Maximinus II

Maximinus Daia
55th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign	305–8 (as Caesar in the east, under Galerius); 310– May 312 (as Augustus in the east, in competition with Licinius)
Full name	Gaius Valerius Galerius Maximinus Daia Augustus
Born	20 November c. 270
Birthplace	near Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad, Serbia
Died	August 313 (aged 42)
Predecessor	Galerius
Successor	Licinius

This article deals with this 4th century Roman Emperor. For the 3rd century Roman Emperor of the same name, see: Maximinus Thrax. For other uses of the name, see Maximin.

Maximinus II (Latin: Gaius Valerius Galerius Maximinus Daia Augustus; c. 20 November 270 – July or August 313), also known as Maximinus Daia or Maximinus Daza, was Roman Emperor from 308 to 313. He was born of Dacian peasant stock to the half sister of the emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana; a rural area then in the Danubian region of Moesia, now Eastern Serbia.

He rose to high distinction after he had joined the army.

In 305, his maternal uncle Galerius became the eastern Augustus and adopted Maximinus, raising him to the rank of caesar (in effect, the junior eastern Emperor), with the government of Syria and Egypt.

In 308, after the elevation of Licinius to Augustus, Maximinus and Constantine were declared filii Augustorum ("sons of the Augusti"), but Maximinus probably started styling himself after Augustus during a campaign against the Sassanids in 310. On the death of Galerius, in 311, Maximinus divided the Eastern Empire between Licinius and himself. When Licinius and Constantine began to make common cause with one another, Maximinus entered into a secret alliance with the usurper Caesar Maxentius, who controlled Italy. He came to an open rupture with Licinius in 313, he summoned an army of 70,000 men, but still sustained a crushing defeat at the Battle of Tzirallum, in the neighbourhood of Heraclea Perinthus, on the April 30, and fled, first to Nicomedia and afterwards to Tarsus, where he died the following August. His death was variously ascribed "to despair, to poison, and to the divine justice".

Maximinus has a bad name in Christian annals, as having renewed persecution after the publication of the toleration edict of Galerius (see Edict of Toleration by Galerius). Eusebius of Caesarea, for example, writes that Maximinus conceived an "insane passion" for a Christian girl of Alexandria, who was of noble birth noted for her wealth, education, and virginity – Saint Catherine of Alexandria. When the girl refused his advances, he had her beheaded, and then seized all of her wealth and assets.

See also

• Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306-324 AD)

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

Media related to Maximinus II at Wikimedia Commons

• DiMaio, Michael, "Maximinus Daia (305–313 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis
•  "Caius Valerius Daja Maximinus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

Maximinus II Constantinian dynasty Born: 20 November 270 Died: July or August 313
Regnal titles
Preceded by Galerius and Constantine I	Roman Emperor 308–313 with Galerius, Constantine I and Licinius	Succeeded by Constantine I and Licinius
Political offices
Preceded by Constantius Chlorus, Galerius	Consul of the Roman Empire 307 with Maximian, Constantine I , Flavius Valerius Severus,, Galerius	Succeeded by Diocletian , Galerius, Maxentius, Valerius Romulus
Preceded by Tatius Andronicus , Pompeius Probus, Maxentius	Consul of the Roman Empire 311 with Galerius , Gaius Caeionius Rufius Volusianus, Aradius Rufinus	Succeeded by Constantine I , Licinius, Maxentius
Preceded by Constantine I , Licinius, Maxentius	Consul of the Roman Empire 313 with Constantine I , Licinius	Succeeded by Gaius Caeionius Rufius Volusianus, Petronius Annianus