DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0342
268
Roman Africa
than the action of a usurper. His treacherous conduct towards
the former, who had married his daughter Fausta, and his
ungrateful treatment of his son Maxentius, brought him to an
untimely end. With the abdication of Diocletian the career of
Maximianus had virtually closed. This seems to be borne out
by inscriptions. As usurping Emperor in his later life, the
name of Maximianus is not recorded in any part of North
Africa, the only known inscription bearing his name as Impera-
tor, given on page 258, being probably a dedication prior to his
abdication, A.D. 305. So long as the master spirit of Diocletian
controlled the army and the Senate, this turbulent colleague of
his was held in restraint, and his passing into forced retirement
was a mere cloak for more ambitious projects. In these he was
aided by an uprising in favour of his son Maxentius, and by the
revolt of L. Domitius Alexander already referred to. Seizing
his opportunities Maximianus passed into Africa, subdued the
pretender Alexander, and, giving free play to his pitiless pro-
pensities, subjected the beautiful city of Carthage to fire and
rapine. It may be said that Roman Carthage, second only to
Rome at the commencement of the fourth century in its splen-
dour and importance, never recovered from the havoc perpetrated
during this merciless war.
The six years' nominal rule in Africa and Italy by Maxen-
tius, known as Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, scarcely
merits notice. His claim to the throne rested on his connection
with the Emperor Galerius, whose daughter he married, rather
than as the son of an unpopular Emperor like Maximianus.
Like other ambitious adventurers, he took every advantage of
his opportunities, and finding a spread of discontent with the
new system of administration inaugurated by Diocletian, he
placed himself at the head of a movement, with a view to a
restitution of the old order of imperial government. The
favours he showered upon the legions attached to his standard
gave him the command of a considerable army, and it required-
all the strategy of Constantine and his generals to destroy the
power of such a formidable foe. The decisive battle on the banks
of the Cremera, when the retreating forces of Maxentius were
drowned through the failure of the Milvian bridge, takes rank
with other memorable engagements in the world's history, and
has afforded both poet and painter a fitting subject for the
Roman Africa
than the action of a usurper. His treacherous conduct towards
the former, who had married his daughter Fausta, and his
ungrateful treatment of his son Maxentius, brought him to an
untimely end. With the abdication of Diocletian the career of
Maximianus had virtually closed. This seems to be borne out
by inscriptions. As usurping Emperor in his later life, the
name of Maximianus is not recorded in any part of North
Africa, the only known inscription bearing his name as Impera-
tor, given on page 258, being probably a dedication prior to his
abdication, A.D. 305. So long as the master spirit of Diocletian
controlled the army and the Senate, this turbulent colleague of
his was held in restraint, and his passing into forced retirement
was a mere cloak for more ambitious projects. In these he was
aided by an uprising in favour of his son Maxentius, and by the
revolt of L. Domitius Alexander already referred to. Seizing
his opportunities Maximianus passed into Africa, subdued the
pretender Alexander, and, giving free play to his pitiless pro-
pensities, subjected the beautiful city of Carthage to fire and
rapine. It may be said that Roman Carthage, second only to
Rome at the commencement of the fourth century in its splen-
dour and importance, never recovered from the havoc perpetrated
during this merciless war.
The six years' nominal rule in Africa and Italy by Maxen-
tius, known as Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, scarcely
merits notice. His claim to the throne rested on his connection
with the Emperor Galerius, whose daughter he married, rather
than as the son of an unpopular Emperor like Maximianus.
Like other ambitious adventurers, he took every advantage of
his opportunities, and finding a spread of discontent with the
new system of administration inaugurated by Diocletian, he
placed himself at the head of a movement, with a view to a
restitution of the old order of imperial government. The
favours he showered upon the legions attached to his standard
gave him the command of a considerable army, and it required-
all the strategy of Constantine and his generals to destroy the
power of such a formidable foe. The decisive battle on the banks
of the Cremera, when the retreating forces of Maxentius were
drowned through the failure of the Milvian bridge, takes rank
with other memorable engagements in the world's history, and
has afforded both poet and painter a fitting subject for the