A Hispanic Roman named Maximus? Clearly, all readers have immediately thought of the protagonist of the movie Gladiator, played by Russell Crowe. But the truth is, there was a historical figure with that name who lived nearly three centuries later than the character in the film and was proclaimed emperor in the turbulent context of the power struggle between Constantine III and Honorius. In fact, a few years later there would be a second Maximus—or possibly the same one, as we shall see—who followed in his footsteps and met a similar end.

If the cinematic Maximus had to live through a difficult period, the end of the 2nd century AD, with the death of Marcus Aurelius, the succession of Commodus, and the subsequent Year of the Five Emperors (Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, and Septimius Severus, the latter firmly established and founder of the Severan dynasty), the 5th century AD worsened things for Rome, sunk in an unstoppable vortex of ephemeral emperors and usurpers.

As is known, Theodosius I the Great divided the empire between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, leaving the eastern part to the former and the western part to the latter. Honorius, who was a child when he ascended the throne, could not avoid the influence of the barbarians in his reign; a Roman of Vandal descent, Stilicho, was his regent and managed to temporarily resist the pressure of Alaric’s Visigoths. Finally, Alaric invaded Italy, taking advantage of the empire’s weakness, which was fatally exacerbated by the internal struggle among three rebels who rose between 406 and 407 AD.

The Emperor Honorius, painting by Jean-Paul Laurens (1880)
The Emperor Honorius, painting by Jean-Paul Laurens (1880). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The first was Marcus (or Mark), proclaimed in July 406 AD by the army of Britain in response to the withdrawal of troops that the government made from the most distant provinces to redeploy them to other closer and urgent fronts, such as Rome’s own borders. Many of the six thousand legionaries stationed there had settled down, forming families, so leaving was a problem and it is possible that this incited them to insurrection along with the fear of being left defenseless against the threat of Scots, Saxons, and Picts. We know little about the aforementioned Marcus; it is speculated that he could have been a comes Britanniarum—or a dux—which would lead to the deduction that it was his troops who proclaimed him.

He also did not have time to leave a broader memory; for some reason, the soldiers were not satisfied with his management and overthrew him with the same speed with which they had appointed him. Thus, Marcus was assassinated after barely a quarter of a year and in his place, they installed Gratian, a Roman born in Britain and a member of the urban aristocracy: a municipes or curial; he was not a military man, which has led historians to assume that they expected better management from him, the payment of back wages, and maintaining a harmonious relationship with local notables.

Gratian’s rise coincided with the invasions of Gaul by Vandals, Alans, and Suebi, sowing fear in the British Isles of a possible jump there by the invaders. Some even think that it was Stilicho who incited the barbarians in response to the usurpation, considering that he could not deal with it personally because he was engaged in repelling Alaric and Radagaisus, the Gothic leaders. The fact is that the army of Britain was in favor of crossing the English Channel to stop the barbarians on the continent, but Gratian did not want to and met the same tragic end as his predecessor.

Gold solid with the effigy of Constantine III
Gold solid with the effigy of Constantine III. Credit: ANS / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

He lasted four months, and to replace him, in February 407 AD, Constantine III was proclaimed. After the frustrating civilian experience, they returned to a military man who, like in previous cases, was practically unknown until then. In fact, personally, we barely know about him that he had two sons and that, according to some contemporary sources, he was as gluttonous as he was a bad administrator. Some suggest that perhaps he incited the previous proclamations and dismissals, astutely waiting for his turn when the others failed.

The fact is that his name was Constantine, like the Great, and given that the latter had also ascended the throne in Britain, all this could have influenced his rise; meteoric, considering that he was not a commander but a simple soldier, according to Paulus Orosius (which is quite unlikely, by the way).

The first thing he did was adopt the name Flavius Claudius Constantine to compare himself with the Great once again, in his case with the ordinal III. He then appointed generals to two officers from Gaul, Justinian and Nebiogastes, to take Arles while he landed in Bononia (now Boulogne) with the six thousand men of Gerontius, a general of Breton origin.

Gaul in the 5th century AD
Gaul in the 5th century AD. Credit: Cplakidas / Jbribeiro1 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Britain was left partially unprotected, but Constantine had ambitious plans and even began minting coins with his image, a significant symbol. Rome’s delay in responding, focused on the Visigothic threat, caused the armies of Gaul and Hispania to join him, while he negotiated alliances with the Franks, Alamanni, and Burgundians. Stilicho did the same with the Visigoth Sarus, who faced Justinian and Nebiogastes, defeating them and then besieging Constantine in Valence. The timely arrival of Gerontius broke the siege and allowed Gaul to come under the control of the usurper.

During the following year, state structures were established and Constantine associated his son, Constans II, with the throne as Augustus. He then married to found a dynasty that would definitively legitimize him and sent his son to Hispania, with Gerontius as magister militum, to ensure the loyalty of that province (or diocese, to be exact, since Diocletian’s reforms); this territory was so closely linked to the emperor’s family that the so-called Honoriaci (two cousins of Honorius), Didymus and Verenianus, had taken up arms against Constans II.

