Before Constantinople, before the chaos and bloodshed that made him Emperor, before Gods
started sending him messages, Constantine met Minervina, a young girl from Antioch and
they fell in love.
The happy couple had a healthy boy named Crispus around 303, who was disappointingly not crispy
in anyway.
This is where Minervina disappears from the records and in an era where 1/16 women died
in childbirth it isn't difficult to guess why.
This left Constantine with a newborn son and a burning ambition that didn't appear to
be present before.
Within a few years, he would be Augustus and be waging wars for control of the Empire.
He keeps Crispus by his side the whole time, even after he marries Fausta, the daughter
of Maximian, and they start pumping out children.
Crispus grows up to be every bit the man his father was.
A brilliant leader of men, an excellent commander, and a brave soldier loved by the masses, minus
all the divine visions and all that though.
Sweet Crispus is made Caesar and entrusted with governing Gaul where he wins victories
against the Franks and Alamanni, securing one of Rome's most volatile borders.
When his father went to war with Licinius for control of the Empire, its young Crispus
that utterly destroys the twice larger fleet of the enemy in the Hellespont and hands his
father victory and afterwards has his face plaster across the empire on coins, statues,
and mosaics.
He is described as "an Emperor beloved of God".
It seemed that on Constantine's death power would peacefully transfer to a loyal and capable
leader.
Rome would finally have the stability it craved.
So why isn't Emperor Crispus in our history books?
Where is Crispus the Great?
Let's find out!
So the Council of Nicea has just finished up and Constantine has celebrated his vicennalia
in Nikomedia, not Nicea which I accidentally said in the previous video, whoops.
The thing is that Vicennalias are supposed to be celebrated in Rome so in January 326
Constantine packs up and sets off on the journey to Rome with his family.
And just like a normal family holiday, people started dying really quickly.
Around February Constantine has his son Crispus arrested and later murdered at Pula, which
is here.
Shortly after this, he has his wife Fausta murdered too.
By boiling her in a bath, which is wow..thats rough.
Obviously, the first question here is what the hell happened?
Why was this done?
Crispus was Constantine's beloved first-born and it looked like Constantine was hoping
he would succeed him and Fausta, while she was his second wife and he married her for
political reasons they did have 5 children together and Constantine had given her the
title of Augusta along with his mother.
There wasn't any obvious animosity between them as far as we can see.
After looking at all the sources on this event there are 3 possible reasons.
Dynastic, Lust, and what I like to call..the Soap Opera theory.
Let's start with Dynastic.
Crispus was a dynastic threat to the children of Constantine and Fausta.
So either Constantine or Fausta wanted to be rid of him to secure the throne for the
other children or Fausta wanted him dead in order to avoid a power struggle after Constantine's
death.
The second reason is Lust.
Sources say Fausta made moves on Crispus, which he rejected.
But she then goes and lies to Constantine, saying that Crispus forced himself on her.
Constantine then goes into a rage and has his son killed.
Afterwards, his mother, Helena, informs Constantine that his wife lied to him so he has Fausta
killed too.
Then we have The Soap Opera theory.
This theory has some dark subject matter so if you're uncomfortable with adult themes
and violence please skip this part.
There's a timestamp in the description.
Ok, so this theory assumes that Fausta and Crispus were having an affair.
They were only around 4 years apart in age, grew up together, and spent a lot of time
together.
So it isn't crazy.
This affair, however, results in Fausta becoming pregnant which starts spreading rumours as
Constantine has been away from Fausta for too long for it to have been him.
Once Constantine finds out about the pregnancy he has Fausta interrogated, she reveals Crispus
is the father and Constantine has his son exiled.
Not killed.
Pula, where Crispus dies, is near the islands were people we exiled for crimes around that
period.
We have a source that claims Crispus died from poison.
Which was not an official method of execution, so it has been theorised that Crispus killed
himself with poison while exiled in Pola, awaiting trial.
Then we have Fausta.
Who is now pregnant with a child that could possibly have a claim on the throne.
Constantine can't have this.
So he uses his mother Helena to pressure Fausta into getting rid of the baby.
How would a woman in ancient Rome do this?
One method was a hot bath.
