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Constantius III (Latin: Flavius Constantius Augustus) was a military commander (and briefly co-emperor) from the late Roman Empire. He earned his position as emperor due to his capability as a general under Honorius, achieving the rank of Magister militum by 411. He defeated a number of usurpers and forced barbarian groups into treaties. His campaigns against various barbarian groups in Hispania and Gaul resulted in recovering much of both for the Western Roman Empire. Constantius was part of a tradition of military commanders who held sway over the emperor and intermarried with royalty with the hopes of producing an heir; unlike most of these commanders, Constantius himself was proclaimed Western Roman Emperor by Honorius on 8 February 421. Constantius married Galla Placidia, the sister of the emperor Honorius. He reigned for seven months before dying on 2 September 421.

Rise to Power
Constantius was an Illyrian born in Naissus, Moesia in the Balkans at an unknown date. He served under Theodosius I in the Eastern Roman army. While likely in his mid-thirties, during the campaign against the usurper Eugenius, he was believed to have come west (like Stilicho) and stayed. During his rise to power, Constantius was brutal to his enemies, defeating rivals Jovinus, Allobichus (whom he had killed by the end of 411 due to his alleged connections with the usurper Constantine III), and Olympius (who was clubbed to death in front of the emperor after having his ears cut off).



Campaigns Against Usurpers
Flavius Constantius was Honorius’ most successful general after Stilicho. He is believed to have been a supporter of Stilicho. However, unlike the Gothic Stilicho (according to Olympiodorus), Constantius was Roman, and “was the great hope of the empire." As military commander in the west, before taking on the barbarians, he defeated (possibly aided by the huns) various usurpers to the throne and their supporters. In 411, Constantius was sent by Honorius to put down the revolt of Constantine III, who had declared himself emperor in Britain in 407. Constantius thereafter led his soldiers to Arles, the capital and residence of Constantine. Upon arriving, he defeated the army of Gerontius, a general who was supporting Maximus and rebelling against Constantine, before besieging the city. Constantine refused to surrender, hoping to last until the return of his general Edobichus, who was raising troops in northern Gaul. Edobichus did return to Arles; however, he was swiftly defeated by Constantius. Constantine soon after lost much of the remainder of his forces, as his army which had been guarding the Rhine chose to support the usurper Jovinus instead, forcing Constantine to surrender. Despite Constantius' assurances that Constantine would be able to safely retire to a clerical office, Constantius had him imprisoned, and further had him beheaded during his return to Ravenna, in either August or September 411. Honorius' remaining rivals were soon defeated, with Gerontius committing suicide in Hispania, Jovinus being defeated through diplomatic measures organized in 413, and the usurper Heraclinus being defeated by Constantius' lieutentants and agents in 413. Despite this, Honorius was unable to regain control of Britain, nor was any Roman after him. After his early successes, Constantius united the Roman army, which had become fragmented after Gothic invasions in 406.

Campaigns Against Barbarians
Next, Constantius took the fight to the barbarians, defeating Goths, Vandals, and Alans over the next five years. Fighting the Goths in 413-15 led to Alaric and the Goths’ capture of the emperor Honorius’ sister Galla Placidia, who was then married to the Gothic leader Athaulf. Constantius drove out Goths from Narbonne via a naval blockade in late 414. Athaulf’s Visigoths were, as Roman armies were, dependent on Mediterranean grain. Constantius initiated a campaign against the Goths in northern Hispania in 416, blockading them in order to starve them and force their submission. As a result, the Gothic king, Wallia, surrendered to Rome; the Goths retreated to Hispania, killed Athaulf in a coup, returned Galla Placidia, and agreed to peace terms with Constantius, which included waging war against the Vandals and other barbarians who the Romans were still in conflict with, in exchange for food supplies. Rutilius Namatiuanus wrote a poem in 417 congratulating Constantius for defeating the Goths in Hispania. Constantius then continued to campaign against various tribal groups, regaining control of much of Hispania and Gaul by 420. He moved on to defeat (with the help of the Goths) the Siling Vandals and Alans in Hispania in 416-18; by 418, two barbarian groups—the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi—remained in Hispania. Constantius orchestrated the settlement of Wallia’s Goths in Aquitania Secunda and a few of the cities on its fringes in 418.

According to Geoffrey Dunn (citing Prosper of Aquitaine), the settlement of the Goths in Aquitaine in 418 was part of a deal with Wallia that involved the return of Galla Placidia back in 415/16. Before the deal, Constantius “had been asking for her return and holding up grain provisions for the Goths in an effort to force them to surrender her.”

Titles and Reign
During this time period, generals played a critical role in ensuring the continued reign of Roman Emperors, especially Western Roman Emperors. Constantius' position of Magister militum in the west (and by 411 supreme commander of the western army) and his skill as a commander allowed him to gain huge influence over the Western Roman Empire, comparable to the earlier Stilicho. As such, he controlled top civilian and military appointments (as delegated by Honorius). Because of Constantius' influence, Honorius bestowed many honors upon him, such as appointing him consul three times: on January 1, 414, alongside Constans; in 417, alongside Honorius; and in 420, alongside Theodosius II. However, by this time, the position of consul was ceremonial. He became patricus (patrician) in 415. In order to further ensure Constantius' loyalty, Honorius arranged the betrothal of his sister, Galla Placidia, to Constantius in 417. Later, on 8 February 421, Honorius made Constantius co-Western Emperor under himself. However, this title was not recognized by Constantinople. According to Olympiodorus: “Constantius…regretted his elevation because he no longer had the freedom to leave and go off wherever and in whatever manner he wished and could not, because he was emperor, enjoy the pastimes which he had been accustomed to." Constantius reigned as co-emperor only seven months before dying on 2 September 421, in Ravenna. Constantius was succeeded by Honorius, who ruled alone until his death in 423, whereupon Valentinian III, Constantius' son, assumed the throne, with Galla Placidia serving as regent.

Personal Life


Constantius married Galla Placidia, the sister of Emperor Honorius, in 417 on the same day he became consul for the second time. Apparently, Galla Placidia hated Constantius. According to Protius: “When Honorius was celebrating his eleventh consulship and Constantius his second [AD 417], they solemnized Placidia’s marriage. Her frequent rejections of Constantius had made him angry at her attendants. Finally, the Emperor Honorius, her brother, on the day on which he entered his consulship [1 January], took her by the hand and, despite her protests, gave her over to Constantius, and the marriage was solemnized in the most dazzling fashion”. Olympiodorus also indicates that Galla Placidia resisted their marriage. They had two children: a daughter, Justa Grata Honoria (417-455) and a son, Valentinian (419-455), who would become a boy emperor upon Constantius’ death.

The historian Olympiodorus described him in the following way: “In public processions Constantius was downcast and sullen, a man with bulging eyes, a long neck and a broad head, who always slumped over the neck of the horse he was riding, darting glances here and there out of the corners of his eyes…But at banquets and parties he was so cheerful and affable that he even competed with the clowns who often played before his table."

Legacy
Constantius is credited with general improvement in Rome's situation, with bringing peace to Italy, and with bringing control of the Empire back to southern Gaul and much of Hispania. However, according to Peter Heather, Constantius’ successes against invaders did not result in a return to pre-invasion tax revenues or army size. Heather blames Constantius in part for later losses to the Huns that resulted from upgrading garrison troops to the field army due to heavy losses during Constantius’ military triumphs. His death led to more than a decade of political chaos. By 425, after a disputed succession, Honorius’ nephew, Constantius and Placidia’s young son Valentinian III, was western emperor (425-55), with his mother as regent.