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Maximian – Roman Emperor: 285-305, 306-308 & 310 A.D. –
Posthumous Issue, Struck under Constantine I the Great
Bronze AE4 16mm (1.19 grams) Siscia mint 317-318 A.D.
Reference: Siscia RIC VII 41
DIVOMAXIMIANOOPTIMOIMP – Veiled, laureate head right.
REQVIESOPTIMORVMMERITORVM Exe: SIS – Maximian seated left on
curule seat , raising hand and
holding scepter.
Posthumous means arising, occurring, or continuing
after one’s death.
The primary reason for Constantine issuing these coins probably is political
propaganda: Constantine tried to legitimize and consolidate his power by turning
to his distinguished family tree of famous imperial relatives.
First, in this period of time, the real basis for imperial power was the support
of as many legions as possible. No one could become (and stay) emperor solely
based on his ancestry, no matter how many distinguished forebears he could boast
of.
On the other side, the Roman legions did value the concept of hereditary
imperial power. This was perhaps one of the major reasons why Diocletian’s
Tetrarchic system (in which the next ‘Augustus’ was chosen based on his personal
merits, rather than on his descent) failed. After the death of Constantius in
306 AD, his legions applauded his son Constantine as the new emperor,
circumventing the rightful successor, Severus. In other words, Constantine did
not require an extensive line of famous forefathers, dressed in purple, to
‘legitimize’ his imperial power. He had his legions to serve that purpose. But
it certainly did not hurt his position to stress his descent from ‘the best
emperors’ the Empire had known, emperors who became divinities also. Certainly
this would not have fallen on deaf ears as far as the legions were concerned.
Constantine, apart from being a ruthless politician, was very aware of the
divine world, and more specifically, of divine wrath. The issue can also be seen
in this perspective. ‘To honor thy father and thy mother’ was one of the
commandments of the Christian God, and the coins were issued after Constantine’s
conversion to Christianity. Moreover, this idea of respecting and honoring one’s
parents was also one of the most important virtues of the Romans. It was called
‘pietas’ and the issue of commemorative coins can be seen as a ‘pious’ act (as
to this the Historia Augusta relates that Antoninus Pius got his surname because
he had deified his ‘father’, the emperor Hadrian).
You are bidding on the exact
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In the
Roman Republic
, and later the Empire, the
curule seat (sella curulis, supposedly from currus,
“chariot”) was the chair upon which senior magistrates or promagistrates owning
imperium
were entitled to sit, including
dictators
,
masters of the horse
,
consuls
,
praetors
,
censors
, and the
curule aediles
. Additionally, the
Flamen
of
Jupiter
(Flamen Dialis) was also allowed to sit
on a sella curulis,though this position lacked imperium.
According to Livy
the curule seat, like the
Roman toga, originated in
Etruria
, and it has been used on surviving
Etruscan monuments to identify magistrates, but much earlier stools supported on
a cross-frame are known from the
New Kingdom of Egypt
. According to
Cassius Dio
, early in 44 BC a senate decree
granted
Julius Caesar
the sella curulis
everywhere except in the theatre, where his
gilded
chair and jeweled crown were carried in,
putting him on a par with the gods. As a form of
throne
, the sella might be given as an
honor to foreign kings recognized formally as friend (amicus) by the
Roman people
or
senate
.
The curule chair is used on Roman medals as well as funerary monuments to
express a curule magistracy; when traversed by a
hasta
(spear), it is the symbol of
Juno
.
The curule chair was traditionally made of or veneered with
ivory
, with curved legs forming a wide X; it
had no back, and low arms. Although often of luxurious construction, the Roman
curule was meant to be uncomfortable to sit on for long periods of time, the
double symbolism being that the official was expected to carry out his public
function in an efficient and timely manner, and that his office, being an office
of the
republic
, was temporary, not perennial. The
chair could be folded, and thus an easily transportable seat, originally for
magisterial and promagisterial commanders in the field, developed a hieratic
significance, expressed in fictive curule seats on funerary monuments, a symbol
of power which was never entirely lost in post-Roman European tradition.[7]
6th-century consular ivory
diptychs
of Orestes and of Constantinus each
depict the consul seated on an elaborate curule seat with crossed animal legs.[8]
Along the Silk Road
the folding seat of the
Eastern Roman Empire
[9]
made its way to China, where in various forms including the hu chuang—
the “barbarian bed”— it “transformed the dress, architecture and lifestyle of
the Chinese”
[10]
In
Han China
the folding chair made its first
literary mark in the 2nd century AD, used out-of-doors in a military rather than
domestic setting, and from the way it was addressed in a poem by
Yu Jianwu
, written about 552
By the name name handed down you are from a foreign region
coming into [China] and being used in the capital
With legs leaning your frame adjusts by itself
With limbs slanting your body levels by itself…[11]
it is clear the cross-framed folding seat was intended.
