Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus (Classical Latin: [ˈmaːgnus ˈmaːksimus]; died 28 August 388) was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian.

Born in Gallaecia, he served as an officer in Britain under Theodosius the Elder during the Great Conspiracy. In 383, he was proclaimed emperor in Britannia, and in Gaul the next year, while Gratian's brother Valentinian II retained Italy, Pannonia, Hispania, and Africa. In 387, Maximus's ambitions led him to invade Italy, resulting in his defeat by Theodosius I at the Battle of Poetovio in 388. In the view of some historians, his death marked the end of direct imperial presence in Northern Gaul and Britannia.

Maximus was born in Gallaecia, Hispania, on the estates of Count Theodosius (the Elder) of the Theodosian dynasty, to whom he claimed to be related. In their youth, Maximus and Theodosius I served together in Theodosius the Elder's army in Britannia. Maximus would become a distinguished general in the following years; as he would gain the support of his fellow soldiers and the admiration of the Romano-Britons whom he defended, which would lead to his eventual immortalisation in Welsh legend in the centuries following. He served under Count Theodosius in Africa in 373. Assigned to Britain in 380, he defeated an incursion of the Picts and Scots in 381. Historian Anthony Birley sees this as evidence that he had become the dux (commander) of the army in Britain.

The Western emperor Gratian had received a number of Alans into his bodyguard, and was accused of showing favouritism towards these Iranian speaking foreigners at the expense of Roman citizens. In the spring of 383, the discontented Roman army proclaimed Maximus emperor in Gratian's place. Orosius, who wrote that Maximus was "an energetic and able man and one worthy of the throne had he not risen to it by usurpation, contrary to his oath of allegiance," claimed that he was proclaimed emperor against his will, but Zosimus portrays him as inciting the troops to rebel against Gratian, as he was upset about Theodosius becoming emperor while he himself was not promoted. Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell preferred the latter version, based on the rapid success of the revolt.

Maximus went to Gaul to pursue his imperial ambitions, taking with him at least part of the Roman garrison in Britannia. Although many sources such as J. B. Bury claim he took most of the Roman troops with him, the number of troops withdrawn from Britain is unknown. After five days of skirmishing near Paris he defeated Gratian, who fled the battlefield and was killed at Lyon on 25 August 383. Following negotiations between the remaining emperors, an accord seems to have been reached in 384 with Valentinian II and Theodosius I recognizing Maximus as Augustus in the West while Maximus acknowledged Valentinian's rule of Italy, Africa and Illyricum.

Maximus made his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier) in Gaul, and ruled Britain, Gaul, and Spain. He issued coinage and a number of edicts reorganising Gaul's system of provinces. Some historians believe Maximus may have founded the office of the Comes Britanniarum as well, although it was probably Stilicho who created the permanent office.

Maximus was known as a persecutor of heretics. It was on his orders that Priscillian and six companions were executed for heresy, although the actual civil charges laid by Maximus were for the practice of magic. Prominent churchmen such as St. Ambrose and St. Martin of Tours protested against this involvement of the secular power in doctrinal matters, but the executions were carried out nonetheless. Maximus thereby not only established his credentials as an upholder of orthodoxy, but also strengthened his financial resources in the ensuing confiscations. The Gallic Chronicle of 452 describes the Priscillianists as "Manichaeans", a different Gnostic heresy already condemned in Roman law under Diocletian, and states that Magnus Maximus had them "caught and exterminated with the greatest zeal".

In a threatening letter addressed to Valentinian II, most likely composed between the spring of 384 and the summer of 387, Maximus complains of Valentinian's actions towards Ambrose and adherents of the Nicene Creed, writing: "Can it be that Your Serenity, venerable to me, thinks that a religion which has once taken root in the minds of men, which God himself has established, can be uprooted?" in response to "the disturbance and convulsion of Catholic law."