Fu Sheng had been one of the…

The civil war between Constantius II and the usurper Magnentius has exacerbated the already troublesome shortage of manpower—over seventy thousand Roman soldiers had died during the conflict.

This has denuded the frontier of much needed troops, allowing the Alamanni and Franks to take advantage of the situation and cross the Rhine, taking several important settlements and fortifications.

The Lentienses, an Alamannic tribe in the region between the river Danube in the North, the river Iller in the West, and Lake Constance in the south, in what is now south Germany, appear in history in the year 355 when Constantius orders the Roman commander Arbitio to fine them for several riots against the Roman Empire.

Arbitio, a general of Constantine I, had reached the highest military positions in the Roman army under his son and successor Constantius II and become magister equitum (commander of the cavalry).

On January 1, 355 he is made consul together with Quintus Flavius Maesius Egnatius Lollianus.

A well trusted courtier of Constantius, some modern historians have suggested Arbitio was his military strongman.

Arbitio intrigues against Claudius Silvanus, Ursicinus and Barbatio, and plays a role their downfall.

Historian Ammianus Marcellinus says he was "keen and eager in plotting treachery", and describes him as "fickle flatterer" to Constantius II.

Claudius Silvanus, born in Gaul, is the son of Bonitus, a Frankish general who had supported Constantine I against Licinius.

He held the rank of tribune in 351 and was recorded as having defected to Emperor Constantius II at the Battle of Mursa Major, after initially supporting the usurper Magnentius.

Silvanus had eventually risen to the rank of magister militum: Constantius in 352-353 had entrusted him with the task of driving the Germanic tribes attacking Gaul back beyond the Rhine, a task Silvanus fulfilled by bribing the Germans with the taxes he had collected, thus ending a ten-month Frankish siege of Cologne.

Some of the courtiers of Constantius have now smanaged to persuade him that Silvanus is planning to seize power.

The praetorian prefect Lampadius and the ex-treasurer of the Privy Purse, Eusebius, according to Ammianus had used a sponge to alter a letter sent by Silvanus to his friends in Rome.

The fake letter suggested that Silvanus was attempting to win support within the city for a coup.

Constantius's camarilla, with the exception of the Frankish generals Malarich and Mallobaudes, is uniformly against Silvanus, and the courtiers Apodemius and Dynamius compose additional fake letters.

Constantius holds a trial in which Silvanus' allies are successful in defeating the spurious charges against the general.

Silvanus, unaware of the success of his supporters, on August 11, 355, responds to the threat of condemnation and execution by actually proclaiming himself emperor in Colonia Agrippina (modern Cologne).

Constantius, who is in Milan, orders Silvanus to come to him, and names Ursicinus to take over Silvanus' post.

Ursicinus is himself at odds with Constantius's camarilla and Silvanus no doubt trusts the veteran general.

The letter that Ursicinus had given to Silvanus does not indicate that Constantius already knew of Silvanus' bid for power, so Silvanus considers himself safe.

Ursicinus, however, arranges the murder of Silvanus by co-opting some of the rebel soldiers, who kill the usurper's guard, drag Silvanus from the Christian church in which he is worshiping, and hack him to death.

Constantius, after dealing with the rebellions of Magnentius and Sylvanus, feels the need for a permanent representative in Gaul.

His twenty-three year-old nephew Julian is in 355 summoned from Greece to appear before the emperor in Mediolanum.

This is a difficult decision for a paranoid ruler who regards all his relatives with intense suspicion and has already put to death two uncles and seven cousins, including Julian's half-brother Constantius Gallus, but Constantius' own family purges had left him little choice: Julian is his sole surviving adult male close relative.

Julian, who has studied at Pergamon, at Ephesus, and lately at Athens, has adopted the cult of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.

He had arrived at Sirmium “still wearing his student's gown.”

Julian is on November 6 duly proclaimed and invested as Caesar of the West, an honor that he accepts with justifiable foreboding, and marries Constantius' sister, Helena. (She will die after five years of marriage-the fate of their issue, if any, is unknown.)

