Maximianus Herculius in Roman Biography

Max-im'i-an, [Fr. Maximien, maVse'me-i.N' ; Lat. Maximia'nus,] or, more fully, Mar'cus Vale'rius Maximia'nus, a Roman emperor, born in Pannonia, was the son of a peasant. He had obtained high rank in the army when Diocletian, in 286 A.D., adopted him as his colleague in the empire. In the division of the empire, Italy and Africa were assigned to Maximian. In 305 Diocletian and Maximian formally abdicated in favour of Galerius and Constantius Chlorns. The next year he joined his son Maxentius in an effort to recover power, and was proclaimed emperor. In the war that ensued between hiin and Constantine he was taken prisoner, and executed in 310. (See Maxentius.) See Gibbon, "Dec'ine and Fall of the Roman Empire ;" Tille- MONT, " Histoire des Empereurs."