Page "Constantius II" Paragraph 10

In early 337, Constantius hurried to Constantinople after receiving news that his father was near death.

After Constantine died, Constantius buried his father with lavish ceremony in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

Soon after his father's death Constantius is supposed to have ordered a massacre of his relatives descended from the second marriage of his paternal grandfather Constantius Chlorus, though the details are unclear.

Eutropius, writing between 350 and 370, writes that Constantius merely sanctioned “ the act, rather than commanding it ”.

The massacre killed two of Constantius ' uncles and six of his cousins, including Hannibalianus and Dalmatius, rulers of the Pontus and Moesia respectively.

The massacre left Constantius, his older brother Constantine II, his younger brother Constans, and three cousins Gallus, Julian and Nepotianus as the only surviving male relatives of Constantine the Great.

Soon after, Constantius met his brothers in Pannonia at Sirmium to formalize the partition of the empire.

Constantius received the eastern provinces, including Constantinople, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Cyrenaica.

Constantine received Britannia, Gaul, Hispania, and Mauretania, while Constans, though initially under the supervision of Constantine II, received Italy, Africa, Illyricum, Pannonia, Macedonia, and Achaea.