Constans

Constans I (Flavius Julius Constans Augustus, c.323–350) was a Roman Emperor.

On the death of his father Constantine the Great in 337, Constans and his two brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II, divided the Roman empire amongst themselves, but in 340 Constantine II died and Constans took over his provinces, including Britannia.

In 342, Constans and Constantius jointly decreed that "the law must be armed with an avenging sword" to rid the Empire of "those men who marry men as if they were women." Constans visited Britain in 343.

In later years Constans lost the support of the legions, who were "offended by his homosexuality".


 * "This condemnation of homosexuality challenges recent scholarly views of its acceptance in late antiquity. For further discusssion of this topic, see William A. Percy's review of Mark D. Jordan, The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology (Chicago, 1997) in The American Historical Review 103 (1998): 496-497. For a discussion of Constans' homosexual tendencies, see further DiMaio, Zonaras, 279ff."

In 350, the general Magnentius declared himself Emperor and Constans was killed.