constantine. Fausta gave birth to her husband three sons and two daughters. In 324 she was awarded the title of Augusta, which was marked by the issue of a series of coins.
From the text of the ancient authors, it can be concluded that Crispus was executed after the trial. It was a closed court, attended only by the emperor and his trusted advisers.
Several decades later, Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that Crispus was killed in Istria near the city of Pola. Later, on the orders of Constantine II, his co-ruler Caesar Gallus was killed there.
The execution of Crispus and the execution of Fausta that followed after a while is one of the mysteries of Constantine's reign. The historian Zosimus considered it to be the cause of adultery. Allegedly, Constantine considered Crispus the lover of Fausta, his stepmother. Elena, the mother of Constantine, was outraged by the murder of her beloved grandson. To console her, the emperor ordered his wife to be executed - he ordered her to be put in a bath of hot water and kept there until the empress died.
Aurelius Victor, in his Extracts on the Life and Morals of the Roman Emperors, writes that Crispus was executed at the instigation of Fausta. Then, under the influence of the reproaches of his mother Elena, Konstantin also killed his wife - he pushed her into the hot pool in the bathhouse.
Rubens. The wedding of Constantine and Fausta.
It has been suggested that August could have died while trying to get rid of an unwanted child - a hot bath was a popular abortion method in ancient times. According to another version, Fausta committed suicide in front of the court. Probably, Constantine repented of the execution of Crispus and was preparing to accuse his wife of libel.
The most likely thing was that Crispus fell victim to court intrigue. Fausta wanted to get rid of the eldest son Constantine so that her children would inherit the power.
Fausta's images were disfigured and broken, as was done with those subjected to the "curse of memory." Crisp's name was removed from official inscriptions. Unfinished images of Crisp have survived, and work on which was probably interrupted after his execution. Although Fausta's name was cursed, her children continued the dynasty of Roman emperors.