Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius), Roman Emperor

MASSENZIO (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius), ROMAN EMPEROR. - He reigned from 28 Oct. 306 to 28 Oct. 312. Son of Maximian, when the latter had to abdicate together with Diocletian in 305, he remained a private citizen. But when the troops of Gaul and Britain proclaimed Constantine and Galerius as emperors, Galerius alone being Augustus, Maxentius recognized him as Caesar, and perhaps even more so the praetorian cohorts of Rome took heart and Maxentius was acclaimed emperor.

The danger that military violence would multiply, and the fact that an emperor at Rome caused more concern than one in Gaul, decided Galerius to act. The Caesar Severus was entrusted with marching on Rome and putting an end to the usurpation. Maxentius thought that the best protection for him would be his father’s person, and Maximian, who had reluctantly laid down the purple, agreed to take it up again. The soldiers of Flavius Severus did not feel like fighting against their former Emperor and deserted in such great numbers that Severus had to flee and shut himself up in Ravenna; there he surrendered to Maximian and was kept prisoner near Rome. Maxentius then forthwith assumed the title of Augustus. Galerius could not remain under the disgrace of such a setback, and
MASSENZIO, ROMAN EMPEROR - Coins.

He himself then marched against M., but with no better fortune than Severus, who, before the well-prepared defenses of Rome, had to retreat.

But when Diocletian, at the Conference of Carnuntum in 308, forced Maximian to abdicate once more and had Galerius and Licinius recognized as Augusti and Maximinus Daia and Constantine as Caesars, M. was no more than a rebel, a usurper to be eliminated. Punishment seemed to come from the unreliable moods of the African troops, who acclaimed L. Domitius Alexander as emperor, vicar of the praetorian prefect of Africa, and also from the enterprise of Constantine, who brought his armies from Gaul into Spain. The loss of Africa and Spain meant famine for Rome, and M. had to take action. He sent his own prefect, Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, to Africa, who had no difficulty in defeating and killing Domitius Alexander. But cruel was the merciless ferocity with which Africa was punished. Meanwhile Galerius had died (311), and relations between M. and Constantine had grown ever worse. It is not entirely clear what occasioned the outbreak of hostilities; it would seem, however, that the initiative came from Constantine, who rapidly descended into Italy and easily defeated both the small detachments of Maxentian forces in Piedmont and a more substantial nucleus of troops at Verona. M., who had never shown any military qualities, had thought to remain shut up within Rome, then well-walled and abundantly supplied with provisions. But at the last moment he left the city and went to meet Constantine. The clash occurred at Saxa Rubra on the Via Flaminia, not far from the Milvian Bridge, despite the strenuous defense of the Praetorians, who thus ended their stormy existence with honor. M. was defeated, and in his flight he drowned in the Tiber.

All pagan and Christian tradition is hostile to M. and portrays him as a wretched and despicable tyrant. This is what usually happens to the vanquished, but the standard that Constantine gave to his soldiers made the military action appear as a great Christian victory over M., certainly a pagan until the end, though not a persecutor.

It is impossible to recognize any great qualities in M., yet the solemn sense of grandeur he gave to his constructions in Rome, the most efficient care he bestowed upon the great roads of Italy and Africa, and the affection he showed for his son Romulus, who died young, make him appear in some respects better than his reputation.