there is potentially a darker side to helena s journey. it follows on from a scandalous episode within the house of constantine. constantine abandoned his first wife to marry the noble woman fausta. fausta has given him three young sons, but her husband s likely successor is his eldest son, crispus. crispus was the golden boy of the constantinian household. he d had a very successful military career. he d been made caesar by his father. on the face of it, the christian family at the center of the roman empire are united, but a scandal is about to erupt.
helena was crushed by this scandal. this was likely her favorite grandson. this must have been devastating for her. but the scandal is about to get bigger. constantine discovers from back channels that perhaps fausta had manufactured all of this, that she favored her own sons for the throne and that she set crispus up to be murdered. he orders that she be put in a bath chamber, the doors locked and the fire stoked up to the point that it cooks her to death.
christian sources tend to hush-hush about it. they don t wanna say anything, but the pagan sources jump all over constantine. the story goes that constantine discovers that his son, crispus, his favorite son, has been having an affair with constantine s second wife, fausta. what we re told by the sources we have is that on the orders of his father, he is sent to a place called pola on the coast of croatia, and he is put to death by poison.
grandson. this must have been devastating for her. but the scandal is about to get bigger. constantine discovers from back channels that perhaps fausta had manufactured all of this, that she favored her own sons for the throne and that she set crispus up to be murdered. he orders that she be put in a bath chamber, the doors locked, and the fire stoked up to the point that it cooks her to death. as the self-proclaimed christian emperor, he s engaged
constantine discovers that his son crispus, his favorite son, has been having an affair with his second wife fausta. what we are told by the sources we have is that on the orders of his father, he is sent to a place on the coast of croatia. and he is put to death by poison. helena was crushed by this scandal. this was likely her favorite