who was a devout man, one who detested idols and held the Christians in high regard. Qustus then traveled to the region of the Jazirah and to Edessa, alighting in one of Edessa’s villages called Kfarjath. There he noticed a woman of striking beauty named Helena, who had embraced Christianity at the hands of the bishop of Edessa and had learned to read the sacred texts.

Helena bore Constantine, and he was raised in Edessa, where he studied the wisdom of the Greeks. He grew into a handsome youth, gentle by nature, seldom inclined to wrongdoing, and fond of learning.

Alanius, by contrast, was a savage and formidable man, fiercely hostile to the Christians. He killed them in great numbers and was infatuated with women; he would not leave a single Christian virgin unmolested—he would seize her, defile her, and then kill her—and his followers behaved in the same manner. Such was their conduct toward the Christians, who consequently endured extreme hardship under their rule.

When news of Constantine reached Alanius—that he was a well-guided youth, little given to evil yet abundant in knowledge and virtue—his sages and astrologers informed him that Constantine was destined to inherit a vast kingdom. Alanius therefore resolved to put him to death.