The Will of the Blessed Emperor Constantine

A year and a few months later the emperor fell ill at Nicomedia, a city of Bithynia. Knowing how uncertain human life is, he received the holy rite of baptism. He had meant to put it off until he could be baptized in the river Jordan. [a] He left his three sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, the youngest, as heirs to the imperial throne. [b] He ordered that the great Athanasius should return to Alexandria, and he announced this decision in the presence of Eusebius, who did all he could to talk him out of it. [c]