Vol I File 14: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
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Vol I File 14: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
3. Nobility of the North Seas to Auda the Deep-Minded, Earls of Orkney, to Helen of Galloway
Part J.
Ancient Roman Ancestors
1. Roman Ancestors to Early Britain
Note: The following decent to the early Britanians
is very questionable, but it is included simply for continuity
of the Roman line in case this lineage is established with some
degree of confirmation.
============================================================
Octavia the Elder was descended as follows:
2. Sextus Julius Caesar I See above
for the common ancestry.
3. Caius Julius Caesar I, was father
of Caius Julius Caesar II.
4. Caius Julius Caesar II, married
Marcia,
daughter of Quintus Marcius Rex,
and they had the following children:
-
1. Caius Julius Caesar III., the Praetor. See
below.
-
2. Julia, married C. Marius.
-
5. Caius Julius Caesar III., the Praetor,
who died suddenly "while putting on his shoes" at Pisa,
84 B.C., having married Aurelia,
"an excellent and learned lady." According to Durant,
"she was a matron of dignity and wisdom, frugally managing
her small home in the unfashionable Subura, a district of shops,
taverns, and brothels." They were the parents of the
following children:
-
1. Julia, died at an early age.
-
2. Caius Julius Caesar IV. ("The Julius
Caesar"), one of the Nine Worthies, the greatest general
Rome ever produced, born July 12, 100 B.C., in Subura, allegedly
by the delivery operation that bears his name.
According to Durant,
"He traced his pedigree to Julus Ascanius,
son of Aeneas, son of Venus, daughter of Jupiter: he began and
ended as a god. The Julian gens, though impoverished, was one
of the oldest and noblest in Italy. A Caius Julius had been consul
in 489 B.C., another in 482 B.C., a Vopiscus Julius in 473 B.C.,
a Sextus Julius in 157 B.C., another in 90 B.C."
He with Pompey and Crassus formed the first
triumvirate. He produced many works, of which his commentaries
on the Gallic and Civil Wars alone have been preserved. Pliny
records that Caesar "could employ, at one and the same time,
his ears to listen, his eyes to read, his hand to write, and his
tongue to dictate." He is often called the greatest statesman
in the world's history. On the Ides of March (March 15th) 44
B.C., Caesar was murdered at the age of 56. He married in Rome
in 84 B.C. (1) Cossutia to please his father; when soon after
his father died, he divorced her and married (2) Cornelia, daughter
of Cinna; their daughter, Julia, married Pompey. Caesar left
no grandchildren surviving. When Cornelia died in 68 B.C., Caesar
married (3) Pompeia, granddaughter of Sulla. He finally married
(4) Calpurnia, daughter of L. Piso. In his later years Julius
Caesar had affairs with many women, often the wives of both friends
and enemies.
According to Durant,
"We must think of Caesar as at first
an unscrupulous politician and a reckless rake, slowly transformed
by growth and responsibility into one of history's most profound
and conscientious statesmen. We must not forget, as we rejoice
at his faults, that he was a great man notwithstanding. We cannot
equate ourselves with Caesar by proving that he seduced women,
bribed ward leaders, and wrote books."
The month of July was named in his honor.
See Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Also see Durant,
pp. 167-197, for details on his life.
-
3. Julia,
the second daughter with this name. See below.
-
6. Julia,
died in 51 B.C., married Marcus Atius Balbus. They had a daughter
as follows:
-
7. Atia,
niece of Julius Caesar, died in 43 B.C., married (1) Caius Octavius IV, Senator-Praetor and
Governor of Macedonia, died in 59 B.C., belonged to an old and
respectable but not distinguished family from Velitrae. He
was the son of Caius Octavius III., municipal magistrate of Velitrae.
He was the son of Caius Octavius II., a military tribune in Sicily,
226 B.C. His father was Caius Octavius I., son of Eneius Octavius
Rufus, the Quaestor, or Chancellor of the Republic, living about
330 B.C., the time of Alexander the Great, and brother of Eneius
Octavius, a Roman Admiral under Scipio Africanus in the Second
Punic War. Caius Octavius IV. married
(2) Ancharia, and they had Octavia the Older. Atia and Caius
Octavius IV. had the following children:
-
1. Octavia the Elder, sister of Augustus Octavius
Caesar and wife of Mark Antony II. See below.
