Editing Crispus (section)

{{short description|Roman caesar from 317 to 326}}
{{other uses|Crispus (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2008}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Crispus
| title        = [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]
| titletext    = (1 March 317 - 326)
| image        = INC-1822-a Солид Крисп цезарь ок. 317 г. (аверс).png
| image_size   = 250px
| alt          = 
| caption      = ''[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]]'' of Crispus marked:<br/>{{Smallcaps|{{Abbreviation|fl·|FLAVIUS}} {{Abbreviation|iul·|IULIUS}} crispus {{Abbreviation|nob·|NOBILISSIMUS}} {{Abbreviation|caes·|CAESAR}}}}
| succession   = 
| moretext     = 
| reign-type   = 
| regent       = 
| reg-type     = 
| birth_date   = c. 300
| birth_place  = [[Pula|Pola]], [[Istria]]
| death_date   = 326 AD (aged c. 26)
| death_place  = [[Pula|Pola]], [[Istria]]
| burial_place = 
| spouse       = Helena{{sfn|Jones|Martindale|Morris|p=409}}
| issue        = Flavius
| full name    = Flavius Julius Crispus{{sfn|Jones|Martindale|Morris|p=233}}
| dynasty      = [[Constantinian dynasty|Constantinian]]
| father       = [[Constantine I]]
| mother       = [[Minervina]]
| religion     = [[Religion in ancient Rome|Greco-Roman religion]]
}}
'''Flavius Julius Crispus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɪ|s|p|ə|s}}; {{Circa}} 300 – 326) was the eldest son of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]], as well as his junior colleague ([[Caesar (title)|''caesar'']]) from March 317 until his execution by his father in 326. The grandson of the ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'' [[Constantius I]], Crispus was the elder half-brother of the future ''augustus'' [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]] and became co-''caesar'' with him and with his cousin [[Licinius II]] at [[Serdica]], part of the settlement ending the [[Battle of Cibalae|Cibalensean War]] between Constantine and his father's rival [[Licinius I]]. Crispus ruled from [[Augusta Treverorum]] ([[Trier]]) in [[Roman Gaul]] between 318 and 323 and defeated the navy of Licinius I at the [[Battle of the Hellespont]] in 324, which with the land [[Battle of Chrysopolis]] won by Constantine forced the resignation of [[Licinius]] and his son, leaving Constantine the sole ''augustus'' and the [[Constantinian dynasty]] in control of the entire empire. It is unclear what the legal status of the relationship Crispus's mother [[Minervina]] had with Constantine was; Crispus may have been an [[illegitimate]] son.

Crispus's [[tutor]] in [[rhetoric]] was the [[Late Latin]] historian of [[Early Christianity]] [[Lactantius]]. After his elevation to imperial rank, at which point he was also entitled ''[[princeps iuventutis]]'' ("Prince of Youth"), the Latin rhetorician [[Nazarius (rhetorician)|Nazarius]] composed a [[panegyric]] preserved in the ''[[Panegyrici Latini]]'', which honoured Crispus's military victories over the [[Franks]] in {{Circa|319}}. Crispus was three times [[Roman consul]], for the years 318, 321, and 324.

According to the Latin histories of [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and [[Aurelius Victor]], after a trial whose real circumstances are mysterious, Constantine executed Crispus at Pola ([[Pula]]) in 326. His stepmother [[Fausta]] was also put to death, and the [[Late Greek]] historian [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] and the [[Byzantine Greek]] writer [[Joannes Zonaras]] wrote that Constantine had accused Crispus of [[incest]] with her. After his death, Crispus was subjected to ''[[damnatio memoriae]]''.