Fausta

Flavia Maxima Fausta Augusta (289–326 AD) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of Maximian and second wife of Constantine the Great, who had her executed and excluded from all official accounts for unknown reasons. Historians Zosimus and Zonaras reported that she was executed for adultery with her stepson, Crispus. Family Fausta was the daughter of Emperor Maximian. To seal the alliance between them for control of the Tetrarchy, in 307 Maximianus married her to Constantine I, who set aside his wife, Minervina, in her favour. Multiple sources say she had a role in her father’s downfall, though this story may have been invented. Fausta was held in high esteem by Constantine, and proof of his favour was that in 324 she was proclaimed augusta; previously she held the title of nobilissima femina. Their sons became emperors: Constantine II, , Constantius II, r. 337–361, and Constans, r. 337–350. She also bore two daughters: Constantina and Helena. Constantina married her cousins, firstly Hannibalianus and secondly Constantius Gallus, and Helena married Emperor Julian. Execution In 326, Fausta was put to death by Constantine, following the execution of Crispus, his eldest son by Minervina. The circumstances surrounding the two deaths were unclear. Various explanations have been suggested; in one, Fausta is set jealously against Crispus, as in the anonymous Epitome de Caesaribus, or conversely her adultery, perhaps with the stepson who was close to her in age, is suggested.