Constantius II was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civil wars, court intrigues, and usurpations. His religious policies inflamed domestic conflicts that would continue after his death.
Flavius Julius Constans, also called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of caesar from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great.
Constantine II was Roman emperor from 337 to 340. Son of Constantine the Great and co-emperor alongside his brothers, his attempt to exert his perceived rights of primogeniture led to his death in a failed invasion of Italy in 340.
The 350s decade ran from January 1, 350, to December 31, 359.
Year 353 (CCCLIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnentius and Decentius. The denomination 353 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 351 (CCCLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnentius and Gaiso. The denomination 351 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Magnus Magnentius was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul under the emperor Constans. On 18 January 350 Magnentius was acclaimed Augustus. Quickly killing the unpopular Constans, Magnentius gained control over most of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperor Constantius II, the brother of Constans, refused to acknowledge Magnentius' legitimacy and led a successful campaign against Magnentius. Ultimately, Magnentius' forces were scattered after the Battle of Mons Seleucus, and he committed suicide on 10 August 353.
The term Western Roman Empire is used in modern historiography to refer to the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. Particularly during the period from 395 to 476 AD, there were separate, coequal courts dividing the governance of the empire into the Western provinces and the Eastern provinces with a distinct imperial succession in the separate courts. The terms Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire were coined in modern times to describe political entities that were de facto independent; contemporary Romans did not consider the Empire to have been split into two empires but viewed it as a single polity governed by two imperial courts for administrative expediency. The Western Empire collapsed in 476, and the Western imperial court in Ravenna disappeared by 554 AD, at the end of Justinian's Gothic War.
Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326–354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as Caesar under emperor Constantius II, his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius Chlorus and empress Flavia Maximiana Theodora, and a son of Julius Constantius and Galla, he belonged to the Constantinian dynasty. Born during the reign of his uncle Constantine the Great, he was among the few male members of the imperial family to survive the purge that followed Constantine's death. Under Constantius II, Gallus served as deputy emperor, based in Antioch and married to Constantius' sister Constantina. He dealt with a Jewish revolt in the years 351-352. Gallus ultimately fell out of favor with Constantius and was executed, being replaced as Caesar by his younger half-brother Julian.
Vetranio was briefly Western Roman emperor in 350, allying with the Eastern emperor Constantius II in his war against Magnentius.
Justina was a Roman empress. She was initially the wife of the rebel emperor Magnentius and was then married to Valentinian I, with whom she had four children, including the emperor Valentinian II and the empress Galla.
The Battle of Mursa was fought on 28 September 351 between the eastern Roman armies led by the Emperor Constantius II and the western forces supporting the usurper Magnentius. It took place at Mursa, near the Via Militaris in the province of Pannonia. The battle, one of the bloodiest in Roman history, was a pyrrhic victory for Constantius.
Silvanus was a Roman general and usurper of Frankish descent. He revolted in Gaul against Emperor Constantius II, claiming the imperial title for 28 days in AD 355.
Magnus Decentius was caesar of the Western Roman Empire from 350 to 353, under his brother Magnentius.
Marcellinus was a Roman Empire officer under Roman Emperor Constans and usurper Magnentius.
Chnodomar was the king of an Alamannic canton in what is now south-west Germany, near the Rhine from sometime before 352 till 357. He seems to have had a recognized position among the other Alamanni.
The Roman civil war of 350–353 AD was a war fought between the Roman emperor Constantius II and the usurper Magnentius.
Byzantine Empire under the Constantinian and Valentinianic dynasties was the earliest period of the Byzantine history that saw a shift in government from Rome in the West to Constantinople in the East within the Roman Empire under emperor Constantine the Great and his successors. Constantinople, formally named Nova Roma, was founded in the city of Byzantium, which is the origin of the historiographical name for the Eastern Empire, which self-identified simply as the "Roman Empire".
The Perso-Roman wars of 337–361 were a series of military conflicts fought between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire between 337 and 361. They were a result of long-standing competition between the rival powers over influence in the border kingdoms of Armenia and Iberia, as well as the desire of Shapur II, after his Arab campaign, to revoke the unfavorable terms of the Treaty of Nisibis, which had concluded the previous war between the empires. Though the Romans under Constantius II were defeated in several sanguinary encounters, Shapur was unable to secure a decisive victory.
