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293

293.03.01: Establishment of the First Tetrarchy: Augustus Diocletian in Nicomedia; Augustus Maximian in Milan; Caesar Galerius in Thessalonike; Caesar Constantius in Trier.

Constantius separates from Helena and in turn marries Theodora, (step)daughter of Augustus Maximian. See 289.

Constantine remains at the court of Diocletian at Nicomedia, while the whereabouts of Helena are uncertain.

Around the year 16 BC Emperor Augustus founded the Augusta Treverorum, later to be called Treveris, Treves, or, as Germans say, Trier, as a supply center in the tribal territory of the Treveri. Thanks to its favorable location by the River Mosel, at the intersection of Roman military roads from Gaul to the Rhine, Trier was considered a very rich city as early as 60 years later. It grew in both area and population, and amphitheater, forum, racecourse and thermal springs were all added. The Mosel was crossed by a bridge, and, from 18 AD, the inhabitants of Trier were protected by a 6.8-km city wall with gates and towers. Numerous temples served for worship of the gods. The farms of the vicinity supplied foodstuffs and raw materials for commercial production. Trier and its citizens were characterized by Roman urban culture. This period of full flower was interrupted around 275, when the Teutonic army surmounted the Roman bastions of the Rhine and destroyed Trier. As soon as 293, however, Caesar Constantius Chlorus selected Trier as his residence. After rapid rebuilding, it soon became the administrative and commercial center of an area stretching from the Rhine to the Atlantic and Morocco. Under the rule of Emperor Constantine, magnificent structures such as the palace aula, the second thermal springs and harbor warehouse were built around the year 310. The Christian community, which had been blossoming since the 3rd century, and its bishop, received a huge double church around 326. At an area of 285 hectares, Trier was the largest city north of the Alps. About 400 AD the growing threat from the Teutonics forced residence and administration to move to Arles and Milan, Having been conquered and destroyed several times the Roman city of Trier finally fell into the hands of the Franks around 475; but it survived.

When in 289 Constantius became Caesar and married Theodora, he separated from Helena and Helena's life recedes into obscurity for us.
The gap in our knowledge about Helena's life lasts at least until 306...

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