Constantine risked being trapped in a pincer between them and Stilicho, but Gerontius, after overcoming two defeats, finally defeated the former in Lusitania and sent them to Arles, where they were executed; a victory achieved with the help of barbarian mercenaries. Gerontius settled in Caesaraugusta and, meanwhile, Arcadius died and was succeeded on the Eastern imperial throne by his son Theodosius II.

The Western Roman Empire in AD 410. Areas of influence
The Western Roman Empire in AD 410. Areas of influence. Credit: Paulusburg / Wikimedia Commons

The relationship between Honorius and Stilicho also soured, and Stilicho was eventually deposed and executed, thus disappearing the main bulwark against Alaric, who entered Rome and managed to get Honorius, from Ravenna, to appoint a puppet co-emperor, Priscus Attalus.

He would not last long, as Alaric himself deposed him after being defeated in North Africa by the Roman army and, meanwhile, seeing that Honorius was faltering, Constantine III also associated the usurping throne with his son, whom he then, in 409, gave command of Hispania. This meant that Gerontius, who had been governing until then, was relieved. He did not take this well and followed the steps of his former master, rebelling and appointing a new emperor.

In reality, Gerontius’ reasons are not clear, and it is possible that he did not view the negotiations that had opened between Honorius and Constantine III favorably, with whom he had begun to have frictions, fearing losing his position. In any case, he traveled to neighboring Tarraco where he proclaimed his collaborator (or possibly son), Maximus, emperor (not to be confused with Magnus Maximus, another Briton-Roman usurper from a few decades earlier), while simultaneously negotiating with the Franks to confront Constantine and prevent him from reinforcing Constans, which indeed happened. This allowed Gerontius to defeat and capture him in Vienne in 411, executing him.

Barbarian settlements in Hispania in the first quarter of the 5th century AD
Barbarian settlements in Hispania in the first quarter of the 5th century AD. Credit: PANONIAN, P4K1T0 / Wikimedia Commons

Then he turned directly against Constantine, whom he besieged in Arles. To his surprise, Honorius sent a relief army under the command of General Flavius Constantius, who broke the siege, caused the enemy to scatter, and forced their leader to return to Hispania.

Ironically, there he posed a danger to the man he had elevated, Maximus, who dismissed him from all his positions and proscribed him. According to Sozomen, he was cornered in a house against which incendiary arrows were launched, and he chose to take his own life along with his wife and an Alan servant.

Despite everything, Constantine III could not breathe easy. His Germanic allies betrayed him and supported yet another usurper, the Gallo-Roman Jovinus, leaving him no choice but to surrender to Flavius Constantius, who in 411 ordered his decapitation along with his surviving son, Julian. Constantius then prudently withdrew before Jovinus, who would be crushed in 413 by the Visigoths of Ataulf, now allies of Honorius. As a reward, Constantius would receive the hand of Gala Placidia, the emperor’s sister, in 417 and he himself would be associated with the throne as Constantius III, though he died seven months later, leaving the legacy to his son Valentinian III.

Siliqua minted in Barcino (Barcelona) with the effigy of Maximus
Siliqua minted in Barcino (Barcelona) with the effigy of Maximus. Credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. / Wikimedia Commons

Gaul had been pacified, although Britannia was lost. But what happened to Hispania? With the absence of Gerontius, Maximus enjoyed full power and minted coins with his name at the Barcino mint (modern-day Barcelona), which he fortified. However, paradoxically, the defeat of his mentor left him in a weakened military position because Gerontius had taken a large part of the available troops to Arles, and now they were lost. Thus, it seemed evident that a campaign by Flavius Constantius to reclaim the Hispanic territory was imminent.

Knowing he could not resist, Maximus renounced and, according to Orosius, after a time of refuge “among the barbarians of Hispania” (he had signed an agreement with the Suebi, Vandals, and Alans in the peninsula to be foederati), ended up retiring to a monastery. In his work Epitoma Chronicon, Prosper of Aquitaine notes that this retirement was made possible because Maximus was pardoned after relinquishing power. Or not, if we heed another source, the Chronicon of Count Marcellinus (Marcellinus Comes), which records a curious epilogue.

It speaks of someone named Maximus who rebelled in Hispania between July 419 and February 421. No one seems to know if it was the same person or another, but his end was definitive: defeated by the comes Hispanorum Asterius, he was sent to Ravenna, where he was executed along with his right-hand man, one Jovinian, during Honorius’ Tricennalia (celebrations for the thirtieth anniversary of his reign) in January 422. That victory and the pacification of the peninsular Vandals earned Asterius the title of patrician and the appointment of magister militum from Constantius III.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on May 29, 2024: Máximo, el usurpador hispano proclamado emperador que gobernó desde Barcelona

Sources

Orosio, Historias | Zósimo, Nueva Historia | Francisco Sanz-Huesma, Usurpaciones en Britania (406-407): hipótesis sobre sus causas y protagonistas | María Fernández B. Portaencasa, A fifth-century “Gallic Empire”: Hispania as part of Constantine III’s usurpation | José Soto Chica, El águila y los cuervos | Michael Kulikowski, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities | Adrian Goldsworthy, La caída del Imperio romano. El ocaso de Occidente | Wikipedia

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