Constantine II was the first son of Constantine the Great and his second wife, Fausta. He was “born in the purple” – that is, his father was Augustus when he came into the world and he grew up a spoiled, entitled child. He was made Caesar in 317, when he was only nine months old. He held court in Gaul, in the city of Paris, until his father’s death in 337. At a meeting of the brothers and heirs in Pannonia in September of 337, it was decided that Constantine II would maintain his hold on the Western part of the Empire: Britannia, Gaul, Spain and some of Northern Africa. Constantine was engaged in military operations and was killed by his brother Constans's generals in an ambush outside Aquilea. Constans then took control of his deceased brother's realm.
On the reverse is a campgate, a popular numismatic motif for coins of the Constantinian dynasty that represented the protection that was afforded by the military.
