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.

However, there is no evidence that his son and ultimate successor, Constantius II, who was an Arian Christian, was exiled.

Constantine's son Constantius II, who had become Emperor of the eastern part of the Empire, actually encouraged the Arians and set out to reverse the Nicene creed.

In 355 Constantius became the sole Emperor and extended his pro-Arian policy toward the western provinces, frequently using force to push through his creed, even exiling Pope Liberius and installing Antipope Felix II.

However, during the time of Arianism's flowering in Constantinople, the Gothic convert Ulfilas ( later the subject of the letter of Auxentius cited above ) was sent as a missionary to the Gothic barbarians across the Danube, a mission favored for political reasons by emperor Constantius II.

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

* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnus Magnentius.

He came from Antioch and served under Constantius II and was probably appointed to ensure that nobody with western associations was serving in Britain during a time of mistrust, rebellion and suppression symbolised by the brutal acts of the imperial notary Paulus Catena.

A bust of Emperor Constantius II from Syria. Ammianus was born between 325 and 330 in the Greek-speaking East, possibly at Antioch on the Orontes.

Ammianus served as a soldier in the army of Constantius II ( and possibly Julian the Apostate ) in Gaul and Persia.

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.

The walls of Amida, built by Constantius II before the Siege of Amida of 359

Like many ancient historians, Ammianus had a strong political and religious agenda to pursue, however, and he contrasted Constantius II with Julian to the former's constant disadvantage ; like all ancient writers he was skilled in rhetoric, and this shows in his work.

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

Antipope Felix II was installed as Pope in 355 after the Emperor Constantius II banished the reigning Pope, Liberius, for refusing to subscribe the sentence of condemnation against Saint Athanasius.

He continued to lead the conflict against the Arians for the rest of his life and was engaged in theological and political struggles against the Emperors Constantine the Great and Constantius II and powerful and influential Arian churchmen, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia and others.

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

The persecution against the orthodox party broke out with renewed vigor, and Constantius II was induced to prepare drastic measures against Athanasius and the priests who were devoted to him.

Unfortunately, the emperor Constantius II seems to have been committed to having Athanasius deposed, and went so far as to send soldiers to arrest him.

Athanasius went into hiding in the desert with the Desert Fathers, and continued in his capacity as bishop from there until the death of Constantius II in 361.

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.

Its later name, originally Constantia, comes either from the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, who fought the Alemanni in the region and built a strong fortress around 300 AD, or from his grandson Constantius II, who visited the region in 354.

Contemporary reports suggest that Emperor Constantius II had it built to commemorate his victories.

The city was among several taken in the Roman conquest in 75 BC ; the Romans built the Via Militaris in the 1st century, with Naissus being one of its key towns ; it is also the birthplace of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor and the founder of Constantinople, and Constantius III and Justin I.

In 351 the Caesar Constantius Gallus built a new church in honor of Babylas at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, and had the remains of the bishop transferred to it.

One of the four inscriptions around the main entrance to the Baths of Diocletian reads, translated from Latin, “ Our Lords Diocletian and Maximian, the elder and invincible Augsti, fathers of the Emperors and Caesars, our lords Constantius and Maximian and Severus and Maximin, noblest Caesars, dedicated to their beloved Romans these auspicious Baths of Diocletian, which the divine Maximin on his return from Africa ordered to be built and consecrated in the name of his brother Diocletian, having purchased the premises required for so huge and remarkable work and furnishing them with the most sumptuous refinement .” The baths take up 120, 000 square metres of the district, which is about the same size as the Baths of Caracalla.

Hilarion initially built a small hut there, but during the reign of Constantius II ( 337-361 ) he set up the hermitage.

The grounds of the first church of the Holy Apostles contained both a rotunda mausoleum built by Constantine and a church built soon afterward by his successor Constantius.

Little is known of the appearance of this original church except that it was cross-shaped, but the historian Eusebius ( c. 263 – 339 ) gives the following description of Constantine's mausoleum and the surrounding grounds before Constantius ' church was built:

He was summoned to Constantius ' court in Mediolanum ( Milan ) in 354 and kept there for a year ; in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study in Athens.