After his experience with Gallus, Constantius intends his representative to be more a figurehead than an active participant in events, so he at once packs Julian off to Gaul with a small retinue; Constantius' prefects in Gaul will keep him in check.

Julian, at first reluctant to trade his scholarly life for war and politics, will eventually take every opportunity to involve himself in the affairs of Gaul.

Wang Duo is executed in 356 after offending Dong, who had then advised Fu Jiàn that a high level official needed to be executed in accordance with astrological signs.

Because Fu Sheng is blind in one eye and apparently apprehensive that people would be making fun at him or be contemptuous of him due to this disability, he orders that words such as "missing," "lacking," "slanted," "less," and "without" not be used.

He also engages in heavy drinking, and he often either ignores officials' petitions altogether or makes irrational decisions on them in the middle of his stupor, allowing his attendants to make random decisions on his behalf.

For example, Xin Lao is killed in 356 by an arrow Fu Sheng launches during the middle of a feast after Fu Sheng had become displeased that he, as the master of ceremony, was not getting everyone drunk.

Fu Sheng also carries out cruel punishment—in addition to frequent executions, he also likes to cruelly treat animals—including throwing them into boiling water or skinning them alive; the latter punishment he sometimes applies to humans.

When his uncle Qiang Ping, Empress Dowager Qiang's brother, tries to correct his ways in 356, he breaks Qiang Ping's skull by hitting him with a hammer him, then executes him, causing Empress Dowager Qiang to die in sorrow and fear.

Also in 356, Fu Sheng's brother Fu Liu, the Prince of Jin, is able to persuade the Former Liang regent Zhang Guan to have the young Former Liang ruler Zhang Xuanjing become a vassal.

The Rhine and Danube have been threatened frequently during the years that Constantius has been occupied fighting Shapur in Mesopotamia, because the troops had been withdrawn from there and sent to the East.

Constantius, moreover, had made a mistake in sending Chnodomar, the Alamannic king, against Magnentius in 351, for his tribes invade Raetia in 356.

Raetia had formed part of the diocese of the vicarius Italiae under Diocletian, and had been subdivided into Raetia prima, with a praeses at Curia Raetorum (Chur) and Raetia secunda, with a praeses at Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg), the former corresponding to the old Raetia, the latter to Vindelicia.

The boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may be stated generally as a line drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus (Lake Constance) to the Oenus (River Inn).

Roman authorities make an attempt on February 8, 356, to arrest Athanasius on the accusation of supporting the late usurper Magnentius.

Athanasius eludes them, fleeing to the desert to hide among the monks of Mount Nitria.

Aëtius of Antioch goes to Alexandria with his Cappadocian protégé Eunomius in order to advocate Arianism, but he is banished by Constantius.

Constantius, who is primarily interested in religious affairs, publishes a decree in 356 ordering the closure of all pagan temples throughout the Empire and bans the veneration of non-Christian images.

His interventions have created a “caesaro-papism” that is unfavorable to the church, for after the Battle of Mursa the emperor had become violently Arian.

The Christological problem has moved to the forefront.

As sole ruler after 353, Constantius tries to create religious unity in the empire under Arian Christianity.

Under his leadership, the Nicene party (orthodox Christians) is largely crushed.

The extreme Arians now declare that the Son was “unlike” (anomoios) the Father.

Constantius twice (339, 356) exiles Athanasius, the influential orthodox bishop of Alexandria, but the religious unity he seeks is destined to be short-lived.

Hilary of Poitiers: Defender of Nicene Christianity and Opponent of Arianism (c. 300–368 CE)

Hilary of Poitiers, born in Poitiers at the end of the 3rd century CE, was a highly educated pagan aristocrat who, after extensive study of the Old and New Testament, converted to Christianity, along with his wife and daughter (traditionally named Saint Abra). His deep learning, including a rare knowledge of Greek for a Western Christian of the time, would make him one of the most influential theologians of the 4th century CE, particularly in the fight against Arianism.

