Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/995

Rh MAXIMIANUS. ad Epistolam Hormisdae Respoiisio. The remain- ing works are : 6. Ejusdem contra Acephalos Li- b(dbis. 7. Ejusdem Diologorum contra Nestori- anos, Lihri II. To these several pieces are prefixed, by the editor of the Bibliolheca, short introductions, pointing out their supposed heretical tendency. Baronius also bitterly inveighs against the heresies of Maxentius, who is, however, ably vindicated by Cardinal Noris and by John Forbes of Aberdeen. (Baron. Annales ad ann. 519, 520; Norisius, Ilistur. Pelagian, ii. 18 — 20; Yoih^sm.?,^ Instruction. Historico-Tlieoloyic. iii. 21 ; Cave, Hist. Litt. ad ann. 520, vol. i. p. 505, ed. Oxf. 1740—1742; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. x. p. 540.) [J. C. M.] MAXIMIA'NUS I., Roman emperor, a. d. 286—305—310. M. Aurelius Valerius Max- IMIANUS, born of humble parents in Pannonia, had acquired sit:h high fame by his services in the army, that when Diocletian carried into effect (a. d. 285) his celebrated scheme for dividing with- out dismembering the empire [Diocletian us, p. 1012], he was induced to select this rough soldier for his colleague, as one whose habits and abilities were likely to prove particularly valuable in the actual disturbed state of public affairs, and accord- ingly created him first Caesar (285), and then Augustus (286), conferring at the same time the honorary appellation of Herculius, while he him- self assumed that of Jovius, epithets which afforded a copious theme to the panegyrists of that epoch for broad adulation and far-fetched conceits. The subsequent history of Maximian is so intimately blended with that of his patron and of Con- stantine, that almost every particular has been fully detailed in former articles. [Diocl^'ianus ; CoN- STANTiNus I. ; Maxentius.] It will be suffi- cient, therefore, to direct attention to the leading facts, that after having been most reluctantly per- suaded, if not compelled to abdicate, at Milan, on the first of May, a. d. 305, he eagerly obeyed the invitation of his son Maxentius the following year (306), and quitting his retirement in Lucania, was again invested with all the insignia of the imperial station ; that having by his bravery and skill, averted the dangers which threatened Italy, having compassed the death of Severus (307), an*! having repulsed Galerius, he formed a close union with Constantine, on whom he bestowed the title of Augustus and the hand of his daughter Fausta ; that on his return to Rome he was expelled by Maxentius, who, having become impatient of his control and dictation, pretended or believed that he had formed a plot for his dethronement ; that having betaken himself to the court of Galerius, and having been there detected in the prosecution of treason- able intrigues, he sought refuge with his son-in-law, and, to disarm all suspicion, once more formally threw off the purple ; that having taken advantage of the temporary absence of his protector and treacherously gained possession of the treasures deposited at Aries, by profuse bribery he persuaded a body of soldiers to proclaim him Augustus for the third time ; that having been shut up in Mar- seilles and compelled to surrender, he was stripped of all his dignities, but permitted to retain his life and liberty (308) ; but that, finally, two years afterwards, having vainly endeavoured to induce his daughter Fausta to destroy her husband, he was ordered to choose the manner of his death, and strangled himself in the month of February, a. d. 310. MAXIMIANUS. The whole history of this stormy period bears testimony to the military talents of Maximianus, and proves with equal certainty that he was totally destitute of all dignity of mind, thoroughly unprin- cipled, not merely rough and stern, but base and cruel. All authorities agree that he was altogether devoid of cultivation or refinement, and it is said that his features and general aspect were an index of the coarseness and harshness of the mind within. So long as he was guided by the superior genius and commanding intellect of Diocletian, he per- fonned well the work for which he was chosen, but the latter years of his life, when left to the direction of his own judgment, exhibit a melancholy spec- tacle of weak ambition, turbulence, perfidy, and crime. Maximianus married Eutropia, a widow of Syrian extraction, by whom he had two children, the emperor Maxentius, and Fausta, wife of Con- stantine the Great. Eutropia, by her former hus- band, who is unknown, had a daughter, Flavia Maximiana Theodora, who was united to Con- stantius Chlorus when he was elevated to the rank of Caesar. [Eutropia ; Fausta ; Theodora.] (Zosim. ii. 7, 8, 10, 11 ; Zonar. xii. 31, 32, 33 ; Auctor. de Mart. Persec. 8, 29, 30 ; Panegyr. Vet. ii. passim, iii. 3, 10, 14, vi. 9, vii. 14, &c.; Victor, de Caes. Epit. 39, 40 ; Eutrop. ix. 14, 16, x. 1. 2 ; Oros. vii. 25, 28 ; Gruter. Corp. Inscrip. cclxxxi. 4 ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. not. v. xix. in Dioclet. ; Eckhel, vol. viii. p. 15.) [W. R.] COIN OP MAXIMIANUS I. MAXIMIA'NUS II., Roman emperor, a. d. 305 — 311. Galerius Valerius Maximi- anus, born near Sardica in Dacia, was the son of a shepherd, and in early life followed the humble calling of his parent. Hence he is frequently de- signated in history by the epithet Armentarius^ although this must be regarded rather as a familiar than as a formal appellation, since it nowhere appears upon any public monument. Having served in the wars of Aurelian and Probus, he passed through all the inferior grades of military rank in succession, with such distinguished reputation, that when Diocletian remodelled the constitution of the empire [Diocletianus, p. 1012], he was chosen along with Constantius Chlorus, in a. d. 292, to discharge the dignified but arduous duties of a Caesar, was adopted by the elder emperor, whose daughter Valeria he received in marriage, was per- mitted to participate in the title of Jovitis, and was entrusted with the command of lUyria and Thrace. In A. D. 297 he undertook an expedition against the Persian monarch Narses, and after his failure was treated with the most insulting harshness by his father-in-law. But having fully redeemed his credit by the glorious issue of the second campaign [Diocletianus, p. 1012], he from this time for- ward assumed a more haughty bearing, which gra- dually took the form of arrogant dictation, as the bodily health and mental energies of his superior 3*3
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