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.

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.

In 361, after the death of Emperor Constantius, shortly followed by the murder of the very unpopular Bishop George, the popular St Athanasius now had the opportunity to return to his patriarchate.

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.

In 351, as a consequence of the difficulty of managing the entire empire alone, Constantius elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus, the eldest surviving son of Constantius ' half-uncle, Julius Constantius, to the subordinate rank of Caesar, but had him executed three years later after receiving scathing reports of his cousin's violent and corrupt nature.

Shortly after in 355, Constantius promoted Gallus ' younger half-brother and Constantius ' last surviving cousin, Julian to the rank of Caesar.

Constantius promptly attacked Narses, and after suffering minor setbacks defeated and killed Narses at the Battle of Narasara.

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

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.

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

However, after some convincing by one of Constantius ’ agents, Gallus continued his journey west, passing through Constantinople and Thrace to Poetovio ( Ptuj ) in Pannonia.

Silvanus had surrendered to Constantius after the Battle of Mursa Major.

Not long after Constantius sent Julian off to Gaul.

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 later edict issued by Constantius after becoming sole emperor decreed that a person who was proven to have converted from Christianity to Judaism would have their entire property confiscated by the state.

In the military sphere, the campaigns of Constantius and his subordinates on the Rhine and Danube frontiers in the late 350s restored stability to those regions after the troubles caused by Magnentius ' revolt.

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.

Cyril was exiled from Jerusalem until 359 when imperial authority placed him back as Bishop after Cyril was able to plead his case to Emperor Constantius, referencing the multitude of people who were starving and he was able to feed with the money he made from the sale.

Although effective while he ruled, Diocletian's Tetrarchic system collapsed after his abdication under the competing dynastic claims of Maxentius and Constantine, sons of Maximian and Constantius respectively.

Constantius was a former governor of Dalmatia and a man of military experience stretching back to Aurelian's campaigns against Zenobia ( 272 – 73 ).

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.

He returned to Italy with Ursicinus, when he was recalled by Constantius, and accompanied him on the expedition against Claudius Silvanus, who had been forced by the allegedly unjust accusations of his enemies into proclaiming himself emperor in Gaul.

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.

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.

Constantius ' persistence in his opposition to Athanasius, combined with reports Athanasius received about the persecution of non-Arians by the new Arian bishop George of Laodicea, prompted Athanasius to write his more emotional History of the Arians, in which he described Constantius as a precursor of the Antichrist.

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.

Missorium of Kerch depicting Constantius II on horseback with a spear.

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

After, Constantius hurried east to Antioch to resume the war with Persia.

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

The following year, Constantius clashed with Magnentius in Pannonia with a large army.

Possibly as a result of these reports, Constantius concluded a peace with the Alamanni, and traveled to Mediolanum ( Milan ).

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.

Despite rejecting these terms, Constantius still tried to avert war with the Sassanid Empire by sending two embassies to Shapur II.

However, on account of the immediate Sassanid threat, Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin ’ s usurpation other than by sending missives by which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of Augustus and be satisfied with that of Caesar.

By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with force ; and yet the threat of the Sassanids remained.

Pagan-related edicts issued by Constantius ( by himself or with others ) included:

Christian-related edicts issued by Constantius ( by himself or with others ) included:

Judaism faced some severe restrictions under Constantius, who seems to have followed an anti-Jewish policy in line with that of his father.

Early in his reign, Constantius issued a double edict in concert with his brothers limiting the ownership of slaves by Jewish people and banning marriages between Jews and Christian women.

However, Constantius ' actions in this regard may not have been so much to do with Jewish religion as Jewish business ; apparently, it was often the case that privately owned Jewish businesses were in competition with state-owned businesses.