Sadly this method was usually lethal to both mother and child.
So the distressed and pressured Fausta tries to terminate the pregnancy and sadly dies
herself.
Solving Constantine's problems and probably leaving Helena with a ton of guilt.
Or so goes the theory.
Honestly, any of these could be true, we are dealing with family drama from over 1600 years
ago and it was obviously hushed up as much as possible by Constantine himself.
Check the links in the description for more info on all of these theories.
The rumours of the murders reached Rome ahead of Constantine.
Which didn't improve the Romans' already low opinion of their Emperor.
Rome was still infested with pagan traditions and culture.
Christianity may have been popular in the East, but in the West and especially in Rome
it was a religion of the lower classes.
The frigid reception he received just proved to Constantine that Rome was a fossil, a pagan
relic that called back to another era.
It's stubborn resident's, pagan temples, and financial troubles had disqualified it
from being the central city of the Empire.
Constantine ticked all the boxes on the things he was required to do and got out of Rome
as fast as possible.
It was the last time this Roman emperor would be in Rome.
Just after leaving Rome Constantine's mother, Helena, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
It may well have been due to the guilt or just sadness she felt after the whole Crispus
and Fausta kerfuffle.
While in the Holy Land she just happened to have stumbled upon the cross Jesus was crucified
on and built some hospitals and orphanages while she was at it.
All while in her 70's.
Helena most likely died there and becomes a Christian saint and the first recorded Christian
pilgrim.
So back to Byzantium.
Constantine wanted to transform this into a city worthy of his namesake.
He is said to have to have traced the new walls of Constantinople himself.
Stretching from here to here about 4km.
Encompassing an area x5 that of Rome and tripling the size of old Byzantium.
Surely it would take a lifetime to build and populate the city.
You've all heard how Rome wasn't built in a day.
But Constantine wanted the city completed by 330 just 6 years after the project had
begun and Constantine tends to get what he wants.
There was a ferocious amount of activity.
As architects, builders, and craftsmen poured in from around the empire.
It must have appeared a miracle to those watching this whirlwind of construction.
Mostly paid for from Licinius' recently ehh "liberated" treasury.
Constantinople was to be all Rome was and better.
From the gates of the city ran a large collonaded street called the Mese.
Along which craftsmen and shopkeepers could set up their stalls.
In the city centre was the Forum in the centre of which lay a giant Column atop which stood
a statue of the sun god Apollo, holding a spear and globe, however his head had been
replaced with that of Constantine's.
Underneath the column Constantine is said to have buried the axe Noah used to build
the arc, a basket used in Jesus's miracle of the loaves and fishes, and a tiny statue
of Athena that was brought to Rome from Troy.
The city had a hippodrome that could hold 100,000 spectators.
He had a special booth built for himself that was connected to the Imperial Palace by way
of a secret tunnel.
Reception Halls, Government Office, Apartments, Houses, and barracks sprang up.
Powerful senatorial families were enticed to move from important cities across the empire
to Constantinople by promises of positions in the new Senate, and land grants.
According to Saint Jerome, Constantinople required all other cities to be stripped naked
and he wasn't wrong.
The Serpent Column an already ancient statue built to celebrate the Greek victory of the
Persians was taken from Delphi and placed in the Hippodrome.
Statues of famous ancients like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Augustus were
all taken from across the Empire and moved to Constantinople.
The city must have looked like a giant open-air museum of the Greco-Roman world.
Then there was the Milion, four triumphal arches together from which all distances in
the Empire were to be measured.
Effectively making Constantinople the centre of the world.
Constantine celebrated his 25th anniversary of being in power in the city and the festivities
went on for days.
At the end of which, during a mass in the newly constructed St. Eirene the city was
formally consecrated, on 11 of May 330AD.
Constantine named it Nova Roma, new Rome.
But everyone called it Constantinople, the city of Constantine.
Tune in to the next episode to find out which one of our major characters eh...sharts themselves
to death.
Yeah, it's gonna get weird.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and please leave your feedback in the comments down below.
Don't forget to check out my sources in the description if you'd like more information,
there's only so much I can cover.
If you'd like to support the show there are links to my t-shirt store below too.
Thanks for watching.
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