Peter Crawford - Constantius II: Usurpers, Eunuchs and the Antichrist

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Peter Crawford, 2016

ISBN: 978 1 78340 055 3
PDF ISBN: 987 1 47388 394 9
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47388 393 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47388 392 5

The right of Peter Crawford to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Ehrhardt by
Replika Press Pvt Ltd, India
Printed and bound in England
by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4YY

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Family History, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Pen & Sword Discovery, Pen & Sword Politics, Pen & Sword Atlas, Pen & Sword Archaeology, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe True Crime, Wharncliffe Transport, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics, Leo Cooper, The Praetorian Press, Claymore Press, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Frontline Publishing.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail:
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth? We cannot attain to so great a secret by one road

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, Relationes III.10

My words should and can be brief, lest by dwelling on your great deeds

Laudatio Turiae ILS 8393

Contents

Acknowledgements

I would like to give thanks to those who have contributed in some way to the production and publication of this work:

To Phil Sidnell and Pen & Sword for once again placing their trust in me.

To Matt Jones and his team, who have done a tremendous job again in bringing together the words, pictures and maps that I jumbled together and threw in their general direction.

To those artists and photographers, amateur and professional, whose images have been used to add depth and colour to what would otherwise be a solid block of uninterrupted text; specifically, to Noble Numismatics for giving me access to their excellent archive of coins once more and to my sister, Faye, who has again lent her graphic prowess to produce the tremendous maps and tactical diagrams found within.

To John Curran for not only having time to offer advice and provide the opportunities to continue in ancient history through teaching and our newly founded Classical Association in Northern Ireland, the latest step in my perpetual studentship, but also for taking the time to read the section on Athanasius and offer his thoughts and expertise.

To all the staff, past and present, at Queens University, Belfast and Dalriada School, Ballymoney for all the time and effort you have put in to help me get this far.

To all my predecessors and peers whose works have been consulted, digested and cited within. I hope to have done you all justice.

To all my family and friends for continuing to put up with and feigning interest in my dropping of ancient history anecdotes and facts into conversations where they were barely warranted.

Last, but by no means least, my mum for being a sounding board for a list of ideas and complaints

gratias vobis ago

List of Plates

Coins

All coins courtesy of Noble Numismatics: www.noble.com.au