The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Magnentius
d. AD 353 (suicide at Lyon) · Usurper of the West · Killer of Constans · Gaul → Mursa → Lyon
External witness
Who Magnentius was
The barbarian-descended officer whose coup killed Constans in 350 and whose war with Constantius II bled the Western legions white at Mursa — the bloodiest battle of the century, fought between Christian armies while the local Arian bishop Valens relayed the result to the emperor as an angel's message. Beaten at last from Gaul, he fell on his sword at Lyon; the church historians read three years of chaos as the frame of God's judgment on fratricide.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Magnentius die?
Magnentius is dated d. AD 353 (suicide at Lyon) in the archive, which places Magnentius in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Magnentius?
Magnentius is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Jerome of Stridon and Socrates Scholasticus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Magnentius from?
The archive associates Magnentius with Gaul, Mursa, Lyon. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Magnentius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Magnentius to 2 other figures, including Emperor Constans and Emperor Constantius II. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Chronicle of Jerome (the usurpation and Mursa)
c. AD 380Socrates, Ecclesiastical History II.32
c. AD 439Magnentius, defeated in the great battle at Mursa and afterwards driven from Gaul itself, fell upon his own sword at Lyon, in the third year of his tyranny.Socrates Scholasticus · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Magnentius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.