Constantine (son of Theophilos)


Constantine was a prince of the Byzantine Empire and co-emperor.

Life

Constantine was the eldest son of Emperor Theophilos and Theodora. He had five sisters. As Theophilos succeeded his own father Michael II as basileus on 2 October 829, Constantine became heir to the throne. Soon afterwards he was crowned co-emperor and he appears as such on the coins of his father. He died in childhood and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople.
There is little clarity as to the dates of his birth, coronation and death, but according to the Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit he was born in the 820s and died before 831. In any case, only one emperor is mentioned in the De Ceremoniis for 831; Constantine is also missing on coins minted in 831/32 and 832/33, though this could mean he was only raised to co-emperor in 833. He must have died by 835, since that year Theophilos was recorded as being without a male heir, a situation Theophilos attempted to rectify by marrying his infant daughter Maria to general Alexios Mosele, who shortly before this had been promoted to Caesar.