Petronius Maximus

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Petronius Maximus
Eastern emperor
Marcian
Bornc. 397
Died31 May 455 (aged c. 58)
Rome
Spouse
IssuePalladius
FatherPossibly Anicius Probinus

Petronius Maximus (c. 397 – 31 May 455) was

Aëtius, and the Western Roman emperor, Valentinian III
.

After the assassination of the Western Roman magister militum, Aëtius, and the subsequent death of the Western Roman emperor, Valentinian III, Maximus secured the support of the

Genseric. This infuriated both his stepdaughter and Genseric, who sent a fleet to Rome. Maximus failed to obtain troops from the Visigoths and he fled as the Vandals arrived, became detached from his retinue and bodyguard in the confusion, and was killed by fellow Romans. The Vandals thoroughly sacked Rome
in their retaliatory invasion.

The reign of Petronius Maximus marked a significant period of instability and decline for the Western Roman Empire. His brief and controversial rule reflected the political fragmentation and lack of centralized authority that plagued the empire during its final years. The invasion and sacking of Rome by the Vandals underlined the growing vulnerability of the Western Roman Empire, which would ultimately culminate in its collapse in 476.

Early career

Petronius Maximus was born about 397.

Italy from 368 to 375 and again in 383 and consul in 371.[5][6]

Maximus had a remarkable early career. His earliest known office was

Basilica di San Clemente.[8]

Murder of Valentinian III and accession of Maximus

According to the historian

John of Antioch,[12] Maximus poisoned the mind of the Emperor against Aëtius, resulting in the murder of his rival at the hands of Valentinian III. John's account has it that Valentinian and Maximus placed a wager on a game that Maximus ended up losing.[7] As he did not have the money available, Maximus left his ring as a guarantee of his debt. Valentinian then used the ring to summon to court Lucina, the chaste and beautiful wife of Maximus, whom Valentinian had long lusted after. Lucina went to the court, believing she had been summoned by her husband, but instead found herself at dinner with Valentinian. Although she initially resisted his advances, the Emperor managed to wear her down and succeeded in raping her.[7] Returning home and meeting Maximus, she accused him of betrayal, believing that he had handed her over to the Emperor. Although Maximus swore revenge, he was equally motivated by ambition to supplant "a detested and despicable rival",[13] so he decided to move against Valentinian.[7]

According to John of Antioch, Maximus was acutely aware that while Aëtius was alive he could not exact vengeance on Valentinian, so Aëtius had to be removed.

primicerius sacri cubiculi Heraclius, who had long opposed the general, with the hope of exercising more power over the emperor. The two of them convinced Valentinian that Aëtius was planning to assassinate him and urged him to kill his magister militum during a meeting, which Valentinian did with his own hands, with the help of Heraclius, on 21 September 454.[7][14]

The Western Roman Empire at about this period, in red only

Once Aëtius was dead, Maximus asked Valentinian for Aëtius's now-vacant position, but the Emperor refused;[15] Moreover, Heraclius had advised the Emperor not to allow anyone to possess the power that Aëtius had wielded. According to John of Antioch, Maximus was so irritated by Valentinian's refusal to appoint him as his magister militum that he decided to have Valentinian assassinated as well. He chose as accomplices Optilia and Thraustila, two Scythians who had fought under the command of Aetius and who, after the death of their general, had been appointed as Valentinian's escort.[7]

Maximus easily convinced them that Valentinian was the only one responsible for the death of Aetius, and that the two soldiers must avenge their old commander, while at the same time also promising them a reward for the betrayal of the Emperor. On 16 March 455 Valentinian, who was in Rome, went to Campus Martius with some guards, accompanied by Optilia, Thraustila and their men.[7] As soon as the Emperor dismounted to practice with the bow, Optilia came up with his men and stabbed him in the temple. As Valentinian turned to look at his attacker, Optila finished him off with another thrust of his blade. At the same moment, Thraustila killed Heraclius. The two Scythians took the imperial diadem and robe and brought them to Maximus.[7]