Although prior to 303 there appeared to be tacit agreement between the Tetrarchs that Constantius ’ s son, Constantine and Maximian ’ s son Maxentius were to be promoted to the rank of Caesar once Diocletian and Maximian had resigned the purple, by the end of 304 Galerius had convinced Diocletian ( who in turn convinced Maximian ) to appoint Galerius ’ s nominees Severus and Maximinus Daia as Caesars.

Imru ' al-Qais escaped to Bahrain, taking his dream of a unified Arab nation with him, and then to Syria seeking the promised assistance from Constantius II which never materialized, so he stayed there until he died.

It was after crushing the last of these that Emperor Constantius I came to Eboracum and, in 306, became the second Emperor to die there.

Even assuming he's referring to Constantius II, there is still a 22-year gap between the death of " Constantine " and Maximus ' revolt.

The church was unfinished when Constantine died in 337, and it was brought to completion by his son and successor Constantius II, who buried his father's remains there.

Eumenius mentions Constantius as having " killed, expelled, captured, kidnapped " the Franks that had settled there and other that had crossed the Rhine, using the term nationes Franciae for the first time.

After Constantius ' death in 361, his successor Julian the Apostate, a devotee of Rome's pagan gods, declared that he would no longer attempt to favor one church faction over another, and allowed all exiled bishops to return ; this had the objective of further increasing dissension among Christians.

In 340, Constantius ' brothers clashed over the western provinces of the empire.

The relative moderation of Constantius ' actions toward paganism is reflected by the fact that it was not until over 20 years after Constantius ' death, during the reign of Gratian, that any pagan senators protested their religion's treatment.

A member of the Constantinian dynasty, he was made Caesar over the western provinces, by Constantius II in 355, where he campaigned successfully against the Alamanni and Franks.

Constantius attempted to maintain some modicum of control over his Caesar, which explains his removal of Julian's close adviser Saturninius Secundus Salutius from Gaul.

On December 11, 361, Julian entered Constantinople as sole emperor and, despite his rejection of Christianity, his first political act was to preside over Constantius ' Christian burial, escorting the body to the Church of the Apostles, where it was placed alongside that of Constantine.

* July – Emperor Constantius II convenes the Council of Rimini to resolve the crisis over Arianism in the Church.

* April 28 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnentius.

* Constantine I sends his half-brother Julius Constantius to Licinius at Sirmium ( Pannonia ), with the proposal to accept Bassianus as Caesar and his power over Italy.

By 288, his period as governor now over, Constantius had been made Praetorian Prefect in the west under Maximian.

Nevertheless, over the next three years the Rhine frontier continued to occupy Constantius ’ s attention.

In 305 Constantius crossed over into Britain, travelled to the far north of the island and launched a military expedition against the Picts, claiming a victory against them and the title Britannicus Maximus II by 7 January 306.

Constantius himself, it seems, did not reach Britain until it was all over, and his panegyrist claims he was welcomed by the Britons as a liberator.

The future Constantius III, who arrived at Arles, put Gerontius to flight and then took over the siege of Constantine in Arles.

After his death in 337, two of his sons, Constantius II and Constans, took over the leadership of the empire and re-divided their Imperial inheritance.

Constantius was not likely to pass over this rebellion against his authority.

Pope Liberius had been banished in 355, as a result of a conflict with the Emperor Constantius II over the treatment of Arianism.

In 354, Pope Liberius asked Eusebius to join Bishop Lucifer of Cagliari in carrying a request to the Emperor Constantius II at Milan, pleading for the emperor to convoke a council to end the dissentions over the status of Athanasius of Alexandria and the matter of Arianism.

In 305, Constantius Chlorus re-invaded the northern lands of Britain although the sources are vague over their claims of penetration into the far north and a great victory over the " Caledones and others " ( Panegyrici Latini Vetares, VI ( VII ) vii 2 ).

Marcellus was reinstated by the Council of Sardica and Pope Julius I in 343, but Basil was restored in 350 by Constantius, over whom he gained considerable influence.

# Troubles after the Abdication of Diocletian – Death of Constantius – Elevation of Constantine and Maxentius – Six Emperors at the same Time – Death of Maximian and Galerius – Victories of Constantine over Maxentius and Licinius – Reunion of the Empire under the Authority of Constantine – His Laws – General Peace