-
2. Caius Augustus Octavius (Octavian) Caesar
(C. Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus), called Caesar Augustus
in the New Testament of the Bible, St. Luke 2:1, born September
23, 63 B.C., died August, A.D. 14, was the first Roman Emperor
(27 B.C.-A.D. 14). As Julius Caesar had been murdered for his
aim to efface the Constitution of the Roman Republic of 460 years'
standing. Augustus was slow to claim Caesar's power as Imperator
but, as the sole survivor of the second Triumvirate and, though
still a young an, was master of the world and willing to be known
as "the first citizen of a free republic," he enjoyed
the honorary title of Princeps Senatus (Chief of the Senate),
which office was not hereditary. Augustus annulled the unconstitutional
acts of the Triumvirs and in a decree to the Senate of January
13, 27 B.C. was officially described as having "restored
the republic" but, on the day those liberties were restored,
they were resigned once for all into the hands of their restorer.
Lacking Caesar's commanding genius, Augustus possessed the infinite
tact and patience which succeeds where genius fails. He knew
that men are ruled by imagination, rather than by force. Thus
he preserved the Roman Republic in name, inviolate, and was careful
to assume no title such as king or dictator, which would be offensive
to Roman sentiment. "Augustus" is a mere title, of
which the nearest counterpart is to sought in the phrase "by
the grace of God," applied to modern rulers. He was, nevertheless,
the first Emperor of Rome. The title of "Augusta" was
later conferred upon fewer than ten favored women, some mentioned
below. His army suffering defeat, Augustus' spirit was broken
and the last years of his long reign were clouded with failure.
He not only desired the admiration of his people but also sought
their worship. Falling ill on a journey to Campania he met the
painless death he hoped for, in Livia's arms, August 19, 14 A.D.,
aged 76, having reigned for 41 years, succeeded by Tiberius, who
ruled from 14 A.D. to 37 A.D. In his honor the month of August
was named for Augustus. The Roman Empire, which he founded, lasted
500 years, from 29 B.C. to 476 A.D. He married (1) Claudia (Clodia),
with no issue, and (2) Scribonia, from whom he later obtained
a divorce. From this second marriage there was one daughter as
follows:
-
1. Julia the Elder, born 39 B.C. She had
three marriages. She married at the age of fourteen (1) M. Marcellus,
son of Octavia, (Julia persuaded Octavia to allow the divorce
of her son in order for this marriage to take place), but there
was no issue, and two years after the marriage, Marcellus died.
She then married in 21 B.C. (2) M. Vipsanius Agrippa, who had
been persuaded by the Emperor to obtain a divorce from his wife.
Julia was eighteen and Agrippa forty-two. She finally married
in 9 B.C. (3) Tiberius, son of Livia (forced to obtain a divorce
from his pregnant wife, Vipsania Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa),
with no issue. Julia is reported to have had many illicit affairs
along with her formal marriages. As a result her father, the
Emperor, finally was forced to banish her to the island of Pandateria.
One of her lovers, a son of Antony, was forced to kill himself,
and several others were exiled. After sixteen years of imprisonment,
she died.
From the second marriage, Julia and M. Vipsanius
Agrippa, born in 63 B.C. and died in 12 B.C., had five children
as follows:
-
1. Gaius Caesar, died A.D. 4, married Livia
(Livilla), daughter of Germanicus, with no issue.
-
2. Lucius Caesar, born in 17 B.C., died
A.D. 2, with no issue.
-
3. Julia the Younger, died 28 A.D., married
L. Aemilius Paulus, with issue.
-
4. Agrippina the Elder, who married Germanicus
(see elsewhere). Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus had the following
children:
-
1. Nero Julius Caesar, born 6 A.D. and died
30 A.D., married Julia, daughter of Drusus, son of Tiberius.
-
2. Drusus Julius Caesar, born 7 A.D. an
died 33 A.D., married Aemilia Lepida.
-
3. Gaius, born 12 A.D. and died 41 A.D.,
married Caesonia.
-
4. Agrippina the Younger, born 15 A.D. and
died 59 A.D., married (1) Cn. Domitus Ahenobarbus, son of Antonia
the Elder, daughter of Mark Antony, and her husband, L. Domitius
Ahenobarbus, who died in 40 A.D. She married (3) Claudius. The
child from the first marriage was L. Domitius Ahenobarbus (afterwards
Nero Claudius Caesar), born in 37 A.D. and died in 68 A.D., infamous
Roman Emperor (54 A.D.-68 A.D.), who succeeded Claudius, who
had ruled from 41 A.D. to 54 A.D. This Emperor Nero
supposedly "fiddled" while Rome burned to the ground.