The sudden and violent death of Valentinian III left the Western Roman Empire without an obvious successor to the throne. Several candidates were supported by various groups of the imperial bureaucracy and the military. In particular, the army's support was split among three main candidates:[7] Maximianus, the former domesticus (bodyguard) of Aëtius, who was the son of an Egyptian merchant named Domninus who had become rich in Italy; the future emperor Majorian, who commanded the army after the death of Aetius and who had the backing of the Empress Licinia Eudoxia; and Maximus himself, who had the support of the Roman Senate and who secured the throne on 17 March by distributing money to the officials of the imperial palace.[7]

Reign and death

After gaining control of the royal palace, Maximus consolidated his hold on power by immediately marrying Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian.

Geiseric, and married her to his own son. Again he anticipated that this would further his and his family's imperial credentials. This repudiation infuriated the Vandal king, who only needed the excuse of Licinia's despairing appeal to the Vandal court to begin preparations for the invasion of Italy.[17]

By May, within two months of Maximus gaining the throne, news reached Rome that Geiseric was sailing for Italy. As the news spread, panic gripped the city and many of its inhabitants took to flight.[7] The Emperor, aware that Avitus had not yet returned with the expected Visigothic aid, decided that it was fruitless to mount a defence against the Vandals. So he attempted to organise his escape, urging the Senate to accompany him. However, in the panic, Petronius Maximus was abandoned by his bodyguard and entourage and left to fend for himself.[7]

As Maximus rode out of the city on his own on 31 May 455, he was set upon by an angry mob, which stoned him to death (another account has it that he was killed by "a certain Roman soldier named Ursus").

Tiber.[7] He had reigned for only 75 days. His son from his first marriage, Palladius, who had held the title of caesar between 17 March and 31 May, and who had married his stepsister Eudocia, was probably executed.[7][19]

Aftermath

A depiction of the sack of Rome by the Vandals

On 2 June 455, three days after Maximus' death, Geiseric captured the city of Rome and sacked it for two weeks. Amidst the pillaging and looting of the city, and in response to the pleas of Pope Leo I, the Vandals are said to have refrained from arson, torture, and murder.[20] Some modern historians assert that temples, public buildings, private houses and even the emperor's palace were destroyed. The Vandals also shipped many boatloads of Romans to North Africa as slaves, destroyed works of art and killed a number of citizens.[citation needed] The Vandals' activities during the sack gave rise to the modern term vandalism.[21] Geiseric also carried away the empress Licinia Eudoxia and her daughters Placidia and Eudocia.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ Drinkwater & Elton 2002, pp. 118, 120.
  2. ^ Drinkwater & Elton 2002, p. 117.
  3. ^ Drinkwater & Elton 2002, p. 120.
  4. ^ Drinkwater & Elton 2002, p. 112.
  5. S2CID 162744598
    .
  6. ^ Jones & Martindale 1992, vol. 1 p. 737 (1971 ed.).
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Mathisen 1999.
  8. ^ a b Jones & Martindale 1992, p. 750.
  9. ^ Norwich 1990, p. 160.
  10. ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 1600.
  11. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6
    . Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  12. ^ John of Antioch, fragments 200–201; translated in C.D. Gordon, The Age of Attila: Fifth-Century Byzantium and the Barbarians (Ann Arbor, 1960), pp. 51ff
  13. ^ Gibbon 1776, chapter 35.
  14. ^ Cameron, Ward-Perkins & Whitby 2001, p. 473.
  15. ^ a b Jones & Martindale 1992, p. 751.
  16. ^ Cameron, Ward-Perkins & Whitby 2001, p. 20.
  17. ^ Cameron, Ward-Perkins & Whitby 2001, p. 125.
  18. ^ Browne 1859, p. 350.
  19. ^ Cameron, Ward-Perkins & Whitby 2001, p. 21.
  20. ^ Hughes 2017, p. 140.
  21. OCLC 313128834
    .
  22. ^ Norwich 1990, p. 162.

Sources

Regnal titles
Preceded by Western Roman emperor
455 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Aetius
Valerius
 Roman consul
433
with Theodosius Augustus XIV 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman consul II
443
with Paterius 		Succeeded by
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