Helena (wife of Julian)

Helena (Greek: Έλένη; died 360) was the wife of Julian, Roman emperor in 360–363. She was briefly Roman empress when Julian was proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 360, but died prior to the resolution of his conflict with Constantius II.^[1]

Family

Helena was a daughter of Constantine I and Fausta.^[2] She was sister to Constantine II, Constantius II, Constans and Constantina^[3] and half-sister of Crispus.^[4]

Her paternal grandparents were Constantius Chlorus and Helena.^[5] Her maternal grandparents were Maximian and Eutropia.^[6]

Marriage

On 6 November 355, Julian was declared Caesar by Constantius II.^[7] The new Caesar was a paternal first cousin to Helena and her siblings, as a grandson of Constantius I.^[8] The marriage of Helena and Julian took place days after his proclamation, confirming the alliance of Julian to her brother.^[8][9]

Caesar's wife

Helena seems to have followed her husband to Gaul and gave birth to a son there, although he did not survive. Ammianus attributed this incident, as well as a miscarriage Helena had in 357 while she was in Rome, to her sister-in-law, the empress Eusebia, plotting against her.^[10] "A History of Medicine" (1995) by Plinio Prioreschi dismisses the account as an example of a very common error in accounts of ancient medicine, "the attribution to drugs of properties that they could not have". In this case, a potion which is consumed just once and keeps having effect for years. Prioreschi regards it as "an obvious impossibility in the light of modern pharmacology".^[11]

Shaun Tougher follows the example of senior historian Noël Aujoulat in considering the story of Helena's miscarriages being the result of abortifacients to be entirely plausible. Both historians consider Ammianus' allegations, casting Eusebia as the orchestrator of such a plot, should be taken into consideration and "not be lightly dismissed".^[12] On the other hand, Peter Crawford observed that there was little to no evidence of such plotting, and Julian did not display any suspicion towards Eusebia, at least outwardly. On speculating Ammianus’ reasoning for the accusation, he suggested that the historian was trying to defend Julian from allegations of divine ill-favor by attributing his wife’s miscarriages to human interference.^[10]

Whatever the case, "The Cambridge Ancient History" notes that the occasion of her presence in Rome were the Vicennalia of Constantius II, a celebration in honor of completing twenty years on the throne. Constantius and his Milan court moved to Rome for the occasion, marking the first and only known visit of this particular Augustus in the ancient capital of the Roman Empire. Constantius was following the examples of Diocletian and Constantine I who also visited Rome during their own Vicennalia. The presence of Constantius, Eusebia and Helena marked this as a dynastic display.^[9]

Empress

By 360, Julian had restored peace to Gaul and reached a ceasefire with the Alamanni in particular. This secured the local borders for a while. Meanwhile, Constantius was involved in a conflict against Shapur II of the Sassanid Empire, another phase of the Roman–Persian Wars. He took advantage of the peace achieved by Julian, sending orders that would transfer many officers and units from Gaul to the Persian borders. The Petulantes, one of the units ordered to the eastern border, revolted and proclaimed Julian to be their Augustus. Soon their cause was joined by the rest of the Gallic troops. Julian accepted his proclamation with some initial reluctance. The exact date of his proclamations in unknown, estimated to February or March, 360.^[8]

Helena is mentioned as being alive at the time of his proclamation in Julian's "Letter To The Senate And People of Athens".^[13] His narrative suggests she was attended by soldiers and in close proximity to her husband at Gaul, as an officer of her guard was able to contact Julian with no prolonged journey mentioned.^[14] He does, however, claim to have slept alone without stating a reason.^[13] Her role in the conflict between her husband and brother is left unmentioned.

Death

Helena is next mentioned as already dead by November 360. While Julian was celebrating the 5th anniversary of his accession to power, he sent the remains of his wife to be buried next to her sister Constantina.^[15] In his assessment of Julian, Ammianus said that he practiced chastity and avoided sexual intercourse for the rest of his life.^[16] The "Funeral Oration upon the Emperor Julian" by Libanius elaborates on the subject by saying that he regretted his wife, because he would’ve avoided sexual intercourse his entire life if not for her.^[17] Barnes notes that Ammianus offers much praise of both Julian and Eusebia. In contrast, there is no such praise for Helena, nor an actual assessment of her.^[18]

An entry of the Liber Pontificalis, the one covering Pope Liberius, mentions Helena being a devout Christian and an adherent of the Nicene Creed. However, like Sozomen, the entry writer confused her with her sister and calls her "Constantia Augusta".^[1]

References

Sources

• Barnes, Timothy D. (1998). Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology). Cornell University Press. ISBN 080143526-9.
• Crawford, Peter (2016). Constantius II: Usurpers, Eunuchs, and the Antichrist. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-78340-055-3.
• Hunt, David (1998). "The successors of Constantine". In Averil Cameron & Peter Garnsey (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337–425. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-30200-5.
• Jones, A.H.M.; J.R. Martindale & J. Morris (1971). Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07233-6.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flavia Julia Helena.

• Her profile in the "Prosopography"
• Page mentioning her marriage in Philostorgius' history
• Page in "Representation of Historical Reality" mentioning her depiction by Ammianus Marcellinus
• Page of "History of Medicine" which mentions Eusebia and Helena
• Page of "Propaganda of Power" discussing Helena's miscarriages
• Page of the "Cambridge Ancient History" mentioning her visit to Rome
• Page of the "Book of Acts" mentioning Julian's letter to Athens
• Page of the "Epistle to the Athenians" which mentions her being alive at the proclamation of Julian

This page was last edited on 13 April 2024, at 20:42