Maximus surrendered in Aquileia, and although he pleaded for mercy was executed. Meanwhile, the Franks under Marcomer had taken the opportunity to invade northern Gaul, at the same time further weakening Maximus's position.Īndragathius, magister equitum of Maximus and the killer of Emperor Gratian, was defeated near Siscia, while Maximus's brother, Marcellinus, fell in battle at Poetovio. Maximus was defeated in the Battle of Poetovio, and retreated to Aquileia. Valentinian fled to Theodosius I, and the two subsequently invaded from the east their armies, led by Richomeres and other generals, campaigned against Maximus in July–August 388. In 387, Maximus managed to force emperor Valentinian II out of Milan. 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 Nicean 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.' Ĭonversely, Maximus's edict of 387/388, which censured Christians at Rome for burning down a Jewish synagogue, was condemned by bishop Ambrose, who said people exclaimed, 'the emperor has become a Jew'. 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'. Maximus thereby not only established his credentials as an upholder of orthodoxy, but also strengthened his financial resources in the ensuing confiscations. Martin of Tours protested against this involvement of the secular power in doctrinal matters, but the executions were carried out nonetheless. 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. Maximus was a stern persecutor of heretics. He used foederati forces such as the Alamanni to great effect. He became a popular emperor Quintus Aurelius Symmachus delivered a panegyric on Maximus's virtues. Some historians believe Maximus may have founded the office of the Comes Britanniarum as well. He issued coinage and a number of edicts reorganising Gaul's system of provinces. Maximus made his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier) in Gaul, and ruled Britain, Gaul, Spain and Africa. Negotiations followed in 384, including the intervention of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, leading to an accord with Valentinian II and Theodosius I in which Maximus was recognized as Augustus in the West. Continuing his campaign into Italy, Maximus was stopped from overthrowing Valentinian II, who was only twelve, when Bauto came with a powerful force to forestall him. After five days of skirmishing near Paris he defeated Gratian, who fled the battlefield and was killed at Lyon on 25 August 383. Maximus went to Gaul to pursue his imperial ambitions, taking a large portion of the British garrison with him. In 383 the discontented Roman army proclaimed Maximus emperor in Gratian's place. 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.

Assigned to Britain in 380, he defeated an incursion of the Picts and Scots in 381. He served under Count Theodosius in Africa in 373.

Maximus was a distinguished general he was probably a junior officer in Britain in 368, during the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Maximus was born in Gallaecia, on the estates of Count Theodosius (the Elder) of the Theodosian dynasty, to whom he claimed to be related. In the view of some historians, his death marked the end of direct imperial presence in Northern Gaul and Britannia. In 387, Maximus's ambitions led him to invade Italy, resulting in his defeat by Theodosius I at the Battle of Poetovio in 388. He was made emperor in Britannia and Gaul the next year while Gratian's brother Valentinian II retained Italy, Pannonia, Hispania, and Africa. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian. Magnus Maximus ( Latin: Welsh: Macsen Wledig died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388.

Maximus summertime madness