In this part 116, Helena Augusta 1of 4 Ill.Kt. H Ruperti-Campbell / Wikipedia
Overview
She was born in the lower classes traditionally in the Greek city of Drepana, Bithynia, in Asia Minor, which was renamed Helenopolis in her honor, though several locations have been proposed for her birthplace and origin.
Helena ranks as an important figure in the history of Christianity. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Anglican Communion revere her as a saint, and the Lutheran Church commemorates her.
Flavia Julia Helena Augusta Helena or Saint Helena,
AD c. 246/248 –c. 330, was an Empress of the Roman Empire and mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
Helena was a Greek, however her birthplace is not known with certainty. The name Helena appears in all areas of the Empire.
Joseph Vogt suggested that the name Helena was typical for the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire and that therefore her place of origin should be looked for in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
The 6th-century historian Procopius is the earliest authority for the statement that Helena was a native of Drepanum, in the province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. However, the name Helena wasn’t epigraphically attested in inscriptions of Bithynia (Helena’s proposed region of origin) and it was also common in Latin-speaking areas.
Procopius lived much later than the era he was describing, and his description may have been actually intended as an etymological explanation about the toponym Helenopolis. On the other hand, her son Constantine renamed the city “Helenopolis” after her death around 330 AD, which supports the belief that the city was indeed her birthplace.
The Byzantinist Cyril Mango has, however, argued that Helenopolis was refounded to strengthen the communication network around Constantine’s new capital in Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to necessarily mark her birthplace.
There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine and a Helenopolis in Lydia. These cities, and the province of Helenopontus in the Pontus, were probably all named after Constantine’s mother. Two other locations in France and the Pyrenees have been named after Helena. Equally uncertain to Drepanum and without strong documentation suggestions about her birthplace are: Naissus (central Balkans), Caphar or Edessa (Mesopotamia), Trier.
The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesarea states that Helena was about 80 on her return from Palestine. Since that journey has been dated to 326–28 AD, she was probably born around 246 to 249 AD. Information about her social background universally suggests that she came from the lower classes. Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius‘ Breviarium, record that she came from a humble background. Bishop Ambrose of Milan, writing in the late 4th century was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as “stable-maid” or “inn-keeper”. He makes this comment a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a “good stable-maid”. Other sources, especially those written after Constantine’s proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.
Both Geoffrey of Monmouth and Henry of Huntingdon promoted a popular tradition that Helena was a British princess and the daughter of “Old King Cole” from the area of Colchester. This led to the later dedication of 135 churches in England to her, many in around the area of Yorkshire, and revived as a suggestion in the 20th century in the novels of Evelyn Waugh.
Marriage to Emperor Constantius
It is unknown where she first met Constantius. The historian Timothy Barnes has suggested that Constantius, while serving under Emperor Aurelian, could have met her while stationed in Asia Minor for the campaign against Zenobia. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets; Constantius saw her as his soulmate sent by God. Barnes calls attention to an epitaph at Nicomedia of one of Aurelian’s protectors, which could indicate the emperor’s presence in the Bithynian region soon after 270 AD.
The precise legal nature of the relationship between Helena and Constantius is also unknown. The sources are equivocal on the point, sometimes calling Helena Constantius‘ “wife”, and sometimes, following the dismissive propaganda of Constantine’s rival Maxentius, calling her his “concubine”. Jerome, perhaps confused by the vague terminology of his own sources, manages to do both.
Some scholars, such as the historian Jan Drijvers, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in a common-law marriage, a cohabitation recognized in fact but not in law.
Others, like Timothy Barnes, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in an official marriage, on the grounds that the sources claiming an official marriage are more reliable.
Helena gave birth to the future emperor Constantine on 27 February of an uncertain year soon after 270 AD (probably around 272 AD). At the time, she was in Naissus (Niš, Serbia).
In order to obtain a wife more consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before 289AD, when he married Theodora, Maximian’s daughter under his command. (The narrative sources date the marriage to 293 AD, but the Latin panegyric of 289 AD refers to the couple as already married). Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of Diocletian at Nicomedia, where Constantine grew to be a member of the inner circle. Helena never remarried and lived for a time in obscurity, though close to her only son, who had a deep regard and affection for her.
Panegyric: a formal public speech, delivered in high praise of a person. E.g., the Twelve Latin Panegyrics is the conventional title of a collection of twelve ancient Roman orations.
Cont’d…