In Gaul the
Merovingian
successors to Roman power employed
the curule seat as an emblem of their right to dispense justice, and their
Capetian
successors retained the iconic seat:
the “Throne of
Dagobert
“, of cast bronze retaining traces of
its former gilding, is conserved in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
. The “throne
of Dagobert” is first mentioned in the 12th century, already as a treasured
relic, by Abbot Suger
, who claims in his
Administratione, “We also restored the noble throne of the glorious King
Dagobert, on which, as tradition relates, the Frankish kings sat to receive the
homage of their nobles after they had assumed power. We did so in recognition of
its exalted function and because of the value of the work itself.” Abbot Suger
added bronze upper members with foliated scrolls and a back-piece. The “Throne
of Dagobert” was coarsely repaired and used for the coronation of
Napoleon
.[12]
James I of England
(ruling 1603–13)
with a royal cross-framed armchair and standing on an
Oriental carpet
, by
Paul van Somer
Engraving of a sealing of Peter II, ca 1196—1213[13]
In the 15th century, a characteristic
folding-chair
of both Italy and Spain was made
of numerous shaped cross-framed elements, joined to wooden members that rested
on the floor and further made rigid with a wooden back. 19th-century dealers and
collectors termed these “Dante
Chairs” or “Savonarola
Chairs“, with disregard to the centuries intervening between the two
figures. Examples of curule seats were redrawn from a 15th-century manuscript of
the Roman de Renaude de Montauban and published in Henry Shaw’s
Specimens of Ancient Furniture (1836).[14]
The 15th or early 16th-century curule seat that survives at
York Minster
, originally entirely covered with
textiles, has rear members extended upwards to form a back, between which a rich
textile was stretched. The cross-framed armchair, no longer actually a folding
chair, continued to have regal connotations.
James I of England
was portrayed with such a
chair, its framing entirely covered with a richly patterned
silk damask
textile, with decorative nailing,
in
Paul van Somer
‘s portrait (illustration,
left). Similar early 17th-century cross-framed seats survive at
Knole
, perquisites from a royal event.[15]
The form found its way into stylish but non-royal decoration in the
archaeological second phase of
neoclassicism
in the early 19th century. An
unusually early example of this revived form is provided by the large sets of
richly carved and gilded pliants (folding stools) forming part of long
sets with matching tabourets delivered in 1786 to the royal châteaux of
Compiègne
and
Fontainebleau
.[16]
With their Imperial Roman connotations, the backless curule seats found their
way into furnishings for Napoleon, who moved some of the former royal pliants
into his state bedchamber at Fontainebleau. Further examples were ordered, in
the newest Empire taste:
Jacob-Desmalter
‘s seats with members in the
form of carved and gilded sheathed sabres were delivered to
Saint-Cloud
about 1805.[17]
Cross-framed drawing-room chairs are illustrated in
Thomas Sheraton
‘s last production, The
Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer and General Artist’s Encyclopaedia (1806), and in
Thomas Hope
‘s Household Furniture
(1807).
With the decline of archaeological neoclassicism, the curule chair
disappeared; it is not found among
Biedermeier
and other Late Classical furnishing
schemes.
Maximian (Latin:
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius
Augustus; c. 250 – c. July 310) was
Roman Emperor
from 286 to 305. He was
Caesar
from 285 to 286, then
Augustus
from 286 to 305. He shared the
latter title with his co-emperor and superior,
Diocletian
, whose political brain complemented
Maximian’s military brawn. Maximian established his residence at
Trier
but spent most of his time on campaign.
In the late summer of 285, he suppressed rebels in Gaul known as the
Bagaudae
. From 285 to 288, he fought against
Germanic tribes
along the
Rhine
frontier. Together with Diocletian, he
launched a
scorched earth
campaign deep into
Alamannic
territory in 288, temporarily
relieving the Rhine provinces from the threat of Germanic invasion.
The man he appointed to police the
Channel
shores,
Carausius
, rebelled in 286, causing the
secession of Britain and northwestern Gaul. Maximian failed to oust Carausius,
and his invasion fleet was destroyed by storms in 289 or 290. Maximian’s
subordinate,
Constantius
, campaigned against Carausius’
successor, Allectus
, while Maximian held the
Rhine frontier
. The rebel leader was ousted in
296, and Maximian moved south to combat piracy near
Hispania
and
Berber
incursions in
Mauretania
. When these campaigns concluded in
298, he departed for Italy, where he lived in comfort until 305. At Diocletian’s
behest, Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, gave the Augustan office to
Constantius, and retired to southern Italy.
