Why Did Constantine the Great Execute His Son Crispus and Wife Fausta?

Roman Imperial Crispus - Flavius Julius Crispus​

Flavius Julius Crispus, first son of Constantine the Great [Constantine I], characterised in contemporary literature as having achieved great deeds and being a most courageous Caesar [Nazarius, Panegyrici Latini 10.3.4] and a ruler most dear to god [Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, 10.9.6]. Much like Germanicus three centuries earlier, Crispus was a young man of tremendous potential who was cut down in his prime due to family intrigues. His personality and popularity led to his early death.



Crispus was the heir to the most powerful position in the western world, the beloved grandson of a saint [Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta-mother of Constantine the Great], a disciple of Lactantius, the most famous Christian apologist of his time, and a gifted military commander. Proclaimed Caesar in 317 and having already established himself as a competent military commander, winning victories over the Franks and the Alamanni in 320 and 323, it was in 324 that Crispus achieved his most impressive military victory to date. Appointed commander of Constantine's fleet, Crispus was despatched to confront Licinius and his subsequent victory at the Battle of the Hellespont proved a resounding endorsement of Crispus' leadership. His involvement in Constantine's later decisive victory over Licinius' forces at the battle of Chrysopolis cemented his favour with his father, who made his gratitude to his eldest son manifest by commissioning various visual representations of his son, including mosaics and statuary.

In AD 326, he traveled to Italy to celebrate his father's 20th anniversary of rule. There, he apparently ran afoul of a plot hatched by his stepmother Flavia Maxima Fausta, who wanted to advance her own sons [Constantine II - Konstans I - Constantius II] in the succession. Crispus was on his father's orders abruptly arrested at the town of Pola, charged with treason, and beheaded, just two years after he had been so publicly lauded by him and his depictions were then subject to damnatio memoriae. The reasons for his execution remain somewhat unclear, and as is so often the case for figures in the ancient world who were subject to damnatio memoriae and misleading propaganda after their death, getting to the truth of events can be challenging.



The most widely accepted ancient version of events, proposed by, amongst others, Zosimus [New History 2.29.2] is that Constantine's wife [Crispus' step-mother] Fausta [daughter of Maximianus] was infatuated by him and, on his rejection of her advances, she accused him of attempting to seduce her, resulting in her husband's decision to execute him. The parallels with the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytos, son of Theseus, seem inescapable and, undoubtedly, influenced contemporary writers in their portrayal of events.

This representation of Constantine's reasoning has also been seen to reflect increasingly Christianising tone of the contemporary and later literature and historiography, as indeed most writers obliquely imply that Crispus was only accused of adultery by Fausta, which is not necessarily commensurate with the harsh punishment meted out and, moreover, the representation of women as wicked and scheming was, of course, not uncommon in Christian writing.

It, nevertheless, does seem likely that Fausta was directly involved in Crispus' end, and her motivation was clearly that her own sons were lower in the line of succession while Crispus was the official heir. With Crispus out of the way, Fausta's eldest son Constantine II would be promoted to next in line. It would, indeed, not be the first instance that can be found of maternal machinations on behalf of sons in the imperial family; both Agrippina the Younger and Livia have been accused of the same. Like Agrippina the Younger, however, Fausta herself came to an unpleasant end, being killed on Constantine's orders [Zosimus, New History, 2.29.2].



Constantine the Great later came to regret his hasty decision, for he soon put Fausta to death on the belief that she had invented the charge, and he erected a large golden statue of Crispus, honoring him as the son whom I unjustly condemned.

The execution of Crispus in 326 was a watershed moment in the reign of Constantine the Great: not only did he lose his eldest son [at the time his only realistic heir as his other three sons were merely boys] but in the aftermath he also executed his wife Fausta for what he thought to be her leading role in a grand deception.

But if we dig deeper into the historical record, another possibility for Crispus' execution emerges. In 326 Constantine was at, or was approaching, his 20th anniversary, depending on whether he counted 306 or 307 as his starting point as Augustus. There is reason to believe that, like Diocletianus, Constantine had promised to abdicate after two decades of rule. His natural heir would have been Crispus, a popular young man approaching 30 years old and of proven ability. Some historians believe Constantine may have allowed the trial and execution of Crispus out of a desire - actual or subliminal - to remove him from contention for the throne. After all, his other sons were only 10 years old or younger, and if they were the only options as a replacement, Constantine would have to rule for at least another decade. Though the truth may never be known, it seems hard to believe that Crispus would have tried to seduce his stepmother, who was at least ten years his senior and was his father's wife. Indeed, the seduction story reads more like a fictional, revisionist account, and the truth may lie in the more practical explanation.