Background

The origins and early career of Constantius (called Chlorus, meaning "the pale") are obscure. Born about a.d. 250 in Serbia, he was probably of peasant extraction. About 280 Constantine was born of his union with the concubine Helena. Before 293 Constantius married Theodora, stepdaughter of Maximian, the coemperor reigning with Diocletian. Constantius led a military career, serving as a staff officer at the imperial court, and in 293 was named Caesar (emperor designate). The new Caesar administered Gaul and Britain and suppressed rebellion in the latter province. A pagan of possibly monotheistic leanings, he leniently enforced in his provinces the persecution of Christians ordered by the emperors in 303. Constantius became coemperor with Galerius in 305 upon the abdication of Maximian and Diocletian and died while on a military campaign the following year at Eboracum (York) in Britain.