In late 306, Maximian took the title of Augustus again and aided his son
Maxentius
‘ rebellion in Italy. In April 307, he
attempted to depose his son, but failed and fled to the court of Constantius’
successor,
Constantine
(who was both Maximian’s
step-grandson and also his son-in-law), in Trier. At the Council of
Carnuntum
in November 308, Diocletian and his
successor, Galerius
, forced Maximian to renounce his
imperial claim again. In early 310, Maximian attempted to seize Constantine’s
title while the emperor was on campaign on the Rhine. Few supported him, and he
was captured by Constantine in Marseille. Maximian committed suicide in the
summer of 310 on Constantine’s orders. During Constantine’s war with Maxentius,
Maximian’s image was purged from all public places. However, after Constantine
ousted and killed Maxentius, Maximian’s image was rehabilitated, and he was
deified.
Early life
Maximian was born near
Sirmium
(modern
Sremska Mitrovica
,
Serbia
) in the
province
of
Pannonia
, around 250 into the family of
shopkeepers
.[10][11]
Beyond that, the ancient sources contain vague allusions to
Illyricum
as his homeland,[12]
to his Pannonian virtues,[13]
and to his harsh upbringing along the war-torn
Danube
frontier.[14]
Maximian joined the army, serving with Diocletian under the emperors
Aurelian
(r. 270–275) and
Probus
(r. 276–282). He probably participated
in the Mesopotamian campaign of
Carus
in 283 and attended Diocletian’s election
as emperor on November 20, 284 at
Nicomedia
.[15]
Maximian’s swift appointment by Diocletian as Caesar is taken by the writer
Stephen Williams and historian
Timothy Barnes
to mean that the two men were
longterm allies, that their respective roles were pre-agreed and that Maximian
had probably supported Diocletian during his campaign against
Carinus
(r. 283–285) but there is no direct
evidence for this.[16]
With his great energy, firm aggressive character and disinclination to rebel,
Maximian was an appealing candidate for imperial office. The fourth-century
historian
Aurelius Victor
described Maximian as “a
colleague trustworthy in friendship, if somewhat boorish, and of great military
talents”.[17]
Despite his other qualities, Maximian was uneducated and preferred action to
thought. The
panegyric
of 289, after comparing his actions
to
Scipio Africanus
‘ victories over
Hannibal
during the
Second Punic War
, suggested that Maximian had
never heard of them.[18]
His ambitions were purely military; he left politics to Diocletian.[19]
The Christian
rhetor
Lactantius
suggested that Maximian shared
Diocletian’s basic attitudes but was less puritanical in his tastes, and took
advantage of the sensual opportunities his position as emperor offered.[20]
Lactantius charged that Maximian defiled senators’ daughters and traveled with
young virgins to satisfy his unending lust, though Lactantius’ credibility is
undermined by his general hostility towards pagans.[21]
Maximian had two children with his
Syrian
wife,
Eutropia
:
Maxentius
and
Fausta
. There is no direct evidence in the
ancient sources for their birthdates. Modern estimates of Maxentius’ birth year
have varied from c. 277 to c. 287, and most date Fausta’s birth to c. 298.[22]
Theodora
, the wife of Constantius Chlorus, is
often called Maximian’s stepdaughter by ancient sources, leading to claims by
Otto Seeck
and Ernest Stein that she was born
from an earlier marriage between Eutropia and Afranius Hannibalianus.[23]
Barnes challenges this view, saying that all “stepdaughter” sources derive their
information from the partially unreliable work of history
Kaisergeschichte
, while other, more
reliable sources, refer to her as Maximian’s natural daughter.[24]
Barnes concludes that Theodora was born no later than c. 275 to an unnamed
earlier wife of Maximian, possibly one of Hannibalianus’ daughters.[25]
Appointment as Caesar
Diocletian, Maximian’s senior colleague and Augustus in the east
At Mediolanum
(Milan,
Italy
) in July 285,[26]
Diocletian proclaimed Maximian as his co-ruler, or Caesar.[27]
The reasons for this decision are complex. With conflict in every province of
the Empire, from Gaul to Syria, from Egypt to the lower Danube, Diocletian
needed a lieutenant to manage his heavy workload.[28]
Historian Stephen Williams suggests that Diocletian considered himself a
mediocre general and needed a man like Maximian to do most of his fighting.[29]
Next, Diocletian was vulnerable in that he had no sons, just a daughter,
Valeria, who could never succeed him. He was forced therefore to seek a co-ruler
from outside his family and that co-ruler had to be someone he trusted.[30]
(The historian William Seston has argued that Diocletian, like heirless emperors
before him, adopted Maximian as his filius Augusti (“Augustan son”) upon
his appointment to the office. Some agree, but the historian
Frank Kolb
has stated that arguments for the
adoption are based on misreadings of the papyrological evidence.[31]
Maximian did take Diocletian’s
nomen
(family
name) Valerius, however.[32])
Finally, Diocletian knew that single rule was dangerous and that precedent
existed for dual rulership. Despite their military prowess, both sole-emperors
