A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

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.