Abstract
The article is devoted to one of the unobtrusive fi gures of the Constantine’s the Great family (the Constantinian dynasty), emperor’s sister Anastasia. The emperor Constantine used Anastasia (like his other sister, Constantia) for political purposes and married her off to one of Bassianus, whom he planned to be his younger co-ruler for a while. However, this plan of the Emperor was quickly abandoned, and Bassianus was executed. Therefore, it is clear why the personality of Anastasia is illuminated not so well by sources as her sister Constantia, who became the wife of the emperor Licinius: though Constantine eventually defeated him, but only after his long reign at the Roman East.
Only one written source (so called Anonymous Valesianus) tells us in detail about the fate of Anastasia. This conscientious author included it into the narrative about the diplomatic, political and military struggle between Constantine and Licinius. Anastasia’s marriage on her brother behalf, the overthrow of her husband and her secession in private life give insight into the mechanisms of Constantine’s dynastic (intra-family) policy. Basing on the analysis of the narrative tradition the author reconstructs the life of Anastasia and comes to the conclusion about possible change in the attitude of her brother to her: from the pragmatic prudence (when Constantine gave her in marriage to the person he needed in the current political situation), to regret, which takes the form of demonstrative respect at the Constantine’s court.
Keywords
Constantine the Great, the Constantinian dynasty, Anastasia, Constantine’s the Great sister, emperor Licinius, Civil wars in Roman Empire (AD 306–324), Latin narrative tradition
Bardill, J. 2012: Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age. New York.
Barnes, T.D. 1981: Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge (MA) – London.
Browning, R. 1976: The Emperor Julian. Berkley–Los Angeles.
Chausson, F. 2007: Stemmata aurea: Constantin, Justine, Théodose: revendications généalogiques et idéologie impériale au IVe siècle ap. J.-C. Rome.
Drijvers, J.W. 1992: Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of Her Finding of the True Cross. Leiden.
Du Change, C.D. 1729: Historia byzantina duplici commentario illustrate... Venetiis.
Ehrhardt, Ch. 1992: Monumental Evidence for the Date of Constantine’s First War against Licinius. Ancient World 23, 87–94.
Elliott, T.G. 1996: The Christianity of Constantine the Great. Scranton.
Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R., Morris, J. 1971: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Cambridge.
Kienast, D. 2004: Römische Kaisertabelle. Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie. Darmstadt.
Krist, K. 1997: Istoriya vremen rimskikh imperatorov [The History of the Epoch of Roman Emperors]. Vol. 2. Rostov-on-Done.
Lane Fox, R.J. 1986: Pagans and Christians: In the Mediterranean World from the Second Century AD to the Conversion of Constantine. London.
Leadbetter, B. 1998: The Illegitimacy of Constantine and the Birth of Tetrarchy. In: S.N.C. Lieu and D. Monserrat (eds.). Constantine: History, Historiography and Legend. London, 74–85.
Lebedev A.P., А.П. 2006: Epokha goneniy na khristian i utverzhdenie khristianstva v Grecorimskom mire pri Konstantine Velikom [The Epoch of Persecution of Christians and the Establishment of Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World under Constantine the Great]. Saint-Petersburg.
Lieu, S. 1996: The origin of Constantine: Introduction. In: S.N.C. Lieu, D. Montserrat (eds.). From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views: a Source History. London–New York, 39–43.
Mikhaylov, P.B., Loseva, O.V., Bespakhotnaya, E.P. 2001: Anastasiya Uzorazreshitelnitsa [St. Anastasia the Deliverer from Potions]. In: Patriarkh Alexy II (ed.), Pravislavnaya Entsiklopediya [Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Moscow, 259–260.
Mommsen, T. (ed.). 1892: Origo Constantini Imperatoris sive Anonymi Valesiani Pars Prior. In: T. Mommsen (ed.), Chronica Minora. Saec. IV. V. VI. VII. Berolini, 3–11.
Odahl, Ch. M. 2004: Constantine and the Christian Empire. Abingdon–New York.
Richardson, L. 1992: A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore–London.
Seeck, O. 1894: Anastasia (1). In: RE I (2), 2065.
Whitehead, Ph.B. 1927: The Church of S. Anastasia in Rome. American Journal of Archaeology 31, 405–420.
Wienand, J. 2013: La famiglia e la politica dinastica di Costantino. In: Alberto Melloni (ed.), Costantino I. Enciclopedia Costantiniana sulla fi gura e l’immagine dell’imperatore del cosiddetto Editto di Milano 313–2013. Vol. I. Roma, 23–52
Winkelmann, F. 2003: Historiography in the Age of Constantine. In: G. Marasco (ed.), Greek and Roman historiography in late antiquity: fourth to sixth century A.D. Leiden–Boston, 3–41.