He married (1) Octavia, daughter of Claudius, and (2) Poppaea
Sabina, who died in 65 A.D.
-
5. Drusilla.
-
6. Julia Livilla, following her mother's
amorous traits, was banished (like her mother) by her grandfather,
Emperor Caesar Augustus, to an isle in the Adriatic, while her
friend, Ovid, the poet, was banished to Tomi in the Black Sea.
-
5. Agrippa Postumus, assassinated, A.D.
14, with no issue.
Casius Octavius Augustus Caesar, following
his divorce from Scribonia, he later married (3) Livia Drusilla
(conferred as Augusta), with no issue. He died at Nola in the
seventy-sixth year of his age (14 A.D.).
Caius Octavius IV. died four years after the
birth of his son, and Atia married (2) L. Marius Philippus. He
had a daughter by a previous marriage, Marcia, married as the
2nd wife of Cato
-
8. Octavia the Elder, sister of Augustus
Octavius Caesar, was born about 64 B.C. and died about 11 B.C.,
married (1) C. Claudius Marcellus, and (2) Mark Antony (Antonius) II, Triumvir.,
son of Antonius Aeticus and his wife,
who later married Cornelius Lentulus Sura, step-father to Mark
Antony, who was also the grandson of Antonius the Orator, who
was born 83 B.C., and who was married a total of five times: (1)
Fadia; and (2) Antonia. From this second marriage, there was
a daughter, Antonia, who married Pythodorus. They had a daughter,
Pythodoris, who married (1) Archelaus of Cappadocia, and (2) Polemo
I. From this marriage there were three children: Antonia Tryphaena;
Zeno; and M. Antonius Polemo (?). Mark Antony married (3) Fulvia,
widow of Clodius, and later widow of Crio. Mark Antony married
(4) Octavia, and finally, at the end of his career, in the autumn
of 37 B.C. (5) Cleopatra VII., Queen of Egypt, previously married
(1) Ptolemy XIII., who died in 47 B.C., and (2) Ptolemy XIV, who
died in 44 B.C. Mark Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide,
and he died in 30 B.C. By Mark Antony, Cleopatra bore a daughter,
Cleopatra of Cyrene (Selene), Queen of Cyrene, about 33-31 B.C.,
married Juba II. of Mauretania, son of Juba I. of Numidia, ruler
of Armenia, Media, and Parthia. Salene and Juba II. had a son,
Ptolemy of Mauretania. See Skakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra."
From the first marriage of Octavia the Elder
and C. Claudius Marcellus, there were three children as follows:
-
9. Antonia the Younger, an excellent woman,
the title of Augusta was conferred upon her. The daughter of
Octavia the Elder and Mark Antony, she married Drusus (Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus),
born 38 B.C. in the palace of Augustus, died 9 B.C. He
was the brother of Emperor Tiberius, and son of Tiberius Claudius
Drusus Nero, and his wife, Livia Drusilla, upon whom the title
of Augusta was conferred later, when she became the second wife
of Emperor Augustus. Antonia the Younger
and Drusus were the parents of the following son:
-
1. Caesar Germanicus, who married Agrippina
the Elder. See elsewhere. He restored to Herod Agrippa II. the
largest part of his great grandfather Herod the Great's dominions.
Herod the Great, born about 70 B.C., an Edomite descended from
Esau, was son of Cypros, an Arabian woman, and Antipater, her
husband, who had been appointed Procurator of Judea by Julius
Caesar in 47 B.C. he is known in history for the slaughter of
the innocent first-born children (Bible New Testament , Gospel
of St. Matthew 2:16). He had also murdered many relatives, including
all his children by his first wife. It was his great grandson,
Herod Agrippa II., tetrarch of Galilee, before whom St. Paul in
62 A.D., made his memorable defense recorded in the New Testament,
Book of Acts, Chapter 26. Maintained in his power by the Romans,
and faithful to their interests, he adopted the Jewish religion
and tried to dissuade the Jews from rebelling. Agrippina the
Elder was one of the most virtuous and heroic women of her time,
born 12 B.C., died 33 A.D., daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,
the greatest military commander after Julius Caesar, and of Julia,
daughter of Augustus. She accompanied her husband, Caesar Germanicus,
in his military expeditions until his death at Antioch, 19 A.D.