Aurelian and Probus had been easily removed from power.[33]
In contrast, just a few years earlier, the emperor
Carus
and his sons had ruled jointly, albeit
not for long. Even the first emperor,
Augustus
, (r. 27 BC–AD 19), had shared power
with his colleagues and more formal offices of co-emperor had existed from
Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180) on.[34]
The dual system evidently worked well. About 287, the two rulers’
relationship was re-defined in religious terms, with Diocletian assuming the
title Iovius and Maximian Herculius.[35]
The titles were pregnant with symbolism: Diocletian-Jove
had the dominant role of planning and commanding; Maximian-Hercules
the heroic
role of completing assigned tasks.[36]
Yet despite the symbolism, the emperors were not “gods” in the
Imperial cult
(although they may have been
hailed as such in Imperial panegyrics). Instead, they were the gods’
instruments, imposing the gods’ will on earth.[37]
Once the rituals were over, Maximian assumed control of the government of the
West and was dispatched to Gaul to fight the rebels known as Bagaudae while
Diocletian returned to the East.[38]
Early
campaigns in Gaul and Germany
The Bagaudae
of Gaul are obscure figures, appearing
fleetingly in the ancient sources, with their 285 uprising being their first
appearance.[39]
The fourth-century historian
Eutropius
described them as rural people under
the leadership of
Amandus and Aelianus
, while Aurelius Victor
called them bandits.[40]
The historian David S. Potter suggests that they were more than peasants,
seeking either Gallic political autonomy or reinstatement of the recently
deposed Carus (a native of
Gallia Narbonensis
, in what would become
southern France
): in this case, they would be defecting
imperial troops, not brigands.[41]
Although poorly equipped, led and trained – and therefore a poor match for Roman
legions – Diocletian certainly considered the Bagaudae sufficient threat to
merit an emperor to counter them.[42]
Maximian traveled to Gaul, engaging the Bagaudae late in the summer of 285.[43]
Details of the campaign are sparse and provide no tactical detail: the
historical sources dwell only on Maximian’s virtues and victories. The panegyric
to Maximian in 289 records that the rebels were defeated with a blend of
harshness and leniency.[44]
As the campaign was against the Empire’s own citizens, and therefore
distasteful, it went unrecorded in
titles
and official
triumphs
. Indeed, Maximian’s panegyrist
declares: “I pass quickly over this episode, for I see in your magnanimity you
would rather forget this victory than celebrate it.”[45]
By the end of the year, the revolt had significantly abated, and Maximian moved
the bulk of his forces to the Rhine frontier, heralding a period of stability.[46]
Maximian did not put down the Bagaudae swiftly enough to avoid a Germanic
reaction. In the autumn of 285, two barbarian armies – one of
Burgundians
and Alamanni, the other of
Chaibones and Heruli
– forded the Rhine and entered Gaul.[47]
The first army was left to die of disease and hunger, while Maximian intercepted
and defeated the second.[48]
He then established a Rhine headquarters in preparation for future campaigns,[49]
either at Moguntiacum (Mainz,
Germany
), Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Germany),
or Colonia Agrippina (Cologne,
Germany).[50]
Carausius
A Roman
antefix
roof tile showing the badge
and standard of
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
, one of
the legions that joined Carausius’ rebellion
Although most of Gaul was pacified, regions bordering the English Channel
still suffered from Frankish
and
Saxon
piracy
. The emperors Probus and Carinus had
begun to fortify the
Saxon Shore
, but much remained to be done.[51]
For example, there is no archaeological evidence of naval bases at
Dover
and
Boulogne
during 270–285.[52]
In response to the pirate problem, Maximian appointed Mausaeus
Carausius
, a
Menapian
from
Germania Inferior
(southern and western
Netherlands
) to command the Channel and to
clear it of raiders.[53]
Carausius fared well,[54]
and by the end of 285 he was capturing pirate ships in great numbers.[55]
Maximian soon heard that Carausius was waiting until the pirates had finished
plundering before attacking and keeping their booty himself instead of returning
it to the population at large or into the imperial treasury.[56]
Maximian ordered Carausius’ arrest and execution, prompting him to flee to
Britain. Carausius’ support among the British was strong, and at least two
British legions (II
Augusta and XX Valeria Victrix) defected to him, as did some or all
of a legion near Boulogne (probably
XXX Ulpia Victrix
).[57]
Carausius quickly eliminated the few remaining loyalists in his army and
declared himself Augustus.[58]
Maximian could do little about the revolt. He had no fleet – he had given it
to Carausius – and was busy quelling the Heruli and the Franks. Meanwhile,
Carausius strengthened his position by enlarging his fleet, enlisting Frankish
mercenaries, and paying his troops well.[58]
By the autumn of 286, Britain, much of northwestern Gaul, and the entire Channel
