Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus
Golden coin depicting man with diadem facing right
Solidus of Magnus Maximus marked:
d·n· mag(nus) maximus p·f· aug·
Roman emperor
(in the West)
ReignSpring 383 – 28 August 388
PredecessorGratian
SuccessorValentinian II
Co-emperors
BornGallaecia, Hispania
Died28 August 388
Aquileia, Venetia et Histria, Italia
SpouseElen (traditional)
Issue
Detail
ReligionNicene Christianity

Magnus Maximus[1] (Latin: [ˈmaŋnus ˈmaksimus]; Welsh: Macsen Wledig [ˈmaksɛn ˈwlɛdɪɡ]; 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 373, 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.[2]

  1. ^ Birley, Anthony (1983). "Magnus Maximus and the persecution of heresy". Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 66 (1): 24. doi:10.7227/BJRL.66.1.2. [Chronicle of Sulpicius Severus] 2.48.5: "iam tum rumor incesserat clemens maximum"... The reading "Clementem" led to the mistaken view that the emperor was called Magnus Clemens Maximus.
  2. ^ "The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 500c. 700" by Paul Fouracre, Rosamond McKitterick, p. 48

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