Her husband's uncle, the Emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar, jealous
of the affection of the people for Agrippina, banished her to
a small island, where she died of hunger in 33 A.D. Germanicus
and Agrippina were the parents of the following children:
-
1. Drusus.
-
2. Caligula (Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus),
or Little Boot, from the half boot (caliga) worn in the
army. He was brought up among soldiers, had imitated their dress.
When he assumed power at the death of Tiberius in 41 A.D., he
announced that he would follow the principles of Augustus in his
policy. He seemed to be prodigal, cheerful, and humane. But
within three months of his accession the people had sacrificed
160,000 victims to the gods in gratitude for so charming and beneficent
a prince. They had forgotten his lineage. His father's mother
was the daughter of Antony, his mother's mother was the daughter
of Augustus; in his blood the war between Antony and Octavian
was renewed, and Antony won. Caligula was proud of his skill
as a dueler, a gladiator, and a charioteer; but he was "troubled
with the falling sickness," and at times was "hardly
able to walk or collect his thought." A quiet life
of responsible labor might have steadied him, but the poison of
power made him mad. When Caligula's grandmother Antonia gave
him some advice he rebuked her with the remark, "Remember
that I have the right to do anything to anybody." While
embracing his wife or mistress he would say pleasantly, "Off
comes this beautiful head whenever I give the word." Suetonius
describes him as living in "habitual incest with all his
sisters." He is even reported by Dio Cassius, who wrote
two centuries after the event, to have forced his saintly grandmother
Antonia to kill herself. He demanded that
divine honors be paid to him throughout the Empire and when, in
40 A.D., the Jews and Christians alone refused, he profaned the
Holy of Holies at Jerusalem by placing there a colossal statue
of himself. Soon after this Caligula was murdered, on January
24, 41 A.D. in his 29th year, when Nero was 4 years old. At the
same time the assassins killed Caligula's final wife and dashed
out her daughter's brains against a wall. On that day, says Dio,
Caligula learned that he was not a god. He married, successively,
(1) Junia Claudia, (2) Livia Comelia, (3) Lollia Paulina, and
(4) Caesonia.
-
3. Drusilla, married (1) L. Cassius Longinus,
and (2) M. Aemilus Lepidus.
-
4. Livilla, married M. Vinicus.
-
5. Agripinilla, also known as Agrippina
the Younger, an exceeding evil woman, fourth wife of Claudius,
and the mother of L. Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero.
-
2. Livia Julia, married Drusius Julus Caesar.
They had a daughter, Julia, who married Rubelius Blandus.
-
3. Claudius (Tiberius Drusus Nero Claudius Caesar).
the second son. See below.
-
10. Claudius (Tiberius Drusus Nero Claudius Caesar)
was the great uncle and stepfather of Nero. When Caligula was
murdered, in 41 A.D., there remained this Claudius, his uncle,
who was now 51 years of age but who, as the butt of the family,
had been excluded from the functions of the government, neglected,
ill-treated, and allowed to divide his time between low company
and literary studies. He was known as "Claudius, the
Idiot or the Stutterer." No one had considered him a
serious candidate save the shrewd Herod Agrippa II., who, having
successfully schemed for the elevation of Caligula and reaped
a rich reward, was silently meditating a second coup. Perhaps
instead of being weak-minded, Claudius merely feigned madness
in order to escape poisoning. On his
father's side he was descended from Appius Claudius, a Roman decemivir
in 450 B.C., whose name survives in the Appian Way.
Born in Lyons (Lugdunum), 10 B.C., Claudius in 43 A.D. determined
to carry out the conquest of Britain which Augustus had meditated,
but decided to postpone, if not to forego. Seneca records with
a sneer that Claudius "had determined to see every German,
Gaul , and Briton in a toga." He sent Aulus Platius against
Caractacus, in 43 A.D., and himself soon joined his victorious
army in time to see the crossing of the Thames and the fall of
Colchester, Cymbeline's capital, and to receive the "submission
of the eleven British kings." These successes, gained only
with the hardest fighting, led him to make treaties with the British
chiefs (See Wurts, pp. 155-156). After but sixteen days in the
island he returned to celebrate his triumph, leaving his generals
to carry on. This was the most notable achievement of the reign
of Claudius, who was also the builder of the conduit Aqua Claudius
and other public works. He married four times: (1) Plautia Urgulanilla,
who died on her wedding day, (2) Aelia Paetina, whom he divorced,
and (3) Valeria Messalina, aged sixteen, an exceedingly wicked
woman, mother of little Octavia, had the title of Augusta conferred
upon her, whom he also divorced. Then at age forty-eight, he
married (4) Agrippina the Younger, his niece, who was already
twice a widow, daughter of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus.
