Constantius Gallus (AD 351 - 354)
Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus, better known as Constantius Gallus, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty. Gallus was consul three years, from 352 to 354. Son of Julius Constantius by his first wife Galla, Gallus' paternal grandparents were Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Gallus was born in Massa Veternensis, Italia, after his father had returned from exile. In 337, during the purges that hit the imperial family after the death of Constantine I, Gallus saw his father and his elder brother killed, probably by order of his cousin Constantius. The only imperial males surviving were the three Emperors, Gallus, and Julian, who were probably too young or ill (Banchich) to be a menace to Constantius. In 350, Magnentius had rebelled and killed the emperor Constans, claiming the purple. Constantius II prepared to move against the usurper, but needed a representative in the East, so he called Gallus at Sirmium, raised him to the rank of caesar (15 March 351), gave him the name Constantius, and strengthened the bonds with his cousin by allowing Gallus to marry his sister Constantina. Gallus and Constantina, who probably shared her brother's aim of controlling the young caesar, set up residence in Antioch. When Gallus arrived to Poetovio in Noricum, Barbatio, an officer who had been supporting Gallus' dismissal within Constantius' court, surrounded the palace of the caesar and arrested him, stripping Gallus of the imperial robes, but assuring him that no harm would come to him. Gallus was led to Pola, Istria (now Pula, Croatia). Here he was interrogated by some of the highest officials of Constantius' court, including the eunuch praepositus cubiculi Eusebius and the agens in rebus Apodemius. Gallus tried to put the blame of all of his actions on Constantina, but Constantius sentenced him to death; The emperor later changed his mind, and ordered the caesar to be spared, but Eusebius ordered that the news was not to reach the executioners.
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