DIVUS Maximian AE4 Deification under CONSTANTINE I the Great Roman Coin i55905

Item: i55905

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Roman Emperor: 285-305, 306-308 & 310 A.D. –
 

Bronze AE4 16mm (1.48 grams) Siscia mint 317-318 A.D.
Reference: RIC 41 RARE
DIVO MAXIMIANO SEN FORT IMP, Veiled, laureate head right.
REQVIES OPTIMORVM MERITORVM Exe: SIS, Maximian seated left, 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).

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Maximian
52nd Emperor  of  the Roman  Empire
Bust of Emperor Maximian
Reign	July 21 or  July 25 285 – 286 (as Caesar underDiocletian) April 2, 286 – May 1, 305 (as Augustus of the West, with Diocletian as  Augustus of the East) Late 306 – November 11, 308 (declared himself Augustus) 310 (declared himself Augustus)
Full name	Marcus Aurelius  Valerius Maximianus Herculius Augustus
Born	ca. 250
Birthplace	Sirmium
Died	ca. July 310 (aged 60)
Place of  death	Massilia (Marseille, France)
Predecessor	Numerian
Successor	Constantius Chlorus  andGalerius
Consort  to	Eutropia
Issue	Flavia Maximiana Theodora Maxentius Fausta

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 
inMauretania. 
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

Antoninianus
 of 
Maximian

Maximian was born near Sirmium (modern Sremska 
Mitrovica, Serbia) 
in the province of Pannonia, 
around 250 into the family of shopkeepers. Beyond 
that, the ancient sources contain vague allusions to Illyricum as 
his homeland, to his Pannonian 
virtues, and to his harsh upbringing 
along the war-torn Danube frontier. 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.
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.

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”. 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. His 
ambitions were purely military; he left politics to Diocletian. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Barnes 
concludes that Theodora was born no later than c. 275 to an unnamed earlier wife 
of Maximian, possibly one of Hannibalianus’ daughters.

Appointment as Caesar

Diocletian, Maximian’s senior colleague and Augustus in the east

At Mediolanum (Milan, Italy) 
in July 285, Diocletian proclaimed 
Maximian as his co-ruler, or Caesar. 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. Historian 
Stephen Williams suggests that Diocletian considered himself a mediocre general 
and needed a man like Maximian to do most of his fighting.

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. (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. Maximian did take 
Diocletian’s nomen (family 
name) Valerius, however.)

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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. The 
fourth-century historian Eutropius described 
them as rural people under the leadership of Amandus 
and Aelianus, while Aurelius Victor called them bandits. 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. 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.

Maximian traveled to Gaul, engaging the Bagaudae late in the summer of 285. 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. 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.” 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.

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. The 
first army was left to die of disease and hunger, while Maximian intercepted and 
defeated the second. He then 
established a Rhine headquarters in preparation for future campaigns, either 
at Moguntiacum (Mainz, Germany), 
Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Germany), or Colonia Agrippina (Cologne, 
Germany).

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. For 
example, there is no archaeological evidence of naval bases at Dover and Boulogne during 
270–285. 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.
Carausius fared well, and by 
the end of 285 he was capturing pirate ships in great numbers.

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. 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). Carausius 
quickly eliminated the few remaining loyalists in his army and declared himself 
Augustus.

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. By 
the autumn of 286, Britain, much of northwestern Gaul, and the entire Channel 
coast, was under his control. 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. Even 
Maximian’s troops were vulnerable to Carausius’ influence and wealth.

Maximian appointed 
Augustus

Spurred by the crisis with Carausius, on April 1, 286, Maximian 
took the title of Augustus. 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. Diocletian could not have 
been present at Maximian’s appointment, 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. 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.

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. 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.” 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.^[ Diocletian 
sometimes issued commands to Maximian’s province of Africa; Maximian could 
presumably have done the same for Diocletian’s territory.

Campaigns 
against Rhenish tribes

Campaigns in 286 and 287

Maximian realized that he could not immediately suppress Carausius and 
campaigned instead against Rhenish tribes. These 
tribes were probably greater threats to Gallic peace anyway and included many 
supporters of Carausius. Although 
Maximian had many enemies along the river, they were more often in dispute with 
each other than in combat with the Empire. Few 
clear dates survive for Maximian’s campaigns on the Rhine beyond a general range 
of 285 to 288. 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.