Claudius conferred the title of Augusta upon her. By her first
husband, Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, she had a son Nero. She
was also married the second time to Caius Crispus. Her problem
was to become the wife of Claudius, to get rid of his son, Britannicus,
and make Nero, by adoption, heir to the Empire. The fact that
she was Claudius' niece did not deter her, but gave her opportunities
for fond intimacies that stirred the old ruler in no avuncular
manner. She, at the age of thirty-two, while Claudius was fifty-seven,
became the 4th wife of her uncle. The Senate approved, the Praetorians
laughed, and Agrippina reached the throne. Claudius, to whom
she gave poison and caused his death on October 13, 54 A.D. On
that day her son, Nero, was proclaimed Emperor. See
details of the life of Claudius in Durant, pp. 268-274. Also,
the PBS TV Series "I, Claudius," available in
the Carnegie Public Library in Pittsburgh, PA. It is based on
the popular novel by the same name.
[Editor's note: According to Wurts, in his
"Magna Charta," Claudius had a daughter, Venissa
(Venus Julia), but there is no record as to which of Cl;audius'
wives was her mother. This connection has not been confirmed
elsewhere and is highly questionable.]
-
11. Venissa (Venus Julia) was the half-sister
of little Octavia, the wife of Emperor Nero, upon whom Nero conferred
the title of Augusta. She married Arviragus,
a Druid King, 11th son of Cymbeline.
See details of his ancestry below. He lived in Avalon, and eventually
succeeded his brother Guiderius as King of Britain, 44 A.D., and
died in 74 A.D. . Their son was Marius
(Meric).
-
12. Marius (Meric), King of Britain A.D.
74, died A.D. 125, married Princess _________, daughter
of Prasutagus, a Druid, King of the Icenians, who died A.D. 61,
and his wife, Queen Boadecia, who died A.D. 62.
See the continuation of this lineage elsewhere
in Volume I.
============================================================
Arviragus, the Druid King, and 11th son of
Cymberline, was descended as follows:
5. King Capoir, a great leader about
200 B.C. among the Druids, was father of Manogan.
6. Manogan.
The Welsh from earliest times called themselves "Cymry,"
meaning "the aborigines." They called their language
"Cymraeg," meaning "the primitive tongue."
Manogan married and had Beli Mawr.
7. Beli Mawr (Beli the Great), a Druid
king of Britain in 132 B.C. He died 72 B.C. He was the father
of two sons as follows:
-
1. Caswallon (Cassibilane or Cassivelaunus),
a British king in 62 B.C., made Commander in Chief of all British
forces at the time of Caesar's first invasion, 55 B.C., was forced
to pay tribute to Rome of 3000 pounds per year, and died in 48
B.C.
-
2. Lud.
See below.
-
8. Lud,
a king of Britain in 72 B.C., who died in 62 B.C. Lud married
and had a son, Tenuantius.
-
9. Tenuantius (Theomantius), a king of Britain
in 48 B.C., died in 26 B.C. A gentle but firm ruler, he refused
to pay the tribute Rome exacted from his uncle Caswallon when
overcome by Julius Caesar. He was the father of two sons:
-
1. Cymberline.
See below.
-
2. Epaticcus, established at Calleva by
25 A.D.
-
10. Cymbeline (Cynvelin or Cunobeline or Cunobelinus).
He was educated in Rome by Augustus Caesar and later forestalled
the invasion of the British Isles, 30 B.C. King of the Silures
in Britain for 35 years, from 8 B.C. to 27 A.D., he made his capital
at Colchester and greatly civilized his people. He had as many
as eleven children, some of whom are as follows:
-
1. Adminius.
-
2. Caratacus, an outstanding leader of the
Britons.
-
3. Togodumnus.
-
4. Eppillus.
-
5. Six other sons, unidentified.
-
5. Arviragus,
the eleventh son. See below.
-
11. Arviragus,
King of Britain, lived in Avalon, married Venissa (Venus Julia), daughter
of the Roman Emperor Claudius. They
were parents of Marius (Meric).,
who married the daughter of Prasutagus, King of Icenians and his wife, Queen Boadicea.
Arviragus was a 2nd cousin of Caradoc. He
succeeded his brother Guiderius,a King of Britain, 44 A.D., who
died in 74 A.D.
See the continuation of this lineage elsewhere
in Vol I.
