Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1005

Rh MAXIMUS. Pl.'itonists, and obtaiu-^d pre?.t reputation by his lectures on philosophy and Pagan divinity. Ammi- anus Marcellinus, quoted below, calls him " Maxi- mus ille philosophus, vir ingenti nomine doctrina- rum." The philosopher Aedesius, whose disciple he was, recommended him to prince Julian, after- wards emperor, who came to Ephesus for the sole purpose of hearing Maximus, Julian held him in high esteem, and it is said as well as believed that chiefly through him he was induced to abjure Christianity. Besides philosophy, Maximus ex- celled in magic, and there is a story that he fore- told Julian his subsequent elevation to the throne, which, after all, did not require a very consider- able degree of supernatural knowledge. In 361, Maximus and the philosopher Chrysantlms were invited by Julian to repair to his court at Con- stantinople. They consulted the stars before they set out, and the signs having been found unfavour- .able, Chrysanthus refused to go, but Maximus thought, probably, that the favour of an emperor was a better augury than the constellation of the stars, and hastened to make his court to Julian. This time the philosophy of Maximus proved sound, for he rose to great eminence at court ; but he nevertheless injured his reputation, among the heathens no less than among the Christians, by listening too much to flattery. It was this, per- liaps, which Chrysanthus had read in the stars. When Julian set out on his campaign against the Persians, Maximus prophesied a fortunate issue, and accompanied him on the expedition, from which we might infer that Maximus believed in the truth of his prophecies. As it happened, how- ever, that the issue was most lamentable, he, on his safe return, was sadly ridiculed by the inha- bitants of Antioch, who were by no means a dull people, as Julian found to his cost. For some time Maximus was honoured by the emperors Valens and Valentinian, till the public voice accused him and Priscus of having caused by their sorceries the illness which befell the two emperors in the month of April, 364. They were consequently summoned to Constantinople, where Priscus cleared himself, but Maximus less fortunate was condemned to pay a heavy fine, and, being unable to raise the money, was sent to Ephesus, where he was kept in prison till the end of 365. Duiing all the time he was exposed to such cruel tortures that he requested his wife to bring him poison, which she did ; but in- stead of giving it to her husband she swallowed it and died instantly. He owed his delivery to the philosopher Themistius, who spoke on his behalf in Constantinople, and to Clearchus, who held the supreme command in Asia, and he even recovered a portion of his property which had been confis- i cated. In 37 1 Maximus was accused of being an accomplice in a conspiracy against the life of Valens, and it seems that he was guilty, inasmuch as he knew of the plot but did not reveal it. He was also accused of sorcery and sentenced to death, and his head was accordingly struck off, philosophy dying with him, as Libanius says. Julian wrote different letters to Maximus which are extant (15, 16, 38, 39). Maximus had two brothers, — Clau- dianus, who taught philosophy at Alexandria, and Nymphidlanus, who lectured at Smyrna ; both of them gained fame. Maximus of Ephesus is be- lieved by some to be the author of Uepl Karapxav alias anrapx'^v^ De Electionum Juspiciis, an astrolo- gical poem in hexameter verse which was first pub- MAXIMUS. mi lished by Fabricius, quoted below, with a Latin version by Joh. Rentdorf. The beginning of it is lost ; 610 verses are extant. This poem, however, is ascribed with more justice, as it seems, to Maxi- mus Epirota ; but Ruhnken thinks that it was composed by Callimachus, a contemporary of Apol- lonius Rhodius. Maximus of Ephesus is frequently mentioned by the historians of the time. {Maximus, in Eunapius, Biot (piXotrocpwv koI crocpiaToSv ; Liban. Orat. V. xii ; Amm. Marc. xxix. ] ; Fabric. BibL Grace, vol. iii. pp. 499, 527, vol. iv. p. 158, vol. ix. p. 322, &c, ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. vol. vi. pp. 490, &c., 512, 560, 568, gives a critical review of the life of Maximus.) [ W. P.] MA'XIMUS EPIRO'TA (Ma'^^^os 'a-n^ipS- TTjs), a native of Epeirus, or perhaps Byzantium, whence he is also called Byzantius, was one of the instructors of the emperor Julian in philosophy and heathen theology. He must not be confounded with Maximus of Ephesus, who was likewise one of the teachers of Julian. Maximus, of whose life we know very little, wrote, 1. Tlepl aKvruv duTi- 6((T€wv^ De insoluhilihus Oppositionibns, published Graec. et Lat. by H. Stephanus, Paris, 1 554, 8vo. ad calcem Operum Minor. Critic. Dionysii Halicarn. ; 2. "TTTOfj.v'iJiJ.aTa Trpos 'ApiaTor4r]u, Commentarii in Aristotelem ; 3. Ilepl dpiOjacvv, De Aumeiis ; 4. Some epistles and essays addressed to the emperor Julian ; 5. Ilept Karapx'^v vel aTrap^*^^, which is also ascribed to Maximus Ephesius, in whose life the reader will find a further account of this work. (Suidas, s. V. Md^i/xos ; Fabric. BibL Graec. vol. iii. p. 499.) [W. P.l MA'XIMUS, FA'BIUS. In the Fabia gens the surname of Maximus was first borne by Q. Fabius Rullianus, consul in b. c. 322, and supplanted the previous cognomen Ambustus. [Fabia Gkns.] 1. Q. Fabius, M. f. N. n. Maximus, with the agnomen Rullianus or Rullus, was the son of M. Fabius Ambustus, consul b. c. 360. (Liv. viii. 33.) He was curule aedile in b. c. 331, when, through the information of a female slave, he dis- covered that the mortality prevailing at Rome arose from poison administered by women to their husbands. (Liv. viii. 18; Val. Max. ii. 5. § 3 ; Oros. iii. 1 0.) Fabius was master of the equites to L. Papirius Cursor in b. c. 325, whose anger he incurred by giving battle to the Samnites near the Imbrivian or Simbrivian hills during the dictator's absence, and contrary to his orders. Victory availed Fabius nothing in exculpation. The rods and axes were ready for his execution, and a hasty flight to Rome, where the senate, the people, and his aged father interceded for him with Papirius, barely rescued his life, but could not avert his de- gradation from office. (Liv. viii. 29 — 35; Dion Cass. Fr. Mai ; Val. Max. ii. 7. (J 8 ; Front. Strat. iv. 1. § 39 ; Aurel. Vict. Vir. III. 31, 32 ; Eutrop. ii. 8.) In B. c. 322 Fabius obtained his first con- sulate, probably at an early age. (Cic. Pfdl. v, 17; comp. Val. Max. viii. 15. $ 5.) It was the second year of the second Samnite war, and Fabius was the most eminent of the Roman generals in that long and arduous struggle for the empire of Italy. He was, as Dr. Arnold remarks, "the Talbot of the fifth century of Rome, and his per- sonal prowess, even in age, was no less celebrated than his skill as a general." Yet nearly all au- thentic traces are lost of the seat and circumstances of his numerous campaigns. His defeats have been suppressed or extenuated ; the achievements of