Constantine, Prince of Youth (11th century)

Constantine
Prince of Youth Imperator Destinatus
Constantine's death at the Battle of Telesia, c. 18th century painting
Born	1017 Palatium Supranio, Adrianople, Latium
Died	19 November 1045(1045-11-19) (aged 28) near Telesia, Latium
Spouse	Maria Tarpeia (m. 1039)
Issue	Ascanius III Claudius Constantia, Empress of Adrianople
Full name Gaius Claudius Sabinus Constantinus Marius Ascanius
Dynasty	Claudian
Father	Ascanius II Claudius
Mother	Maria I Claudia
Religion	Imperial Church (Catholicism)

Constantine, Prince of Youth was a Latin a Latin prince, and heir apparent to the Latin throne as the eldest child and son of Maria I Claudia and Ascanius II Claudius. His death is marked by many historians as the end of the classical empire, and point of no return in downfall of the Claudian dynasty and Crisis of the Eleventh Century. His line lives on through the descendants of his daughter Constantia who was the second Empress consort of Adrianople.

Constantine was the eldest son and child of Maria I Claudia and Ascanius II Claudius, and born during the reign of his grandfather and namesake Constantine XIV Claudius. He resided in Adrianople with his mother until around 1030 when his mother and father took up a great role at the court of his grandfather. Constantine was proclaimed and anointed as Prince of Youth on his 15th birthday, though the histories frequently refer to him as the Prince of Adrianople until his marriage to Latin noblewoman Maria Tarpeia in 1039. Constantine and Maria had two children, Ascanius and Constantia. He was noted for being well liked by the senate, the nobility and common people, and he proved to be a stabilizing figure during the decline of the empire during his mother's reign and particularly following the death of his father, after which Empress Maria's behavior became notably more erratic. Constantine was a skilled military commander, and was frequently dispatched with his legion to end raids or quell revolts in the remaining provinces under Latin control. However, in the limited attributed writings that have survived, Constantine often lamented the frequency in which he was forced to fight his countrymen on his mother's command as high ranking generals had begun proclaiming themselves emperor.

On 18 November 1045, Constantine was stopped in Telesia by an auxiliary force loyal to barracks emperor Silvius Manlius, while traveling to push back a Gelonian-Nordic raid in the north. The Prince was ultimately slain the following day during Battle of Telesia. The event is frequently cited by historians as the end of the classical empire and downfall of the Claudian dynasty. Constantine has since become a near-legendary figure in later writings and Latin folklore, where he is known as Prince of Destiny (Latin: Princeps Fati). He is considered to be a Latin example of the King asleep in mountain legend, particularly near Adrianople and western Latium, where folklore tells that Constantine did not die at Telesia, but was spirited away by an angel and will return when called by God to restore the classical empire.