Roman consul and historian (c.160 – c.230)
This article is about the Roman biographer and historian. For other people with the name Marius, see
Marius.
Lucius Marius Maximus Perpetuus Aurelianus (more commonly known as Marius Maximus) (c. AD 160 – c. AD 230) was a Roman
biographer, writing in
Latin, who in the early decades of the 3rd century AD wrote a series of biographies of twelve Emperors, imitating and continuing
Suetonius. Marius's work is lost, but it was still being read in the late 4th century and was used as a source by writers of that era, notably the author of the
Historia Augusta. The nature and reliability of Marius's work, and the extent to which the earlier part of the
HA draws upon it, are two vexed questions among the many problems that the
HA continues to pose for students of Roman history and literature.
Career
It is more or less agreed that Marius Maximus the biographer is identical with one of the most successful senators of the
Prefect of the City of Rome.
[1] His family may have hailed from
Africa and was not senatorial; his father, L. Marius Perpetuus, was an
Equestrian procurator in
Gaul but evidently secured entry to the senatorial order for his son as a
novus homo.
Probably born about 160 AD, Marius Maximus’ military career began in the reign of
Plebeian Tribune
.
He became a
.
In 197, Marius Maximus was the dux exercitus of Moesia and
Coele-Syria
, probably from 205 until 208.
Then, between the years 213 and 217, Marius Maximus became the first ex-consul ever to hold both the Proconsulship of Asia, and that of Africa, in succession. The order is not certain, although it is more likely that he held the governorship of Africa from 213/214, followed by the governorship of Asia from 215 to 216. Regardless, it was unprecedented to hold both Proconsulships, as either one of which conventionally crowned a senator's career. Further, he held the proconsular governorship of Asia for two consecutive years, which was also extraordinary. This suggests he was held in great esteem by Caracalla.[3]
His career continued after Caracalla's murder, with his appointment as .
Christian Settipani believes that Marius Maximus was married to Cassia Marciana, sister of Cassius Dio, another prominent historian.[4] Together, they had a son, Lucius Marius Maximus, who was consul in AD 232. Marius also had a brother who was a suffect consul around AD 203, Lucius Marius Perpetuus.
The biographies
It is not known for certain when Marius wrote his work, apparently entitled Caesares, but presumably towards the end of his career. It was intended as a continuation of the Twelve Caesars of Suetonius, and apparently covered the next twelve reigns, from
Dio Cassius, but he preferred the anecdotal and, indeed, frivolous forms of biography. His writings come in for adverse criticism from
Jerome,
Ammianus Marcellinus, and also the anonymous author of the
Historia Augusta, who nevertheless cites him directly at least twenty-six times (apparently in most cases quoting or summarizing passages from Marius's lost work) and probably uses him in many places elsewhere. Marius's intention seems to have been to follow and out-perform
Suetonius in serving up gossip, spicy details of the Emperors’ private lives, cynical comments, scandalous anecdotes, and curiosa. He also quoted from letters, senatorial edicts and so on, but seems to have invented some of these – a practice which the
HA author adopted with enormous enthusiasm and bravura. However his work, sensationalist or not, must have contained much valuable information. The
HA’s narration of the assassination of Elagabalus, well told and full of authentic-seeming circumstantial detail, is generally considered to derive from Marius Maximus.
Marius and the Historia Augusta
There has long been a school of thought that holds that the lives of the Emperors
, and so on. It is more likely in Syme's opinion that Marius was a secondary source, and that the
HA author was following in the main a more sober source, ‘Ignotus, the Good Biographer’.
See also
Fragments and Testimonia
Sources
- Anthony Birley, "Marius Maximus: The Consular Biographer," ANRW II.34.3 (1997) 2678–2757.
- Inge Mennen, Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284 (BRILL, 2011)
- Sir Ronald Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta (Oxford, 1968)
- Sir Ronald Syme, Emperors and Biography (Oxford, 1971)
References
- ^ Mennen, pgs. 109-110
- ^ Mennen, pg. 109
- ^ Mennen, pg. 111
- ^ Settipani, Christian, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale (2000), pp. 361-362
External links
Political offices
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Preceded by Uncertain
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Consul suffectus of the Roman Empire around AD 199/200
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Succeeded by Uncertain
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