This is a chronological biography of Constantine's mother, the Empress Helena. Ordinarily that would not sound like an original thesis but in fact it is. Most of the written evidence we have of Helena's life covers very short periods, particularly late in her life when Constantine became emperor and gave her an imperial title. We also have legends written after her death. But what of all the years in between, when the records are silent about her life?
Trying to extrapolate the lives of people out of power in the ancient world (the modern world as well for that matter) is always difficult. Hillner's approach reminds us of the truth of the adage “absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.” The women were always there—and always influential—even if the standard historical sources did not mention them. Hillner had to turn to unusual sources and creative interpretations to try to recreate the silent years of Helena's life.
Hillner's most creative and insightful analysis comes from her work on art and archaeology. She analyzes the clothing and hairstyles on sculptures, mosaics, and coinage to see how the views of imperial women changed over time as women became increasingly central to imperial propaganda. She even notes the significance of imperial women's noses in art to show family connections. Hillner also studies little-known tombs of imperial women to consider their roles and portrayals. These sources, in addition to a careful analysis of geography and even women's names, shed light on their experience.
Through this careful analysis, the author demonstrates and recreates the central importance of the imperial women of the late third and early fourth centuries. The family ties—whether of concubinage or formal marriage—were central to and shaped the political history of the age. Readers will also appreciate the chart of the complex family tree that shows the family ties that the author describes. All these details make this work important for anyone who wants to understand the period between 248 and 329.
The work is organized chronologically, since it promises to be a biography. Part I, ca. 248–289, sets the stage of the frontier where we meet Helena. She was born in about 250, and by 270 she worked in a tavern that served the military. Hillner's analysis of tavern workers and prostitution offers a fine picture of this life. This section of the work offers a good portrait of Helena as she lives with Constantius, has her son Constantine, and then disappears from the sources when Constantine contracts a politically expedient marriage with Theodora.
The second section of the book covers ca. 289–317. During these some 28 years, Helena disappears from the sources. During this section, Hillner does the fine analysis of other imperial women, but Helena stays absent. I would have liked some speculation on where she lived and how she was supported, but I suppose a careful scholar, like Hillner, avoided such speculation.
The third section, called “Center Stage,” covers the period 317–329, when the sixty-seven-year-old Helena was brought to court, named empress, and became a public figure. It is in this section where Hillner's deep knowledge of all the sources really shines and Helena comes alive. We follow the Empress's life in Rome—where she lived, her impact on the political life, and even on the spaces of the city. I am particularly impressed with the author's careful study of art and coinage to show how the images themselves trace the political history of Constantine's family and Helena's changing role as she rises in status until she is the genetrix (creator) of the house of Constantine. She achieved this height of respect in 326, the year Constantine celebrated his twenty-year reign, and the same year he killed his wife Fausta and his eldest son Crispus. No wonder he elevated the grandmotherly Helena as a virtuous female head of his household.
In 326, the seventy-six-year-old Helena embarked on her most famous journey: a two-year voyage from Rome through the eastern provinces to Palestine and Jerusalem. Once again, Hillner's details of the Empress's travels are impressive and bring the journey to life. The author also separates out the reality of a journey that was as much political as religious, offering a good counter to later stories that praised Helena's religious impact. Shortly after her return, Helena died and was buried in Rome.
In a typical biography, the story would end with the death of the protagonist. However, Hillner adds another section that extends from Helena's death in about 329 to about 600. This section covers the memory and shifting reputation of Helena. The deceased empress was first ignored as political winds shifted, then she became a model for the influential Theodosian empresses, and finally venerated as a saint in the western portion of the empire.
This last section, with its detailed account of the years of the Theodosian dynasty and beyond, appropriately demonstrates that what we know about Helena is mostly about how those around her used her as a symbol. That is true of this biography of the empress; we seldom get a sense of Empress Helena. She was public when useful and absent when she was not. Readers looking for the empress herself might be disappointed. However, readers who want to know the history of the third and fourth centuries will find this book essential. It shows how the wives and mothers of the period were central to the story of the complex and violent dynastic politics of the era. Too many books have left that part of the story out, but this skillfully researched work has given the full story of the women and men who guided the late empire.