1. Hilary Becomes Bishop of Poitiers (c. 353 CE)

• Around 353 CE, the citizens of Poitiers, impressed by his wisdom and character, unanimously elected him bishop, despite the fact that he was still married (clerical celibacy was not universally required at this time).
• His tenure came at a critical moment when Arianism was spreading rapidly in the Western Church, largely due to the support of Emperor Constantius II.
• Recognizing the threat to Nicene Christianity, Hilary became one of the leading defenders of the doctrine of the Trinity.

2. Hilary’s Opposition to Arianism and Imperial Persecution

• One of Hilary’s first actions as bishop was to organize the excommunication of key Arian leaders, including:
  • Saturninus, the Arian bishop of Arles.
  • Ursacius and Valens, two of the most influential Arian theologians and imperial supporters.
• Around 355 CE, he wrote a letter to Emperor Constantius II, known as Ad Constantium Augustum liber primus, denouncing the emperor’s role in persecuting Nicene Christians.
• Instead of achieving reconciliation, his defiance led to his exile.

3. Exile to Phrygia and Writings on the Trinity (356–360 CE)

• At the Synod of Béziers (356 CE), called by Constantius II to settle the Arian controversy, Hilary was condemned and exiled to Phrygia (modern-day Turkey), along with Rhodanus, bishop of Toulouse.
• During his nearly four years in exile, Hilary used the time to write extensively, producing:
  • De Trinitate – A detailed theological work defending the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, refuting Arian Christology.
  • De Synodis – A historical account of the Arian controversy, attempting to clarify the theological positions of different factions.
  • Hymns – He is one of the first Latin hymn writers, using poetry to convey orthodox doctrine.

4. Legacy: Defender of Orthodoxy and Later Recognition as a Church Father

• Eventually, Hilary was recalled from exile and continued his fight against Arianism until his death around 368 CE.
• His writings and theological contributions significantly influenced later Church doctrine, earning him the title “Athanasius of the West” for his staunch defense of Nicene Christianity.
• He was later recognized as a Doctor of the Church, and his legacy as a defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy remains influential in Christian theology.

Hilary’s intellectual depth, theological rigor, and resistance to imperial interference in Church matters made him one of the most important figures in the Arian controversy, securing his place as one of the great Church Fathers of Late Antiquity.

Julian’s Winter Encampment at Sens and the Alamanni Siege (356/357 CE)

During his Gallic campaigns, Julian, Caesar of the West, chose Senones (modern Sens, France) near Paris as his winter base for 356/357 CE. To spread the burden of quartering his army, he stationed most of his troops in different towns, with the main force at Reims under the command of Marcellus.

However, this decision left Julian vulnerable, and when the Alamanni learned of his reduced escort, they launched a siege against Sens, forcing Julian into a month-long defensive struggle.

1. The Siege of Sens (356 CE)

• A large Alamannic force surrounded Sens, trapping Julian inside the city with only a small contingent of troops.
• The Romans successfully held out for about a month, resisting repeated assaults.
• However, Julian was too heavily outnumbered to sally forth or pursue the Alamanni when they finally withdrew.

2. The Failure of Marcellus to Assist Julian

• While besieged, Julian expected reinforcements from his commander at Reims, Marcellus, the magister equitum (Master of Horse).
• Marcellus failed to send aid, despite having a substantial force at his disposal.
• Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary historian, condemned Marcellus' inaction as cowardice, highlighting his failure to support Julian during a critical moment.

3. Marcellus is Dismissed and Replaced by Severus

• Upon hearing of Marcellus' failure, Emperor Constantius II dismissed him as magister equitum, replacing him with Severus, a trusted and experienced officer.
• Severus was known for being more compatible with Julian, strengthening command cohesion.

4. Consequences and Significance of the Event

• The successful defense of Sens further boosted Julian’s reputation as a capable and resilient leader.
• Marcellus' dismissal demonstrated Constantius' confidence in Julian, despite growing tensions between the two rulers.
• The incident exposed weaknesses in Roman command coordination, highlighting the challenges of defending the empire from Germanic incursions.

Though the siege of Sens was a defensive victory, it foreshadowed Julian’s growing autonomy and eventual break with Constantius, leading to his rise as sole emperor in 361 CE.