coast, was under his control.[59]
Carausius declared himself head of an independent British state, an Imperium
Britanniarum and issued coin of a markedly higher purity than that of
Maximian and Diocletian, earning the support of British and Gallic merchants.[60]
Even Maximian’s troops were vulnerable to Carausius’ influence and wealth.[61]
Maximian
appointed Augustus
Spurred by the crisis with Carausius, on April 1, 286,[3]
Maximian took the title of
Augustus
.[62]
This gave him the same status as Carausius – so the clash was between two
Augusti, rather than between an Augustus and a Caesar – and, in Imperial
propaganda, Maximian was proclaimed Diocletian’s brother, his equal in authority
and prestige.[63]
Diocletian could not have been present at Maximian’s appointment,[64]
causing Seeck to suggest that Maximian usurped the title and was only later
recognized by Diocletian in hopes of avoiding civil war. This suggestion has not
won much support, and the historian William Leadbetter has recently refuted it.[65]
Despite the physical distance between the emperors, Diocletian trusted Maximian
enough to invest him with imperial powers, and Maximian still respected
Diocletian enough to act in accordance with his will.[66]
In theory, the Roman Empire was not divided by the dual imperium. Though
divisions did take place – each emperor had his own court, army, and official
residences – these were matters of practicality, not substance. Imperial
propaganda from 287 on insists on a singular and indivisible Rome, a
patrimonium indivisum.[67]
As the panegyrist of 289 declares to Maximian: “So it is that this great empire
is a communal possession for both of you, without any discord, nor would we
endure there to be any dispute between you, but plainly you hold the state in
equal measure as once those two
Heracleidae
, the
Spartan Kings
, had done.”[68]
Legal rulings were given and imperial celebrations took place in both emperors’
names, and the same coins were issued in both parts of the empire.[69]
Diocletian sometimes issued commands to Maximian’s province of Africa; Maximian
could presumably have done the same for Diocletian’s territory.[70]
Campaigns
against Rhenish tribes
Campaigns in 286 and
287
Maximian realized that he could not immediately suppress Carausius and
campaigned instead against Rhenish tribes.[71]
These tribes were probably greater threats to Gallic peace anyway and included
many supporters of Carausius.[72]
Although Maximian had many enemies along the river, they were more often in
dispute with each other than in combat with the Empire.[73]
Few clear dates survive for Maximian’s campaigns on the Rhine beyond a general
range of 285 to 288.[74]
While receiving the consular
fasces
on January 1, 287, Maximian was
interrupted by news of a barbarian raid. Doffing his toga and donning his armor,
he marched against the barbarians and, although they were not entirely
dispersed, he celebrated a victory in Gaul later that year.[75]
Maximian believed the Burgundian and Alemanni tribes of the
Moselle
–Vosges
region to be the greatest threat, so he targeted them first. He campaigned using
scorched earth tactics, laying waste to their land and reducing their numbers
through famine and disease. After the Burgundians and Alemanni, Maximian moved
against the weaker Heruli and Chaibones. He cornered and defeated them in a
single battle. He fought in person, riding along the battle line until the
Germanic forces broke. Roman forces pursued the fleeing tribal armies and routed
them. With his enemies weakened from starvation,[73]
Maximian launched a great invasion across the Rhine.[76]
He moved deep into Germanic territory, bringing destruction to his enemies’
homelands[73]
and demonstrating the superiority of Roman arms.[77]
By the winter of 287, he had the advantage and the Rhenish lands were free of
Germanic tribesmen.[73]
Maximian’s panegyrist declared: “All that I see beyond the Rhine is Roman.”[78]
Flavius Constantius, father of Constantine I the Great, Maximian’s
praetorian prefect
and husband to
his daughter Theodora
Joint
campaign against the Alamanni
The following spring, as Maximian made preparations for dealing with
Carausius, Diocletian returned from the East.[79]
The emperors met that year, but neither date nor place is known with certainty.[80]
They probably agreed on a joint campaign against the Alamanni and a naval
expedition against Carausius.[81]
Later in the year, Maximian led a surprise invasion of the
Agri Decumates
– a region between the upper
Rhine and upper Danube deep within Alamanni territory – while Diocletian invaded
Germany via Raetia
. Both emperors burned crops and food
supplies as they went, destroying the Germans’ means of sustenance.[82]
They added large swathes of territory to the Empire and allowed Maximian’s
build-up to proceed without further disturbance.[83]
In the aftermath of the war, towns along the Rhine were rebuilt, bridgeheads
created on the eastern banks at such places as Mainz and Cologne, and a military
frontier was established, comprising forts, roads, and fortified towns. A
military highway through Tornacum (Tournai,
