Page:History of the First Council of Nice.djvu/34

24 some parts of his life, being under the influence of Eusebius of Nicomedia, by whom he was baptized and other Arian courtiers.

Constantino was peculiar in his dress, looks, and manners. In his later days he had a red complexion, and somewhat bloated appearance. His eyes were bright, and glared like those of a lion. His neck was thick, his voice soft and gentle.

The spear of the soldier was ever in his hand, and a helmet on his head, studded with jewels, and bound round with the Oriental diadem. He wore it on all occasions. His robe, of imperial purple or scarlet, was made of silk, richly embroidered with pearls and flowers, worked in gold. He took much care of his hair, at last wearing wigs of false hair, of various colors. His beard was shorn like that of the early Cæsars. His appetite was voracious, gluttonous. His wit was crisp and dry. He never lost his presence of mind.—Stanley.

Gibbon says of him: "In Constantine we may contemplate a hero, who so long inspired his subjects with love, and his enemies with terror, degenerating into a cruel and dissolute monarch, corrupted by his fortune, or raised by conquest, above the necessity of dissimulation. His old age was disgraced by the vices of rapaciousness and prodigality, and he lost the esteem of his subjects."

The emperor had been twice married. His first wife was Minervina, of obscure family, who bore him the son, Crispus. The brothers of Constantine were Julius Constantius, Dalmatius, and Hannibalianus, this last-named having no children.