Minervina

Minervina was a partner of the Roman emperor Constantine I and the mother of his first son Crispus .

Little is known about Minervina. The information about her relationship with Constantine and her son Crispus comes from several late antique sources: Both the Epitome de Caesaribus , written shortly after 395, and the later historian Zosimos (around 500) mention them only in passing in connection with the appointment of Crispus as Caesar ( Lower emperor) - there she is referred to as a concubine. A panegyric held at Constantine's wedding to Fausta in 307 points to an earlier wedding of Constantine, but without explicitly mentioning Minervina.

It is disputed whether Constantine's relationship with Minervina was just a concubinage or whether the couple was also married. In the former case, Crispus would have been an illegitimate son. Edward Gibbon , a historian of the Enlightenment, interpreted Minervina as an "obscure but legitimate object of the youthful attachment to Constantine" and accepted her as the legitimate wife of Constantine. Otto Seeck (at the beginning of the 20th century) later protested against this , referring to the comments of Zosimos, the Epitome de Caesaribus and the Middle Byzantine historian Johannes Zonaras (who could fall back on older models) and the passage in the Panegyric as a reference pointed to another woman. More recently, however, Timothy D. Barnes and the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire have accepted Minervina as the rightful wife of Constantine. Barnes refers to the use of the pagan historian Eunapios , who is unreliable in this question, by Zosimos, the Epitome and Zonaras.

The chronological classification of the relationship is also not certain. Crispus was believed to be born in AD 305. In 307 Konstantin married Fausta - a political marriage because she was the daughter of Emperor Maximian , whose support Konstantin wanted to secure. Whether Minervina 307 was cast out by Constantine or was already dead cannot be determined either. There is no evidence for Timothy Barnes' hypothesis that Minervina may have been a relative of Emperor Diocletian .

literature

Wilhelm Enßlin : Minervina. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 2, Stuttgart 1932, column 1807.
Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Minervina. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , pp. 602-603.
Timothy D. Barnes : The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine . Harvard University Press, Cambridge / London 1982, ISBN 0-674-61126-8 , pp. 42-43 .
Ders .: Constantine. Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire , London 2011, ISBN 978-1-4051-1727-2 .
Otto Seeck : History of the fall of the ancient world . tape 1 and 4. JB Metzler, Stuttgart 1966, p. 476–477 or 377 (reprint of the 4th or 2nd edition, Stuttgart 1921 or 1922).

Web links

Hans A. Pohlsander: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references). Article about Constantine the Great, which also briefly discusses Minervina.

Remarks

↑ Epitome de Caesaribus 41.4; Zosimos 2,20,2. She is also mentioned as a concubine by the Middle Byzantine historian Johannes Zonaras 8.2.
↑ Panegyrici Latini 6 (7), 4.1. Seeck, History of the Fall of the Ancient World , Vol. 1, p. 476, who comes to the conclusion: “That Constantin was legally married earlier cannot be doubted”.
^ Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , 12 vols., Ed. by John B. Bury with an introduction by William EH Lecky , Fred de Fau and Co., New York 1906, vol. 3, p. 218: "Minervina, the obscure but lawful object of his youthful attachment, had left him only one son, who was called Crispus ”.
↑ Seeck, History of the Fall of the Ancient World , Vol. 1, p. 476 f .; Vol. 4, p. 377.Similar to Joseph Vogt , Constantin der Grosse und seine Jahrhundert , 2nd, revised edition, Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich 1960, p. 141 f., Who, however, probably wrongly referred to the engagement to Fausta Dated year 300.
^ Barnes, The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine , pp. 42 f .; PLRE , Vol. 1, pp. 602 f.
↑ Barnes, Constantine , pp. 48 f., 69, 206.

personal data
SURNAME	Minervina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Partner of the Roman Emperor Constantine I.
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century
DATE OF DEATH	after 305

[1] Epitome de Caesaribus 41.4; Zosimos 2,20,2. She is also mentioned as a concubine by the Middle Byzantine historian Johannes Zonaras 8.2.

[2] Panegyrici Latini 6 (7), 4.1. Seeck, History of the Fall of the Ancient World , Vol. 1, p. 476, who comes to the conclusion: “That Constantin was legally married earlier cannot be doubted”.

[3] Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , 12 vols., Ed. by John B. Bury with an introduction by William EH Lecky , Fred de Fau and Co., New York 1906, vol. 3, p. 218: "Minervina, the obscure but lawful object of his youthful attachment, had left him only one son, who was called Crispus ”.

[4] Seeck, History of the Fall of the Ancient World , Vol. 1, p. 476 f .; Vol. 4, p. 377.Similar to Joseph Vogt , Constantin der Grosse und seine Jahrhundert , 2nd, revised edition, Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich 1960, p. 141 f., Who, however, probably wrongly referred to the engagement to Fausta Dated year 300.

[5] Barnes, The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine , pp. 42 f .; PLRE , Vol. 1, pp. 602 f.

[6] Barnes, Constantine , pp. 48 f., 69, 206.