Belgium
), Bavacum (Bavay,
France), Atuatuca Tungrorum (Tongeren,
Belgium), Mosae Trajectum (Maastricht,
Netherlands), and Cologne connected points along the frontier.[84]
Constantius, Gennobaudes, and resettlement
In early 288, Maximian appointed his praetorian prefect
Constantius Chlorus
, husband of Maximian’s
daughter Theodora, to lead a campaign against Carausius’ Frankish allies. These
Franks controlled the Rhine
estuaries
, thwarting sea-attacks against
Carausius. Constantius moved north through their territory, wreaking havoc, and
reaching the North Sea
. The Franks sued for peace and in the
subsequent settlement Maximian reinstated the deposed Frankish king Gennobaudes.[75]
Gennobaudes became Maximian’s vassal and, with lesser Frankish chiefs in turn
swearing loyalty to Gennobaudes, Roman regional dominance was assured.[85]
Maximian allowed a settlement of
Frisii
,
Salian Franks
,
Chamavi
and other tribes along a strip of Roman
territory, either between the Rhine and
Waal
rivers from Noviomagus (Nijmegen,
Netherlands) to Traiectum (Utrecht,
Netherlands)[84]
or near Trier.[77]
These tribes were allowed to settle on the condition that they acknowledged
Roman dominance. Their presence provided a ready pool of manpower and prevented
the settlement of other Frankish tribes, giving Maximian a buffer along the
northern Rhine and reducing his need to garrison the region.[84]
Later
campaigns in Britain and Gaul
Failed
expedition against Carausius
By 289, Maximian was prepared to invade Carausius’ Britain, but for some
reason the plan failed. Maximian’s panegyrist of 289 was optimistic about the
campaign’s prospects, but the panegyrist of 291 made no mention of it.[86]
Constantius’ panegyrist suggested that his fleet was lost to a storm,[87]
but this might simply have been to diminish the embarrassment of defeat.[88]
Diocletian curtailed his Eastern province tour soon after, perhaps on learning
of Maximian’s failure.[89]
Diocletian returned in haste to the West, reaching Emesa by May 10, 290,[90]
and Sirmium on the Danube by July 1, 290.[91]
Diocletian met Maximian in Milan either in late December 290 or January 291.[92]
Crowds gathered to witness the event, and the emperors devoted much time to
public pageantry.[93]
Potter, among others, has surmised that the ceremonies were arranged to
demonstrate Diocletian’s continuing support for his faltering colleague. The
rulers discussed matters of politics and war in secret,[94]
and they may have considered the idea of expanding the imperial college to
include four emperors (the
Tetrarchy
).[95]
Meanwhile, a deputation from the Roman Senate met with the rulers and renewed
its infrequent contact with the imperial office.[96]
The emperors would not meet again until 303.[97]
Following Maximian’s failure to invade in 289, an uneasy truce with Carausius
began. Maximian tolerated Carausius’ rule in Britain and on the continent but
refused to grant the secessionist state formal legitimacy. For his part,
Carausius was content with his territories beyond the Continental coast of Gaul.[98]
Diocletian, however, would not tolerate this affront to his rule. Faced with
Carausius’ secession and further challenges on the Egyptian, Syrian, and
Danubian borders, he realized that two emperors were insufficient to manage the
Empire.[99]
On March 1, 293 at Milan, Maximian appointed Constantius to the office of
Caesar.[100]
On either the same day or a month later, Diocletian did the same for
Galerius
, thus establishing the “Tetrarchy”, or
“rule of four”.[101]
Constantius was made to understand that he must succeed where Maximian had
failed and defeat Carausius.[102]
Campaign against
Allectus
Constantius met expectations quickly and efficiently and by 293 had expelled
Carausian forces from northern Gaul. In the same year, Carausius was
assassinated and replaced by his treasurer,
Allectus
.[103]
Constantius marched up the coast to the Rhine and Scheldt estuaries where he was
victorious over Carausius’ Frankish allies, taking the title Germanicus
maximus.[104]
His sights now set on Britain, Constantius spent the following years building an
invasion fleet.[105]
Maximian, still in Italy after the appointment of Constantius, was apprised of
the invasion plans and, in the summer of 296, returned to Gaul.[106]
There, he held the Rhenish frontiers against Carausius’ Frankish allies while
Constantius launched his invasion of Britain.[107]
Allectus was killed on the
North Downs
in battle with Constantius’
praetorian prefect,
Asclepiodotus
. Constantius himself had landed
near Dubris
(Dover) and marched on
Londinium
(London),
whose citizens greeted him as a liberator.[108]
Campaigns in North
Africa
With Constantius’ victorious return, Maximian was able to focus on the
conflict in Mauretania (Northwest
Africa).[109]
As Roman authority weakened during the third century, nomadic Berber tribes
harassed settlements in the region with increasingly severe consequences. In
289, the governor of
Mauretania Caesariensis
(roughly modern
Algeria
) gained a temporary respite by pitting
a small army against the Bavares and
Quinquegentiani
, but the raiders soon returned.
