1. A Roman of distinction selected by Constantine the Great as the husband of his sister
Anastasia, and destined for the rank of Caesar and the government of Italy, although probably
never actually invested with these dignities. For, while negotiations were pending with
Licinius respecting the ratification of this arrangement, it was discovered that the
last-named prince had been secretly tampering with Bassianus, and had persuaded him to form a
treasonable plot against his brother-in-law and benefactor. Constantine promptly executed
vengeance on the traitor, and the discovery of the perfidy meditated by his colleague led to a
war, the result of which is recounted elsewhere. [CONSTANTINUS.] The
whole history of this intrigue, so interesting and important on account of the momentous
consequences to which it eventually led, is extremely obscure, and depends almost exclusively
upon the anonymous fragment appended by Valesius to his edition of Ammianus Marcellinus.