www.quondam.com/82/8201c.htm

location location

Antioch
empire scale map

Ascension,
Church of the

Basilika Palastaula
Augusta Treverorum, the audience or throne hall of Constantine, once part of a greater imperial palace, c. 310.
exterior, textual sources

Baths of Constantine
Augusta Treverorum, the largest Roman bath complex north of the Alps, c. 310.
ruins

Bethlehem

Bithynia
a Roman province; the north-west region of Asia Minor along the south coast of the Sea of Marmara, which contains Drepanum, and is today within Turkey.
regional map

Constantinople
regional map
empire scale map

Dalmatia
a Roman province; the Adriatic region of today's Croatia; native homeland of Constantius I Chlorus.

Drepanum
a small town on the Sea of Marmara's south coast across the water from today's Istanbul; birthplace of Helena; renamed Helenopolis by Constantine I.
Eustathius, it is alleged, was accused to the emperor of having insulted his mother. In this there may well have been a foundation of truth. Helena visited the East in the time of Eustathius. We know that she had a great devotion to St Lucian, the celebrated priest of Antioch, whose body, being thrown into the sea off Nicomedia, had been carried by the currents--according to the legend, by a dolphin--to the exact spot on the shore at Drepanum, where the empress was born, and where, no doubt, she had a residence. Lucian was her own special martyr; she built a magnificent basilica in his honor. He had left a memory in Antioch which was the subject of controversy: the Arians held him in great veneration; their adversaries were less enthusiastic. It is quite possible that on this subject Eustathius may have let fall some indiscreet words. Later on, as we shall see, St Ambrose does not hesitate to say that Helena had been a servant girl at an inn, stabularia, which, considering the customs of that age in matters of hospitality, implied a great many things. In the days of Constantine it was not wise to push one's enquiries into early history of this kind.
Mgr. Louis Duchesne, Early Church History from its foundation to the end of the fifth century (New York: Longman, Green and Company, 1920), p.129.
regional map

fundus Laurentus
the name given to the south-eastern corner of Rome just outside the Auralian Wall. The fundus Laurentus corresponds generally with imperial estate which came under Helena's possession.

Helenopolis
the new name given by Constantine I to Drepanum after Helena's death.

Holy Sepulchre, Church of the

Jerusalem
empire scale map

Mausoleo di Santa Elene
Rome, via Labicani, the imperial tomb originally built for Constantine but later to house the remains of his mother Helena. It was attached the basilica Santes Marcellino et Pietro.
perspective, textual source

Milan
imperial capital of the emperor Maximiam.

Moesia Superior
a Roman Province; the Balkan region that corresponds with today's Serbia.

Mount of Olives

Naissus
the birthplace of Constantine; today's Nis in Serbia.
regional map
empire scale map

Nativity,
Church of the

Nicaea
regional map

Nicomedia
imperial capital of the emperor Diocletian, and site of much Christian presecution begun by Diocletian in 303 and after. Nicomedia is approximately 50 miles from Drepanum.
regional map
empire scale map

Palatium Sessorianum
Rome, third century imperial palace, and early fourth century residence of Helena. One of the Sessorium's halls subsequently became Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
textual souce

Porta Nigra
exterior; textual source

San Giovanni in Laterano
Rome, the first basilican church to be erected under Constantine, originally called Basilica Constantiniana.
plan, chronology

San Pietro in Vaticano
Vatican City, the original basilca of St. Peter, erected under Constantine over the tomb of the saint.
plan, chronology

Santa Agnese fuori le Mura
Rome, via Nomentana, the basilica erected under Constantine over the tomb (catacomb) of St. Agnes.
chronology

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
Rome, originally a basilican chapel built within Helena's imperial residence at the palatium Sessorianum.
plan, chronology

Santa Costanza
Rome, via Nomentana, the mausoleum of Constantina, the daughter of Contantine I, built adjacent to the basilica of Santa Agnese.

Santes Marcellino et Pietro
Rome, via Labicani, the basilica erected under Constantine over the tombs (catacomb) of Saints Marcellinus and Peter. The catacomb and subsequent basilica was within the land of Helena's imperial estate, and the basilica was soon attached with the imperial tomb which came to hold Helena's remains.
chronology

Thermae Helenae
Rome, baths near the palatium Sessorianium restored by Helena.
plan, textual source

Thessalonike
regional map

Trier
in Roman times called Augusta Treverorum; today a city within Germany's most western region, situated along the Mosel River within the Rheinland-Palatineate between Luxembourg and the German state of Saarland.
empire scale map

Regional Map
Constantinople, Drepanum, Naissus, Nicaea, Nicomedia, Thessalonike

Empire Scale Map
Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Naissus, Nicomedia, Pola, Rome

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