In 296, Maximian raised an army, from
Praetorian cohorts
,
Aquileian
, Egyptian, and Danubian legionaries,
Gallic and German
auxiliaries
, and
Thracian
recruits, advancing through Spain that
autumn.[110]
He may have defended the region against raiding
Moors
[111]
before crossing the
Strait of Gibraltar
into
Mauretania Tingitana
(roughly modern
Morocco
) to protect the area from Frankish
pirates.[112]
By March 297, Maximian had begun a bloody offensive against the Berbers. The
campaign was lengthy, and Maximian spent the winter of 297–298 resting in
Carthage
before returning to the field.[113]
Not content to drive them back into their homelands in the
Atlas Mountains
– from which they could
continue to wage war – Maximian ventured deep into Berber territory. The terrain
was unfavorable, and the Berbers were skilled at
guerrilla warfare
, but Maximian pressed on.
Apparently wishing to inflict as much punishment as possible on the tribes, he
devastated previously secure land, killed as many as he could, and drove the
remainder back into the
Sahara
.[114]
His campaign was concluded by the spring of 298 and, on March 10, he made a
triumphal entry into Carthage.[115]
Inscriptions there record the people’s gratitude to Maximian, hailing him – as
Constantius had been on his entry to London – as redditor lucis aeternae
(“restorer of the eternal light”).[114]
Maximian returned to Italy in 299 to celebrate another triumph in Rome in the
spring.[116]
Leisure and retirement
After his Mauretanian campaign, Maximian returned to the north of Italy,
living a life of leisure in palaces in Milan and Aquilea, and leaving warfare to
his subordinate Constantius.[117]
Maximian was more aggressive in his relationship with the Senate than
Constantius, and Lactantius contends that he terrorized senators, to the point
of falsely charging and subsequently executing several, including the prefect of
Rome in 301/2.[118]
In contrast, Constantius kept up good relations with the senatorial aristocracy
and spent his time in active defense of the empire. He took up arms against the
Franks in 300 or 301 and in 302 – while Maximian was resting in Italy –
continued to campaign against Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine.[111]
Maximian was only disturbed from his rest in 303 by Diocletian’s
vicennalia, the 20-year anniversary of his reign, in Rome. Some evidence
suggests that it was then that Diocletian exacted a promise from Maximian to
retire together, passing their titles as Augusti to the Caesars Constantius and
Galerius.[119]
Presumably Maximian’s son
Maxentius
and Constantius’ son
Constantine
– children raised in
Nicomedia
together – would then become the new
Caesars. While Maximian might not have wished to retire, Diocletian was still in
control and there was little resistance. Before retirement, Maximian would
receive one final moment of glory by officiating at the
Secular Games
in 304.[120]
On May 1, 305, in separate ceremonies in Milan and Nicomedia, Diocletian and
Maximian retired simultaneously. The succession did not go not entirely to
Maximian’s liking: perhaps because of Galerius’ influence,
Severus
and
Maximinus
were appointed Caesar, thus excluding
Maxentius. Both the newly appointed Caesars had had long military careers and
were close to Galerius: Maximinus was his nephew and Severus a former army
comrade.[121]
Maximian quickly soured to the new tetrarchy, which saw Galerius assume the
dominant position Diocletian once held. Although Maximian led the ceremony that
proclaimed Severus as Caesar, within two years he was sufficiently dissatisfied
to support his son’s rebellion against the new regime.[122]
Diocletian retired to the expansive
palace
he had built in his homeland, Dalmatia
near Salona on the
Adriatic
. Maximian retired to villas in
Campania
or
Lucania
, where he lived a life of ease and
luxury.[123]
Although far from the political centers of the Empire, Diocletian and Maximian
remained close enough to stay in regular contact.[124]
Maxentius’ rebellion
After the death of Constantius on July 25, 306, Constantine assumed the title
of Augustus. This displeased Galerius, who instead offered Constantine the title
of Caesar, which Constantine accepted. The title of Augustus then went to
Severus.[125]
Maxentius was jealous of Constantine’s power, and on October 28, 306, he
persuaded a cohort of imperial guardsmen to declare him as Augustus.
