Maximianus Herculius
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."
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（Ἀριστομένης). A Messenian, the hero of the second war with Sparta, who belongs more to legend than to history. He was a native of Andania, and was sprung from the royal line of Aepytus. Tired of the yoke of Sparta, he began the war in B.C. 685. After the defeat of the Messenians, in the third year of the war, Aristomenes retreated to the mountain fortress of Ira, and there maintained the war for eleven years, constantly ravaging the land of Laconia. In one of his incursions the Spartans overpowered him with superior numbers, and, carrying him with fifty of his comrades to Sparta, cast them into the pit where condemned criminals were thrown. The rest perished; but not so Aristomenes, the favourite of the gods; for legends tell how an eagle bore him up on its wings as he fell, and a fox guided him on the third day from the cavern. But the city of Ira, which he had so long successfully defended, fell into the hands of the Spartans, who again became masters of Messenia, B.C. 668. Aristomenes settled at Ialysus, in Rhodes, where he married his daughter to Damagetus, king of Ialysus.
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Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus (c. 250 – c. July 310),[8] commonly known as Maximian, was Roman Emperor from 285 to 305. He was
Caesar[1][2] from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286[3] to 305.[4] He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior,
Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent most
of his time on campaign. In the late summer of 285, he suppressed rebels in Gaul known as the Bagaudae. From 285 to 288, he fought
against Germanic tribes along the Rhine frontier. Together with Diocletian, he launched a scorched earth campaign deep into
Alamannic territory in 288, temporarily relieving the Rhine provinces from the threat of Germanic invasion.
The man he appointed to police the Channel shores, Carausius, rebelled in 286, causing the secession of Britain and northwestern
Gaul. Maximian failed to oust Carausius, and his invasion fleet was destroyed by storms in 289 or 290. Maximan's subordinate,
Constantius, campaigned against Carausius' successor, Allectus, while Maximian held the Rhine frontier. The rebel leader was ousted
in 296, and Maximian moved south to combat piracy near Hispania and Berber incursions in Mauretania. When these campaigns concluded
in 298, he departed for Italy, where he lived in comfort until 305. At Diocletian's behest, Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, gave
the Augustan office to Constantius, and retired to southern Italy...
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A Roman emperor, who ruled A.D. 286-305, originally a
Pannonian soldier. He was made by Diocletian his colleague in
the Empire, but was compelled to abdicate along with the
latter. (See Diocletianus.) When his son Maxentius assumed the
imperial title in the following year (306 A.D.), he resided
some time at Rome; but being expelled from the city by
Maxentius, he took refuge in Gaul with Constantine, who had
married his daughter Fausta. Here he was compelled by
Constantine, against whom he is said to have conspired, to put
an end to his own life in 310.
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