CONSTANTIUS, FLAVIUS VALERIUS, commonly called CHLORUS (the Pale), an
epithet due to the Byzantine historians, Roman emperor and father of
Constantine the Great, was born about A.D. 250. He was of Illyrian
origin; a fictitious connexion with the family of Claudius Gothicus was
attributed to him by Constantine. Having distinguished himself by his
military ability and his able and gentle rule of Dalmatia, he was, on
the 1st of March 293, adopted and appointed Caesar by Maximian, whose
step-daughter, Flavia Maximiana Theodora, he had married in 289 after
renouncing his wife Helena (the mother of Constantine). In the
distribution of the provinces Gaul and Britain were allotted to
Constantius. In Britain Carausius and subsequently Allectus had declared
themselves independent, and it was not till 296 that, by the defeat of
Allectus, it was re-united with the empire. In 298 Constantius overthrew
the Alamanni in the territory of the Lingones (Langres) and strengthened
the Rhine frontier. During the persecution of the Christians in 303 he
behaved with great humanity. He obtained the title of Augustus on the
1st of May 305, and died the following year shortly before the 25th of
July at Eboracum (York) during an expedition against the Picts and
Scots.
See Aurelius Victor, _De Caesaribus_, 39; Eutropius ix. 14-23;
Zosimus ii. 7.
CONSTANTZA (_Constanta_), formerly known as Kustendji or Kustendje, a
seaport on the Black Sea, and capital of the department of Constantza,
Rumania; 140 m. E. by S. from Bucharest by rail. Pop. (1900) 12,725.
When the Dobrudja was ceded to Rumania in 1878, Constantza was partly
rebuilt. In its clean and broad streets there are many synagogues,
mosques and churches, for half the inhabitants are Roman Catholics,
Moslems, Armenians or Jews; the remainder being Orthodox Rumans and
Greeks. In the vicinity there are mineral springs, and the sea-bathing
also attracts many visitors in summer. The chief local industries are
tanning and the manufacture of petroleum drums. The opening, in 1895, of
the railway to Bucharest, which crosses the Danube by a bridge at Cerna
Voda, brought Constantza a considerable transit trade in grain and
petroleum, which are largely exported; coal and coke head the list of
imports, followed by machinery, iron goods, and cotton and woollen
fabrics. The harbour, protected by breakwaters, with a lighthouse at the
entrance, is well defended from the north winds, but those from the
south, south-east, and south-west prove sometimes highly dangerous. In
1902 it afforded 10 alongside berths for shipping. It had a depth of 22
ft. in the old or inner basin, and of 26 ft. in the new or outer basin,
beside the quays. The railway runs along the quays. A weekly service
between Constantza and Constantinople is conducted by state-owned
steamers, including the fast mail and passenger boats in connexion with
the Ostend and Orient expresses. In 1902, 576 vessels entered at
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