Uncomfortable with sole leadership, Maxentius sent a set of imperial robes to
Maximian and saluted him as “Augustus for the second time”, offering him
theoretic equal rule but less actual power and a lower rank.[126]
Galerius refused to recognize Maxentius and sent Severus with an army to Rome
to depose him. As many of Severus’ soldiers had served under Maximian, and had
taken Maxentius’ bribes, most of the army defected to Maxentius. Severus fled to
Ravenna
, which Maximian besieged. The city was
strongly fortified so Maximian offered terms, which Severus accepted. Maximian
then seized Severus and took him under guard to a public villa in southern Rome,
where he was kept as a hostage. In the autumn of 307, Galerius led a second
force against Maxentius but he again failed to take Rome, and retreated north
with his army mostly intact.[127]
Dresden bust of Maxentius
While Maxentius built up Rome’s defenses, Maximian made his way to Gaul to
negotiate with Constantine. A deal was struck in which Constantine would marry
Maximian’s younger daughter Fausta and be elevated to Augustan rank in Maxentius’
secessionist regime. In return, Constantine would reaffirm the old family
alliance between Maximian and Constantius, and support Maxentius’ cause in Italy
but would remain neutral in the war with Galerius. The deal was sealed with a
double ceremony in Trier in the late summer of 307, at which Constantine married
Fausta and was declared Augustus by Maximian.[128]
Maximian returned to Rome in the winter of 307–8 but soon fell out with his
son and in the spring of 308 challenged his right to rule before an assembly of
Roman soldiers. He spoke of Rome’s sickly government, disparaged Maxentius for
having weakened it, and ripped the imperial toga from Maxentius’ shoulders. He
expected the soldiers to recognize him but they sided with Maxentius, and
Maximian was forced to leave Italy in disgrace.[129]
On November 11, 308, to resolve the political instability, Galerius called
Diocletian (out of retirement) and Maximian to a general council meeting at the
military city of Carnuntum on the upper Danube. There, Maximian was forced to
abdicate again and Constantine was again demoted to Caesar, with Maximinus the
Caesar in the east.
Licinius
, a loyal military companion to
Galerius, was appointed Augustus of the West[130]
In early 309 Maximian returned to the court of Constantine in Gaul, the only
court that would still accept him.[131]
After Constantine and Maximinus refused to be placated with the titles of
Sons of the Augusti, they were promoted in early 310, with the result that
there were now four Augusti.[132]
Rebellion
against Constantine
In 310, Maximian rebelled against Constantine while the Emperor was on
campaign against the Franks. Maximian had been sent south to Arles with part of
Constantine’s army to defend against attacks by Maxentius in southern Gaul. In
Arles, Maximian announced that Constantine was dead and took up the
imperial purple
. In spite of offering bribes to
any who would support him as emperor, most of Constantine’s army remained loyal,
and Maximian was compelled to leave. Constantine soon heard of the rebellion,
abandoned his campaign against the Franks, and moved quickly to southern Gaul,
where he confronted the fleeing Maximian at Massilia (Marseille).
The town was better able to withstand a long siege than Arles, but it made
little difference as loyal citizens opened the rear gates to Constantine.
Maximian was captured, reproved for his crimes, and stripped of his title for
the third and last time. Constantine granted Maximian some clemency but strongly
encouraged his suicide. In July 310, Maximian hanged himself.[133]
Despite the earlier rupture in relations, after Maximian’s suicide Maxentius
presented himself as his father’s devoted son.[134]
He minted coins bearing his father’s deified image and proclaimed his desire to
avenge his death.[135]
Constantine initially presented the suicide as an unfortunate family tragedy.
By 311, however, he was spreading another version. According to this, after
Constantine had pardoned him, Maximian planned to murder Constantine in his
sleep. Fausta learned of the plot and warned Constantine, who put a
eunuch
in his own place in bed. Maximian was
apprehended when he killed the eunuch and was offered suicide, which he
accepted.[136]
In addition to the propaganda, Constantine instituted a
damnatio memoriae
on Maximian, destroying
all inscriptions referring to him and eliminating any public work bearing his
image.[137]
Constantine defeated Maxentius at the
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
on October 28,
312. Maxentius died, and Italy came under Constantine’s rule.[138]
Eutropia swore on oath that Maxentius was not Maximian’s son, and Maximian’s
memory was rehabilitated. His
apotheosis
under Maxentius was declared null
and void, and he was re-consecrated as a god, probably in 317. He began
appearing on Constantine’s coinage as divus, or divine, by 318, together
with the deified Constantius and
Claudius Gothicus
.[139]
The three were hailed as Constantine’s forbears. They were called “the best of
emperors”.[140]
Through his daughters Fausta and Flavia, Maximian was grandfather or
great-grandfather to every reigning emperor from 337 to 363
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