==========================================================
Another Roman ancestry leading to Constantine
I, Augustus, the Great, is as follows:
There were two brothers, whose parentage is
unknown, possibly the sons of a Claudius I, as follows:
-
1. Claudius II. See below.
-
2. Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus,
who succeeded his brother in 270, as the Emperor.
-
1. Claudius II. (Marcus Aurelius Flavius Claudius Gothicus),
a virtuous and worthy Emperor (268-270), who was a soldier, statesman,
and a distinguished officer. He was born in Illyria in 214, and
was trained in the hard school of warfare on the Danube frontier.
He died at the age of fifty-five of a pestilence (The Plague)
that was decimating Goths and Romans alike in 270. He rescued
Thessalonica, drove the Goths up the Vardar valley, and defeated
them with great slaughter at Naissus, the modern Nish in 269 A.D.
If he had lost that battle no army would have intervened between
the Goths and Italy. He had a daughter, Claudia.
-
2. Claudia,
married Gordiani.
-
3. Unknown child of Gordiani and Claudia,
who had a son, Eutropius.
-
4. Eutropius,
Dardanian nobleman, descended from the Gordiani, and his wife,
Claudia.
-
5. Constantius I. (Flavius Valerius Constantius Chlorus), the Pale,
Governor of Dalmatia, born in 242 and died at Eboracum (present
day York, England) on July 25, 306, appointed Caesar by Maximian
to rule Gaul and Britain March 1, 293. He made his capital at
Augusta Trevirorum (Treves). He had a legal concubine Helen, (Helena of the Cross) of Britain, called also "Britannica",
a barmaid from Bithynia, born in 265, who died in 336 or 337 (one
source states that she died about 327). He recovered Britain
after they revolted against Rome and became Emperor of Rome in
305 A.D., and in the right of his wife, King of England. On becoming
"Caesar," he was required by Diocletian to put aside
Helena and to take Maximian's stepdaughter, Theodora, as
his wife. From the first union, Helen and
Constantius I. had an illegitimate son, Constantine the Great.
From the marriage to Theodora, there was a son, Julius Constantius,
who married (1) Galla, and they had a son, Gallus, who, died in
354; and another son, Julian, who ruled from 360 to 363.
-
6. Constantine I., Augustus, (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantius),
born 265 (272?), in Naissus in Moesia. He died May, 336 or 337,
buried in the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.
Constantine received only a meager education. He took up soldiering
early, and proved his valor in the wars against Egypt and Persia.
He was of British birth and education, and is known as the first
Christian Emperor. He fought with his father in the Boulogne
campaign and shared in a British campaign. The Gallic army, deeply
loyal to the humane Constantius, came to love his handsome, brave,
and energetic son; and when the father died at York in 306, the
troops proclaimed Constantine not merely as "Caesar"
but as Augustus - emperor. He accepted the lesser title,
excusing himself on the grounds that his life would be unsafe
without an army at his back. Consequently Constantine fought
successfully against the invading Franks. Later, with a British
army he set out to put down the persecution of Christians forever.
The greatest of all Roman Emperors, he annexed Britain to the
Roman Empire and founded Constantinople. In the year 321 he decreed
that the Christian Sunday be truly observed as a day of rest.
In 325 he assembled the Council of Nicea in Bithynia, Asia Minor,
which he attended in person. This Council formulated the Nicene
Creed. The following edict of Constantine sets forth the standards
of his life: "We call God to witness, the Savior of all men,
that in assuming the government we are influenced solely by these
two considerations - the uniting of the empire in one faith, and
the restoration of peace to a world rent in pieces by the insanity
of religious persecution." By his first wife (1) Minervina
he was father of the following son:
-
1. Flavius Valerius Crispus Caesar.
He married (2) Fausta,
sister of his step-mother, Theodora.
Fausta and Theodora and their brother
Maxentius were children of Maximinus, Roman Emperor (286-305).
One writer, Brewer, said he was a giant, eight feet, six inches
tall! His son Maxentius, Emperor (310-311), married Valeria,
daughter of Galerius, Emperor (310-311), and his wife, Valeria,
who was daughter of Diocletian, Emperor (284-305). Fausta
and Constantine the Great had three sons and
one daughter as follows:
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1. Constantine II.
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2. Constantius II
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3. Constants I.
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4. Helen, wife of Julian the Apostate.
See details of the life of Constantine I.
in Durant, pp. 653-664.
See the continuation of this lineage elsewhere
in Volume I.
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