Editing Constantius II (section)

===Death===
Constantius immediately gathered his forces and set off west. However, by the time he reached [[Mopsuestia]] in Cilicia, it was clear that he was fatally ill and would not survive to face Julian. The sources claim that realising his death was near, Constantius had himself baptised by Euzoius, the [[Semi-Arianism|Semi-Arian]] bishop of [[Antioch]], and then declared that Julian was his rightful successor.{{sfn|Vagi|2001|p=508}}{{efn|Ammianus only recorded Constantius's legitimization of Julian as a rumor. While Hunt and Matthews treated the report with caution,{{sfn|Hunt|1998|p=60}}{{sfn|Matthews|1989|p=101}}
 Kelly considered it to be true, observing that the act prevented civil war and protected his posthumous reputation, as well as his wife’s unborn child.<ref>Kelly, Gavin (2013). "The Political Crisis of AD 375–376" (PDF). Chiron p. 357</ref> Errington and Crawford also accepted it as true, viewing it as a display of pragmatism and dynastic solidarity.{{sfn|Errington|2006|p=18}}{{sfn|Crawford|2016|p=239}}}}
Constantius II died of fever on 3 November 361.<ref>The manuscript of Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' 21.15.2 reads ''tertium nonarum Octobrium'', which is the equivalent of 5 October. The latest editor of the ''Res Gestae'' accepts Otto Seeck's emendation ''tertium nonarum Novembrium'' which is the equivalent of 3 November. T.D. Barnes (''Classical Philology'', 88 [1993], pp. 64f) provides indirect evidence showing 3 November is a better fit.</ref>

Like Constantine the Great, he was buried in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], in a [[Porphyry (geology)#Imperial sarcophagi|porphyry sarcophagus]] that was described in the 10th century by [[Constantine VII|Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]] in the ''[[De Ceremoniis]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Vasiliev|first=A. A.|year=1948|title=Imperial Porphyry Sarcophagi in Constantinople|url=https://lucazavagno.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/vasiliev.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231151500/https://lucazavagno.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/vasiliev.pdf |archive-date=2019-12-31 |url-status=live|journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers|volume=4|pages=1+3–26|doi=10.2307/1291047|jstor=1291047}}</ref>