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, Maximian 
launched a great invasion across the Rhine. He 
moved deep into Germanic territory, bringing destruction to his enemies’ 
homelands and demonstrating the 
superiority of Roman arms. By the 
winter of 287, he had the advantage and the Rhenish lands were free of Germanic 
tribesmen. Maximian’s panegyrist 
declared: “All that I see beyond the Rhine is Roman.”

Flavius Constantius, Maximian’spraetorian 
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. The 
emperors met that year, but neither date nor place is known with certainty. They 
probably agreed on a joint campaign against the Alamanni and a naval expedition 
against Carausius.

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. They 
added large swathes of territory to the Empire and allowed Maximian’s build-up 
to proceed without further disturbance. 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

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. Gennobaudes became 
Maximian’s vassal and, with lesser Frankish chiefs in turn swearing loyalty to 
Gennobaudes, Roman regional dominance was assured.

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) or near Trier. 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.

Later 
campaigns in Britain and Gaul

Failed 
expedition against Carausius

Carausius, rebel emperor of Roman 
Britain

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. Constantius’ 
panegyrist suggested that his fleet was lost to a storm, but 
this might simply have been to diminish the embarrassment of defeat. Diocletian 
curtailed his Eastern province tour soon after, perhaps on learning of 
Maximian’s failure. Diocletian 
returned in haste to the West, reaching Emesa by May 10, 290, and 
Sirmium on the Danube by July 1, 290.

Diocletian met Maximian in Milan either in late December 290 or January 291. Crowds 
gathered to witness the event, and the emperors devoted much time to public 
pageantry. 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, and they 
may have considered the idea of expanding the imperial college to include four 
emperors (theTetrarchy). Meanwhile, 
a deputation from the Roman Senate met with the rulers and renewed its 
infrequent contact with the imperial office. The 
emperors would not meet again until 303.

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. 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. On 
March 1, 293 at Milan, Maximian appointed Constantius to the office of Caesar. On 
either the same day or a month later, Diocletian did the same for Galerius, 
thus establishing the “Tetrarchy”, or “rule of four”. Constantius 
was made to understand that he must succeed where Maximian had failed and defeat 
Carausius.

Campaign against 
Allectus

Allectus, Carausius’ successor

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. Constantius 
marched up the coast to the Rhine and Scheldt estuaries where he was victorious 
over Carausius’ Frankish allies, taking the title Germanicus 
maximus. His sights now set on 
Britain, Constantius spent the following years building an invasion fleet. Maximian, 
still in Italy after the appointment of Constantius, was apprised of the 
invasion plans and, in the summer of 296, returned to Gaul. There, 
he held the Rhenish frontiers against Carausius’ Frankish allies while 
Constantius launched his invasion of Britain. 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.

Campaigns in North 
Africa

With Constantius’ victorious return, Maximian was able to focus on the conflict 
in Mauretania (Northwest 
Africa). 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. He 
may have defended the region against raiding Moors before 
crossing the Strait 
of Gibraltar into Mauretania 
Tingitana (roughly modern Morocco) 
to protect the area from Frankish pirates.

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. 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. His 
campaign was concluded by the spring of 298 and, on March 10, he made a 
triumphal entry into Carthage. 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”). Maximian returned to 
Italy in 299 to celebrate another triumph in Rome in the spring.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Although 
far from the political centers of the Empire, Diocletian and Maximian remained 
close enough to stay in regular contact.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 In 
early 309 Maximian returned to the court of Constantine in Gaul, the only court 
that would still accept him. 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.

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.

Despite the earlier rupture in relations, after Maximian’s suicide Maxentius 
presented himself as his father’s devoted son. He 
minted coins bearing his father’s deified image and proclaimed his desire to 
avenge his death.

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. 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.

Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle 
of the Milvian Bridge on 
October 28, 312. Maxentius died, and Italy came under Constantine’s rule. 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. The three were 
hailed as Constantine’s forbears. They were called “the best of emperors”. Through 
his daughters Fausta and Flavia, Maximian was grandfather or great-grandfather 
to every reigning emperor from 337 to 363.