Konstans 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM VII
Dates641 (taq) / 668 (ob.)
PmbZ No.3691
Variant NamesConstantinus;
Constans II
LocationsSt Gregory (Monastery of, Syracuse) (burialplace);
Holy Apostles (Church of the, Constantinople) (burialplace);
Syracuse (Sicily) (deathplace);
Syracuse (Sicily) (residence);
Rome;
Constantinople (officeplace);
Constantinople (residence);
Constantinople;
Syracuse (Sicily)
TitlesAugustus (office);
Emperor (office)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Chronicon Maroniticum, ed. E. W. Brooks, CSCO 4, Scriptores Syri 4 (Louvain, 1904), tr. J.-B. Chabot (Louvain, 1955), pp. 36-55; also tr. A. Palmer, The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles (chronicle);
Chronique de Denys de Tell-Mahré, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot (Paris, 1895); tr. A. Palmer, The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), pp. 54-65 (chronicle);
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, ed. G. Moravcsik, trans. R. J. H. Jenkins (Washington, D.C., 1967) (history);
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae Libri II, ed. J. J. Reiske, CSHB (Bonn, 1829); also ed. (in part) A. Vogt (Paris, 1935, repr. 1967) (history);
Elias Barshinaya, Chronicle (Eliae metropolitae Nisibeni, Opus chronologicum, pars prior, ed. and tr. E. W. Brooks, CSCO 62 and CSCO 63 (1910) (chronicle);
Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-92); re-issued with 3rd vol. by C. Vogel, (Paris, 1955-57) (chronicle);
Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, La chronique de Michel le Syrien (Paris, 1899-1904) (chronicle);
Nicephorus, Breviarium Historiae, ed. C. Mango, Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople: Short History; prev. ed. C. de Boor Nicephori ArchiepiscopiConstantinopolitani Opuscula Historica Leipzig 1880 (history);
Paulus Diaconus, Historia Gentis Langobardorum, ed. L. Bethmann and G. Waitz, MGH, Scr. Rer. Lang., pp. 12-187; also in MGH, Scr. Rer. Ger. 48, pp. 49-242 (history);
Theodoros Spoudaios, Hypomnesticum (Gk), ed. R. Devreesse, "Le texte grec de l'Hypomnesticum de Théodore Spoudée", Anal. Boll. 53 (1935), pp. 66-80; (Lat.) version of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)

Konstans 1 is the emperor Constans II. He is called Constantinus in the Liber Pontificalis and in Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis. He was nicknamed Pogonatus in Const. Porph., Cer. II 42, and see Theod. Spoud., Hypomnesticum (below) (but see also his son Konstantinos 2). Called Pogonatos, he was the father of Constantine IV (Konstantinos 2): Const. Porph., DAI 21, 11; 21, 46.

Son of Konstantinos (the emperor Constantine III, Herakleios Constantine, PLRE III, pp. 349-351) (τοῦ ἐμὲ γεγεννηκότος πατρὸς Κωνσταντίνου), grandson of the emperor Heraklios I (ἐμοῦ δὲ πάππου, Ἡρακλείου), he was emperor in 642: Theoph. AM 6134 (Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς Κώνστας ἔτη κζ'. α'), Zon. XIV 19. 1. Brother of Theodosios 1 (τὸν ἴδιον ἀδελφόν: Theoph. AM 6151), whom he assassinated in 659/660 (μετὰ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν Θεοδοσίου, τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ: Theoph. AM 6160): Theoph. AM 6151, AM 6160. His wife was Phausta 1: Const. Porph., Cer. II 42 (Reiske, 644) (see below). Father of Konstantinos 2, Heraklios 1 and Tiberios 1: Theoph. AM 6153 (τοὺς τρεῖς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ), Theoph. AM 6159 (Κωνσταντῖνος, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ βασιλέως), Theoph. AM 6160 (τοὺς τρεῖς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ), Zon. XIV 19. 31.

He held the same monothelete views as his grandfather: Zon. XIV 19. 3-4. 7 (he persecuted those who opposed him).

