Eutropia (sister of Constantine I)
Eutropia (died 350) was the daughter of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus and Flavia Maximiana Theodora, and therefore half-sister of Constantine the Great.[1] She was mother of the short-lived imperial pretender Nepotianus, and was probably killed alongside him by the rival usurper Magnentius in 350.[2]
She was married to Virius Nepotianus, who had been consul in 336, and was a favourite of Constantine the Great.[3]
Her murder was mentioned by Athanasius of Alexandria in his Apologia ad Constantium, written to Emperor Constantius II, among others who were killed by Magnentius:
...butchering those who so kindly entertained me at Rome; for instance, your departed Aunt Eutropia, whose disposition answered to her name.[4]
The source also indicates that she was an acquaintance of Athanasius who met her when he previously stayed at Rome.
References
- J. Eugene Reed: The Lives of the Roman Emperors and Their Associates from Julius Cæsar (B. C. 100) to Agustulus (A. D. 476), Vol. 5, Gebbie & Company, 1884, p. 100
- Pauly-Wissowa, Eutropia 2
- John Holland Smith: Constantine the Great, Scribner, 1971, p. 305
- Translated by M. Atkinson and Archibald Robertson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 4. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892.)