Helena (wife of Julian) - Marriage

Marriage

On 6 November 355, Julian was declared Caesar by Constantius II. The new Caesar was a paternal first cousin to Helena and her siblings. He was a son of Julius Constantius and his second wife Basilina. His paternal grandparents were Constantius Chlorus and his second wife Flavia Maximiana Theodora. At the time of his declaration Julian was the only viable candidate for this position, at least within the ranks of the Constantinian dynasty. The various other males of the family had died out.

The marriage of Helena and Julian took place days after his proclamation. The marriage confirmed the alliance of Julian to her brother. According to Ammianus Marcellinus:"This happened on the sixth of November of the year when Arbetio and Lollianus were consuls. Then, within a few days, Helena, the maiden sister of Constantius, was joined in the bonds of wedlock to the Caesar." Zosimus reports: "Constantius declared him Caesar, gave him in marriage his sister Helena, and sent him beyond the Alps. But being naturally distrustful, he could not believe that Julian would be faithful to him, and therefore sent along with him Marcellus and Sallustius, to whom, and not to Caesar, he committed the entire administration of that government."Eutropius narrates: "Constantius then remained sole ruler and emperor over the Roman dominions. He then sent into Gaul, with the authority of Caesar, his cousin Julian, the brother of Gallus, giving him his sister in marriage, at a time when the barbarians had stormed many towns and were besieging others, when there was everywhere direful devastation, and when the Roman Empire was tottering in evident distress." According to Socrates of Constantinople: "The emperor recalled him, and after created him Caesar; in addition to this, uniting him in marriage to his own sister Helen, he sent him against the barbarians. For the barbarians whom the Emperor Constantius had engaged as auxiliary forces against the tyrant Magnentius, having proved of no use against the usurper, were beginning to pillage the Roman cities. And inasmuch as he was young he ordered him to undertake nothing without consulting the other military chiefs."

Sozomen apparently confused Helena with her sister, calling her Constantia He narrates:"Constantius recalled him, and proclaimed him Caesar, promised him his sister Constantia in marriage, and sent him to Gaul; for the barbarians whose aid had been hired by Constantius previously against Magnentius, finding that their services were not required, had portioned out that country. As Julian was very young, generals, to whom the prudential affairs were turned over, were sent with him; but as these generals abandoned themselves to pleasure, he was present as Caesar, and provided for the war." Philostorgius reports: "He summoned Gallus' brother Julian from Ionia and appointed him Caesar in Milan, giving his own sister Helena to him as his wife and taking oaths with him. He then sent him to Gaul to watch over the realm there.". The marriage is also recorded in the Chronicon Paschale.

None of the primary sources mention the age of Helena at the time of her marriage. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon does comment on her age. "If we recollect that Constantine, the father of Helena, died above eighteen years before, in a mature old age, it will appear probable, that the daughter, though a virgin, could not be very young at the time of her marriage." Constantine I had died in 337. Fausta had died in 326. Which would mean Helena was at least twenty-nine years old at the time of her marriage.