Now peace was broken by consent of both sides; Constantine sent Crispus Caesar with a large fleet to take possession of Asia, and on the side of Licinius, Amandus opposed him, likewise with naval forces.
Licinius himself had covered the slopes of a high mountain near Hadrianopolis with a huge army. Hither Constantine turned his march with his entire force. While the war went on slowly by land and sea, although Constantine’s army had great difficulty in scaling the heights, at last his good fortune and the discipline of his army prevailed, and he defeated the confused and disorganised army of Licinius;324 A.D. but Constantine was slightly wounded in the thigh.
Then Licinius fled to Byzantium; and while his scattered forces were on the way to the city, Licinius closed it, and feeling secure against an attack by sea, planned to meet a siege from the land-side. But Constantine got together a fleet from Thrace. Then Licinius, with his usual lack of consideration,I.e., without consulting Constantine; cf. § 9, above. chose Martinianus as his Caesar.
But Crispus, with Constantine’s fleet, sailed to Callipolis,Modern Gallipoli, on the Hellespont. where in a sea-fight he so utterly defeated Amandus that the latter barely made his escape with the help of the forces which he had left on shore. But Licinius’ fleet was in part destroyed and in part captured.
Licinius, abandoning hope on the sea, by way of which he saw that he would be blockaded, fled with his treasures to Chalcedon. Constantine entered Byzantium, where he met Crispus and learned of his naval victory. Then Licinius began a battle at Chrysopolis,Modern Scutari, opposite Constantinople. being especially aided by the Gothic auxiliaries which their prince Alica had brought; whereupon the army of Constantine was victorious, slaying 25,000 soldiersFor this meaning of armati, cf. Amm. xv. 4, 8; xxvi. 1, 6. of the opposing side and putting the rest to flight.
Later, when they saw Constantine’s legions coming in Liburnian galleys, the survivors threw down their arms and gave themselves up. But on the following day Constantia, sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, came to her brother’s camp and begged that her husband’s life be spared, which was granted. Thus Licinius became a private citizen,See note 1, on 5, 18, above. and was entertained at a banquet by Constantine. Martinianus’ life was also spared.
Licinius was sent to Thessalonica; but Constantine, influenced by the example of his father-in-law Herculius Maximianus,See note 4, on § 8 above. The second wife of Constantine’s father was a daughter of Maximianus; see 1, 2, above. for fear that Licinius might again, with disastrous consequences to the State, resume the purple which he had laid down, and also because the soldiers mutinously demanded his death, had him assassinated at Thessalonica,Cf. Eutr. x. 6, 1, contra religionem sacramenti privatus occisus est. and Martinianus in Cappadocia. Licinius reigned nineteen years and was survived by his wife and a son. And yet, after all the other participants in the abominable persecutionOf the Christians; see § 8, note 1, above. had already perished, the penalty he deserved would surely demand this man also, a persecutor so far as he could act as such.That is, as subordinate to Galerius (see § 8, Caesarem fecit), who was the leader in the persecution (§ 8, auctorem).
In commemoration of his splendid victory Constantine called Byzantium Constantinople after his own name; and as if it were his native city, he adorned it with great magnificence and wished to make it equal to Rome. Then he sought out new citizens for it from every quarter,Hieronymus says that he nearly depopulated the other cities of the empire. and lavished such wealth on the city, that thereon he all but exhausted the imperial fortunes. There he also established a senateAccording to Zos. iii. 2, Julian established a senate at Constantinople; see Amm. xxii. 9, 2, and cf. Paneg. Lat. xi. 24 (Gratiarum actio Juliana), cum Senatui non solum veterem reddideris dignitatem, sed plurimum etiam novi honoris adieceris.
of the second rank, the members of which had the title of clari.The Roman senators were clarissimi.
Then he began war against the Goths, rendering aid also to the Sarmatians, who had appealed to him for help.In 334. The result was that almost a hundred thousand of the Goths were destroyed by hunger and cold through Constantinus Caesar.The son of Constantine the Great, afterwards Constantinus II; see § 19, above. Then he also received hostages, among whom was Ariaricus, the king’s son.
When peace with the Goths had thus been secured, Constantine turned against the Sarmatians, who were showing themselves to be of doubtful loyalty. But the slaves of the Sarmatians rebelled against all their mastersThe Limigantes; see Amm., xvii. 13, 1; xvii. 12, 18 ff. and drove them from the country. These Constantine willingly received, and distributed more than three hundred thousand people of different ages and both sexes through Thrace, Scythia, Macedonia, and Italy.
Constantine was also the first Christian emperor, with the exception of PhilippusPhilip, the Arab, emperor from 244 to 249. who seemed to me to have become a Christian merely in order that the one-thousandth year of RomeThe one-thousandth year since the founding of the city. might be dedicated to Christ rather than to pagan idols.The words are those of Orosius, vii. 28. But from Constantine down to the present day all the emperors that have been chosen were Christians, with the exception of Julian, whose disastrous life forsook him in the midst of the impious plans which it was said that he was devising.
Moreover, Constantine made the changeFrom the pagan to the Christian religion. in a just and humane fashion; for he issued an edict that the temples should be closed without any shedding of pagan blood. Afterwards he destroyed the bravest and most populous of the Gothic tribes in the very heart of the barbarian territory; that is, in the lands of the Sarmatians.
Constantine also put down a certain Calocaerus,He was a camel-driver. who tried to achieve a revolution in Cyprus. He made Dalmatius, son of his brother of the same name,See 2, 2, note 6, above. a Caesar; Dalmatius’ brother Hannibalianus he created King of Kings and ruler of the Pontic tribes,See Amm. xiv. 1, 2, note 2. after giving him his daughter ConstantianaThis was Constantia, wrongly called Constantina in xiv. 11, 22 and elsewhere, afterwards wife of Gallus Caesar. in marriage. Then it was arranged that the younger Constantine should rule the Gallic provinces, Constantius Caesar the Orient, Constans Illyricum and Italy, while Dalmatius was to guard the Gothic coastline.The name Gothica ripa was applied at that time to Thrace, Macedonia and Achaia While Constantine was planning to make war on the Persians, he died in an imperial villaThe place where he died was called Ancyrona or Anchyro or Anchyronis, Hieron., Chronica, ann. Abr. 2353 (T.L.L.). in the suburbs of Constantinople, not far from Nicomedia, leaving the State in good order to his sons. He was buried in Constantinople, after a reign of thirty-one years.From the death of Constantius Chlorus, in 306, to 337.