Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus.

Magnus Maximus (Welsh: Macsen Wledig), also Maximianus, (c. 335–August 28, 388) was a usurper of the Western Roman Empire from 383 until his death in 388 by order of Emperor Theodosius I.

Life

A Spaniard, Maximus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in 383, while serving with the army in Britain. Later legend made him King of the Britons; he handed the throne over to Caradocus when he went to Gaul to pursue his imperial ambitions.

Following his destruction of Gaul, Maximus went out to meet his main opponent, Gratianus, who he defeated near Paris. Gratianus, after fleeing, was killed at Lyons on August 25, 383. Soon after, he managed to force Valentinian II out of Rome after which he fled to Theodosius I, the Eastern Roman Emperor. Maximus made his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier) in Gaul. He became a popular emperor, although also a stern persecutor of heretics.

Theodosius I and Valentinian II campaigned against Magnus Maximus in July-August 388. Maximus was defeated in the Battle of the Save, near Emona, and retreated in Aquileia. Andragathius, magister equitum of Maximus and killer of Gratian, was defeated near Siscia, his brother Marcellinus again at Poetovio. Maximus surrendered in Aquileia, plading for mercy, but was executed, although his wife and two daughters were spared. Maximus' son, Victor, was defeated and executed by Valentinian's magister peditum Arbogast in the fall of the same year.

What happened to his family is not related, although it is clear that they survived and that his descedants continued to occupy influential posts. We encounter a possible daughter of Magnus Maximus, Sevira, on the Pillar of Eliseg, an early medieval inscribed stone in Wales which claims her marriage to Vortigern, king of the Britons. Another daughter was possibly married to Ennodius, proconsul Africae (395). Their grandson was Petronius Maximus, who was another ill-fated emperor, ruling in Rome for but 77 days before he was stoned to death while fleeing from the Vandals on May 24, 455. Other descendants included Anicius Olybrius, emperor in 472, but also several consuls and bishops such as St. Magnus Felix Ennodius (Bishop of Pavia c. 514-21).

Legendary accounts

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's fictional Historia regum Britanniae, basis for many English and Welsh legends, Magnus was king of the Britons following the death of Octavius and a nephew of King Coel through his brother Ioelinus. According to the Mabinogion tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig, Magnus Maximus took as his wife Helen or Elen, daughter of a chieftain based at Segontium (Caernarfon). This agrees with the story Geoffrey tells that Octavius, the king of the Britons, wanted to wed his daughter to a powerful half-Roman, half-Briton and give the kingship of Britain as a dowry to that husband. Although the story of their meeting is undoubtedly fictional, there is some evidence for the basic claims. Caradocus, the Duke of Cornwall, supported the marriage between Octavius's daughter and Maximus. Maximus accepted and left Rome for Britain. Geoffrey claims further that Maximus gathered an army as he sacked Frankish towns along the way. He invaded Clausentum (modern Southampton) unintentionally and nearly fought the army of the Britons before a truce was made. Following further negotiations, Maximus was given the kingship of Britain and Octavius retired. Welsh legend also claims that he was responsible for the withdrawal of Roman troops from Wales, twenty years before the rest of Britain was left to govern itself. Five years into his kingship, Magnus Maximus assembled a vast fleet and invaded Gaul leaving Britain in the control of Caradocus. Upon reaching the kingdom of Armorica, he defeated the king and killed thousands of inhabitants. Before departing, he summoned Conanus (Welsh: Kynan Meriadec, French: Conan Meriadoc), the rebellious nephew of Octavius, and asked him to rule as king of the land, which was renamed Brittany, or 'Little Britain'.

External links

Historical Magnus

• De Imperatoribus Romanis account
• "Roman Empire" account

Legendary Magnus

• Family fact sheet of Magnus Maximus, based on the Welsh legends about him
• Translated text of "The Dream of Macsen Wledig", included in The Mabinogion