Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1010

Rh 996 MAXIMUS. with the bishop, and gives his reasons for so doing in the Prolegomena to the volume, c. 6 ; see also Cave, Hist. Lilt, ad ann. 196, vol. i. p. 95 ; Tille- mont, Mimoires^ vol. ii. p. 760, &c., note xiii. sur Origene. Beside the two bishops of Jerusalem of this name already noticed, there was a third in the reign of Con- stantine the Great and his sons. He suffered in one of the later persecutions of the heathen emperors, apparently under Maximian Galerius. (Philostorg. H.E..%) He suffered the loss of his right eye, and some infliction, possibly ham- stringing, in his right leg. (Theodoret. H. E. ii. 26.) His sufferings in the cause of Christianity and the general excellence of his character so endeared him to the people of Jerusalem, among whom he ofH- ciated as priest, that when he was appointed by Macanus, bishop of that city, to the vacant bishop- ric of Diospolis, the multitude would not allow him to depart ; and Macarius was obliged to forego the appointment, and nominate another in his place. According to some accounts, Macarius repented almost immediately of the nomination of Maximus to Diospolis, and readily consented to his remaining at Jerusalem, taking him for his assistant in the duties of the episcopal office, and his intended suc- cessor, fearing lest Eusebius of Caesaraea and Pa- trophilus of Scythopolis should procure the election of a favourer of Arianism. (Sozomen, H. E. ii. 20.) On the decease of Macarius some time" between A. d. 331 and 335, Maximus succeeded him, and was present at the council of Tyre, A. d. 335, when Athanasius was condemned. So- zomen records {H. E. ii. 25) that at this council Paphnutius, a bishop of the Thebais or Upper Egypt, and himself a confessor, took Maximus by the hand, and told him to leave the place : " For," said he, " it does not become us, who have lost our ey^s and been hamstrung for the sake of reli- gion, to join the council of the wicked." This appeal was in vain, and Maximus was induced by some unfairness to subscribe the decree condemning Athanasius. However, he soon repented of this step, and at a synod of sixteen bishops of Palestine joyfully admitted Athanasius to communion when returning from the council of Sardica, through Asia, to Alexandria. Sozomen relates {H. E. iv. 20) that Maximus was deposed by the influence of Acacius of Caesaraea and Patrophilus, a. d. 349 or 350, and Cyril [Cyrillus, St., of Jerusalem] appointed in his place ; but if there is any truth in this statement, of which Jerome, in his Chronicle, does not speak, the death of Maximus must have very shortly succeeded his deposition. (Socrat. H. E. ii. 8 ; Sozora. II. cc.^ and iii. 6 ; Theodoret, /. c. ; Philostorg. I. c. ; Le Quien, Oriens Ghris- tianus, vol. iii. col. 156, &c.) [J. C. M.] MA'XIMUS, JU'LIUS, one of the generals sent by Civilis against Vocula. (Tac. Hist. iv. 33.) f Civilis; Vocula.] MAXIMUS, JU'LIUS VERUS. [Maximus Caesar.] MA'XIMUS, JU'NIUS, a contemporary of Statins, from whom we learn that he made an epi- tome of the histories of Sallust and Livy. (Stat. Silv. iv. 7, ult.) MA'XIMUS, LABE'RIUS. [Laberius.] MA'XIMUS, MAGNUS CLEMENS, Roman emperor, A. d. 383 — 388, in Gaul, Britain, and Spain, was a native of Spain (Zosim. iv. p. 247), but not of England, as modern authors assert. He MAXIMUS. boasted of being a relation of his contemporary, the emperor Theodosius the Great, though the fact is that he had merely lived some years in the household of that emperor in a subordinate capacity. He was of obscure parentage ; an uncle of his, however, is mentioned in history, and also a brother, Marcelli- nus, Avhose name will appear again in the course of this sketch. Maximus accompanied Theodosius on several of his expeditions, was {)romoted, and, perhaps as early as A. D. 368, proceeded with his master to Britain, where he remained many years in the quality of a general, as it seems, but de- cidedly not as governor of that province, as some modern writers of eminence pretend. It is said that he married Helena, the daughter of Endda, a rich noble of Caersegont (Caernarvon in Wales), but the authority is more than doubtful. (Comp. Gibbon, c. xxvii. p. 7, note k. ed. 1815, 8vo.) The predilection of the emperor Gratian for foreign bar- barians excited discontent among the legions in Britain, which were the most turbulent in the whole Roman army. Maximus is said to have secretly fomented their disaffection, and thus a ter- rible revolt broke out which led to tlie accession of Maximus and the ruin of Gratian. Zosimus, though by no means a detractor of Maximus, charges him with having acted thus ; but Orosius and Sulpicius Severus both state that the troops had forced Maximus, who was known as a man of principle and merit, to accept the imperial dignity, which was offered him by the rebels ; and Orosius says that he solemnly protested his innocence. However this may be, Maximus was proclaimed emperor in A. D. 383 (not in 381 as Prosper states in his Chronicon). A short time before his acces- sion he had adopted the Christian religion. Maximus immediately gave orders to all the troops stationed in Britain to assemble as soon as possible, and he lost no time in attacking Gratian in Gaul. It is related in the life of Gratian that he was defeated by the usurper near Paris, deserted by his general Merobaudes, a Prankish chief, and finally slain near Lyon, on his flight to Italy, by Andragathius, who pursued him by order of Maxi- mus. The sudden overthrow of the power of Gra- tian was followed by the as sudden and complete establishment of the power of Maximus : Gaul, Spain, and Britain did homage to the fortunate usurper, who associated his son Victor with him, proclaiming him Caesar, and perhaps Augustus ; and the new emperor took up his residence at Treves, where there are still some monuments ex- tant of his reign. No persecutions were instituted against the adherents of Gratian, except Mero- baudes and Balio or Vallio, who lost their heads on account of their ambiguous conduct, and it seems that, with these exceptions, Maximus was not wrong when, in later times, he boasted that his elevation had caused no loss of Roman life ex- cept on the field of battle. Yet even Merobaudes and Vallio were not Romans but barbarians. When the news of the downfall of Gratian and the suc- cess of Maximus reached Theodosius, he resolved to wrest the crown from the usurper, but ambas- sadors arrived from Maximus with peaceful offers, backed by stem declarations of sacrificing every thingfor the maintenance of his power ; and as Theo- dosius was then unable to wage war with a rebel who was popular among the experienced and bold veterans of the West, he accepted the proposition* made to him. Maximus was, in consequence, re«