318
CHARACTER OF CONSTANTINE CONSIDERED.
Aurelian is said to have attempted to re-introduce good money ;
but the master of the mint seems to have made his profit out
of the bad money, like Itzig and others, during the Seven
years’ war. Constantine changed the aureus so as to make it
lighter, whereby he conferred a great benefit upon those who
had to pay taxes: if he reduced it from 45 to 72 to the pound,
it must have been a great relief to debtors and tax-payers.
If we examine the legislation of Constantine with an un-
biassed mind, we must acknowledge that there are not a few
among his laws which were Vcryjudicious and beneficial, though
there are some also which must have been injurious. Among
those who have written upon the history of Constantine, some
are fanatic panegyrists, others are just as fanatic detractors ; there
are but very few who treat him with fairness. Gibbonjudges
of him with great impartiality, although he dislikes him. The
exaggerated praise of oriental writers is quite unbearable, and
makes one almost inclined to side with the opposite party. I
cannot blame him very much for his wars against Maxentius
and Licinius, because in their case he delivered the world from
cruel and evil rulers. The murder of Licinius and that of his
own son Crispus, howeveɪ, are deeds which it is not easy to
justify; but we must not be severer towards Constantine than
towards others. Many judge of him by too high a standard,
because they look upon him as a Christian ; but I cannot regard
him in that light. His religion must have been a strange
Compoundindeed, something like the amulet which I described
to you some time ago.4 The man who had on his coins the
inscription Sol invicius, who worshipped pagan divinities, con-
sulted the haruspices, indulged in a number of pagan supersti-
tions, and, on the other hand, built churches, shut up pagan
temples, and presided at the council of Nicaea, must have been
a repulsive phenomenon, and was certainly not a Christian.
He did not allow himself to be baptised till the last moments
of his life; those who praise him for this do not know what
they are doing. He was a superstitious man, and mixed up
his Christian religion with all kinds of absurd superstitions and
opinions. When therefore certain oriental writers call him
ισaπoστoXo<;, they use words without reflection. To speak of
him as a saint is a profanation of the word.
In some respects Constantine was not bad. In many features
4 bee .ιb<ne, p. 266, i.ote 14.
PROBABLE GUILT OF CRISPUS.
319
of Iiis character he resembled Hadrian, but he did not possess
Hadrian’s learning, for Constantine had received a very poor
education, and was wholly deficient in literary culture. The
resemblance bet ween those two emperors becomes more apparent
in the irritability of their later years, which led them to cruel
measures and actions. Every one knows the miserable death
of Constantine’s son Crispus, who was sent into exile to Pola,
and then put to death. If however people will make a tragedy
of this e,rent, I must confess that I do not see how it can be
proved that Crispus was innocent. When I ɪead of so many
insurrections of sons against their fathers, there seems to me
to be nothing improbable in supposing that Crispus, who was
Caesar, and demanded the title of Augustus, which his father
refused him, might have thought: “Well, if I do not make
anything of myself, my father will not, for he will certainly
prefer the sons of Fausta to me, the son of a repudiated
woman.” Such a thought, ifit did occur to Crispus1 must have
stung him to the quick, and might easily have driven him into
a conspiracy against his father. That a father should order
his own son to be put to death is certainly repulsive to our
feelings, but it is rash and inconsiderate to assert that Crispus
was innocent. It appears to me highly probable that Con-
stantine himself was quite convinced of his son’s guilt : I infer
this from his conduct towards the three step-brothers of Crispus,
whom he always treated with the highest respect; his unity
and harmony with his sons are in fact truly exemplary. It is
related that Fausta was suffocated by Constantine’s command,
by the steam of a bath, but Gibbon4 has raised some weighty
doubts about this incredible and unaccountable act, for Fausta
is said to have been alive after Constantine’s death : in our
accounts she is described as a second Phaedra. I cannot there-
fore attach any importance to the story.
In the meantime Constantinc had founded a new Eomc at
Constantinople, in a most excellent situation. When he ap-
proached the end of his life he went back to the system of
Diocletian, and divided the empire among his three sons,
Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. Constantine obtained
the praefecturc of Gaul, Constans that of Italy and Hlyricum,
and Constantius the praefecturc of the East. With his step-
brothers, Constantius, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, he lived in
4 Diet. oj iiιe Decline and Fall, c. 18.