He travelled to Italy in 663 where he visited Rome and then settled in Syracuse; he remained there for several years until he was assassinated in his bath allegedly as a consequence of the discontent which his fiscal policies aroused; the date was 15 July 668 (indiction 11) (not 669, indiction 12; see Grierson, "Tombs and Obits", p. 49): Lib. Pont. 78. 4 (murdered on "XV die mensis Iulii per XII indictionem"), cf. Paul. Diac., Hist. Lang. V 6-12 (his stay in Italy and Sicily). Assassinated at Syracuse in Sicily in 668 (Theophanes has it under 668/669) (see Andreas 2); he was succeeded in Sicily by the usurper Mizizios 1 and at Constantinople by his three sons, of whom Konstantinos 2 was the chief one: Theoph. AM 6160, Nic. Brev. de Boor 31-2, Mango 31, Zon. XIV 19. 34, Paul. Diac., Hist. Lang. V 12, 30. According to the Necrologium he was assassinated at Syracuse in Sicily on 5 November after a reign of twenty years and was buried in the monastery of St Gregory in Syracuse; the date and length of reign are both wrong; he reigned for twenty-seven years and the date of his death was 15 July; cf. Grierson, "Tombs and Obits", pp. 49-50 with nn. 100-107. According to the De Ceremoniis, Constantine Pogonatus was buried, like his wife Phausta 1 and his son Konstantinos 2 in the Mausoleum of Justinian at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople: Const. Porph., Cer. II 42 (Reiske, 644).

Grandson of the emperor Herakleios (Heraklios I, PLRE III, pp. 586-587); his name was Konstantinos, but he was also known as Konstans; he also had the nickname of Pogonatus, because of his long beard (p. 66, lines 14-16: ὀνόματι Κωνσταντῖνος, οἱ δὲ Κῶνσταν φασὶν λεγέσθαι, ὃν καὶ Πωγωνᾶτόν τινες προσηγόρευσαν ὡς βαθεῖαν ἔχοντα ὑπήνην); he issued the Typos and was later murdered in the bath in Sicily: Theod. Spoud., Hypomnesticum, praef., p. 66.

In the year 970 Sel. (658/659) Konstans 1 ordered the execution of his brother Theodosios 1; following angry protests at Constantinople he is said to have left his son Constantine (Konstantinos 2) on the throne there and to have taken the queen and the army and left for the North to make war on foreign peoples: Chron. Maron., pp. 70, 24-71, 3 = p. 55. In AH 39 (May 659/May 660) Konstans 1 invaded the lands of the Slavs, defeated their king and returned victorious; in the same year he killed his brother Theodoros (sic; Theodosius 1), after hearing that he was plotting to seize the throne: Elias, Chron., pp. 140, 20-141, 1 = p. 68. Konstantinos (Konstans 1) became emperor on the death of Konstantinos (the Younger; Constantine III; PLRE III, pp. 349-351) and reigned for twenty-seven years; the event is placed under the year 966 Sel. (654/655): Pseudo-Dion., Chron., p. 152, 16-18 = p. 114. On his death in the year 992 (680/681) he was succeeded by Konstantinos 2: Pseudo-Dion., Chron., p. 153, 25-27 = p. 115. Brother of Theodosios 1: Bar Hebr., p. 98, Mich. Syr. II 445-446. He had his brother Theodosios 1 murdered: Bar Hebr., p. 99, Mich. Syr. II 446. Father of Konstantinos 2, Tiberios 1 and Heraklios 1, whom he appointed autokratores when he was in Sicily: Bar Hebr., p. 99. Successor of Konstantinos, he murdered his two uncles and their mother: Mich. Syr. II 430. After the murder of Theodosios 1, Konstans 1 left for the West, visiting Rome and settling at Syracuse in Sicily for the rest of his life; his sons Constantinus, Tiberius and Heraclius (Konstantinos 2, Tiberios 1 and Heraklios 1) were proclaimed autokratores at Constantinople: Mich. Syr. II 446. He was murdered at Syracuse in 980 Sel. by Andreas 2: Mich. Syr. II 450-451.

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