The Roman Emperors Constantius II ( 337 – 361 ) and Valens ( 364 – 378 ) were Arians or Semi-Arians.

However, to minimize the extent of the movement ignores the facts that at least two Roman emperors, Constantius II and Valens, became Arians, as did prominent Gothic, Vandal and Lombard warlords both before and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

* 317 – Constantius II, Roman emperor ( d. 361 )

* 355 – Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.

In May 357 the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius, who was on a visit to Rome, should recall Liberius.

Shortly thereafter, however, Constantine's son, the new Roman Emperor Constantius II, renewed the order for Athanasius ' banishment in 338.

The Batavi were still mentioned in 355 during the reign of Constantius II ( 317-361 ), when their island was already dominated by the Salii, a Frankish tribe that had sought Roman protection there in 297 after having been expelled from their own country by the Saxons.

* Constantius II ( 317 – 361 ), Roman Emperor from 337 to 361

Constantius II (; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361 ), was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361.

Division of the Roman Empire among the Caesars appointed by Constantine I: from left to right, the territories of Constantine II ( emperor ) | Constantine II, Constans I, Dalmatius and Constantius II.

While Constantius was away from the eastern frontier in early 337, Shapur assembled a large army, including war elephants, and launched an attack on Roman territory, laying waste to Mesopotamia and putting Nisibis under siege.

When Constantius learned of Shapur's withdrawal from Roman territory, he prepared his army for a counter-attack, drilling them and upgrading the equipment of his cataphracts.

The defeat of Magnentius in 353 left Constantius as sole Roman Emperor.

As a result of Constantius ' rejection of his terms, Shapur II launched another invasion of Roman Mesopotamia.

Constantius seems to have had a particular interest in the religious state of the Roman Empire.

As a Christian Roman Emperor, Constantius made a concerted effort to promote Christianity at the expense of Roman polytheism (‘ paganism ’).

In spite of the some of the edicts issued by Constantius, it should be recognised that he was not fanatically anti-pagan – he never made any attempt to disband the various Roman priestly colleges or the Vestal Virgins, he never acted against the various pagan schools, and, at times, he actually made some effort to protect paganism.

:* The Abinnaeus Archive: Papers of a Roman Officer in the Reign of Constantius II ( in Greek ).

* This list of Roman laws of the fourth century shows laws passed by Constantius II relating to Christianity.

With Constantine ’ s death in 337, Constans and his two brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II divided the Roman world between themselves, after first deposing of virtually all of the relatives of their father who could possibly have a claim on the throne.

Division of the Roman Empire among the Caesars appointed by Constantine I: from left to right, the territories of Constantine II ( emperor ) | Constantine II, Constans, Dalmatius and Constantius II.

Division of the Roman Empire among the Caesars appointed by Constantine I: from left to right, the territories of Constantine II, Constans I, Dalmatius and Constantius II.

He was so influential that even after his death, Constantius II heeded his and Eudoxus of Constantinople's advice to attempt to convert the Roman Empire to Arianism by creating Arian Councils and official Arian Doctrines.

Before Constantius arrived, the Persian general Narses, who was possibly the king's brother, overran Mesopotamia and captured Amida.

Before facing Magnentius, Constantius first came to terms with Vetranio, a loyal general in Illyricum who had recently been acclaimed emperor by his soldiers.

Constantius subsequently sent Vetranio the imperial diadem and acknowledged the general ‘ s new position as Augustus.

The time when Cyril was Bishop of Jerusalem was one of general tolerance, however, as set forth by the ecumenist Emperor Constantius who was preoccupied with unity.

* Flavius Constantius, Roman general and politician, is promoted to the rank of magister militum.

* January 1 – Emperor Honorius forces his half-sister Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his general ( magister militum ).

* Constantius III, Roman general ( magister militum ), begins a military campaign against the Visigoths in Gaul.

* Constantius Gallus sends his general ( magister equitum ) Ursicinus to forcefully put down the Jewish revolt in Palestine.

The able general having been disposed of, Constantius besieged the city for three months until the general of Constantine, Edobichus, who had been sent across the border to find allies, did return with a large army of Franks and Alamanni.

Honorius's general Constantius ( who would later become Emperor Constantius III ), poisoned official relations with Ataulf and gained permission to blockade the Mediterranean ports of Gaul.

In 296 the general Constantius Chlorus invaded Britain to reclaim Britain for Rome.

Despite Magnentius ' efforts to gain Vetranio to his cause, the old general reached Constantius with his army, and resigned the crown.

Ammianus Marcellinus, a noted Roman historian and general who served in the army of Constantius II in Gaul and Persia and fought against the Sassanid army under Julian the Apostate, described the sight of a contingent of massed Persian cataphracts in the 4th century:

So violent did the tumult become that Constantius sent his general Hermogenes to eject Paul for a second time.

A second visit in around 446 – 7 by Germanus, a former Roman general who had become Bishop of Auxerre, recorded in Constantius ' Vita, could have reflected Aetius ' response to the message.

The Constantinian dynasty properly began with Constantius " Chlorus " ( caesar, 293, augustus, 305 ), an experienced Illyrian soldier and general ; the Constantiniani were originally another family of " Barracks Emperors ".

Basil persuaded Constantius to summon a general council, Ancyra being proposed, then Nicomedia ( both in Asia Minor ), but as the latter city was destroyed by an earthquake, Basil was again at Sirmium in 359 where the Arianizers had meanwhile regained their footing ; with Germinius of Sirmium, George of Alexandria, Ursacius and Valens, and bishop ( later saint ) Marcus of Arethusa, he held a conference which lasted until night.

He entered the army at an early age, when Constantius II was emperor of the East, and was sent to serve under Ursicinus, governor of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, and magister militum.

Constantius had made him magister militum in 353, with the purpose of blocking the German threats, a feat that Silvanus achieved by bribing the German tribes with the money he had collected.

Constantius accepted Julian's report of events and Marcellus was replaced as magister equitum by Severus.

Constantius was born in Naissus ( modern-day Niš, Serbia ) and was probably a career soldier, who reached the rank of magister militum under Honorius.

So in 411 Constantius, the magister militium ( master of military ) of the western emperor, Flavius Augustus Honorius, with Gothic auxiliaries under Ulfilas, crushed the Gallic rebellion with a siege of Arles.

* 349 – 359: Ursicinus, magister equitum under Constantius

* 359 – 360: Sabinianus, magister equitum under Constantius

* 351 – 361: Flavius Arbitio, magister equitum under Constantius

These Panegyrici are often attributed to Eumenius, magister memoriae ( private secretary ) to Constantius, resulting in the compromise name of pseudo-Eumenius.

Eumenius probably took his place, for it was from Autun that he went to be magister memoriae ( private secretary ) to Constantius Chlorus, whom he accompanied on several of his campaigns.