A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

984 —'MAXIMINUS. M'AXIMINUS.
their discontent, until a regular conspiracy was insurrection in Africa headed by the Gordians, of
matured, which ended in the assassination of the favour displayed by the provinces and the
Severus in Gaul [SEVERVS ], and in his own inves- senate towards their cause, of the resolutions by
titure (A. D. 235) with the purple by the mutinous which he himself had been declared a public enemy,
soldiers, whose choice was not resisted by an intimi- of the subsequent elevation of Maximus with Baldated senate. binus, and of their recognition in Italy by all orders
Maximinus immediately bestowed the title of of the state. He is said upon this occasion to have
Caesar on his son Maximus, and without seeking to rent his garments, to have thrown himself upon
display his new dignity in the metropolis, deter- the ground and dashed his head against the wall in
mined to prosecute with all vigour the war against impotent fury, to have howled like a wild beast, to
the Germans, and accordingly crossed the Rhine have struck all whom he encountered, and to have
towards the end of the year A. D. 235. The cam- attempted to tear out the eyes of his own son.
paign, which lasted for upwards of eighteen months, Abandoning at once his projected expedition, orders
was triumphantly successful. The enemy, after were instantly given -to march against Rome.
having in vain attempted to withstand the progress Passing over the Julian Alp, the army descended
of the invaders, were compelled to take refuge in upon Aquileia. That important city, the chief
their woods and-marshes,- many thousand villages bulwark of the peninsula on the north-eastern
were destroyed, the flocks and herds were slaugh- frontier, stimulated by the patriotic zeal of Cristered or driven off, a vast amount of plunder, in- pinus and Menophilus, the two consulars entrusted
cluding multitudes of prisoners, was secured, and with the defence of the district, shut its gates
the emperor retired to Pannonia in the autumn of against the tyrant, who was forced to form a re237, with the resolution of re-crossing the Danube gular siege. The walls were bravely defended,
in the following spring, in order that he might sub- and the assailants suffered severely, not only from
jugate the Sarmatians and carry his arms even to the valour of the townsmen, but likewise from
the shores of the ocean. Meanwhile, his adminis- the want of supplies, the whole of the surrounding
tration had been characterised by a degree of district having been laid waste in anticipation of
oppression and sanguinary excess hitherto unex- their approach. The bad passions and ungovernampled. His maxim, we are assured, was "aisi able temper of Maximinus were lashed into frenzy
cruedelitate imperium non teneri," and' unquestion- by these delays, the chief officers were put to death,
ably his practice seems to have been guided by and the most intemperate harshness employed tosome such brutal principle.' This violence was wards the men. At length a body of praetorians,
first called forth by the discovery of an extensive dreading some new outbreak of cruelty, repaired to
plot, contrived originally, we are told, by a certain the tent of, the emperor and his son, who were reMagnus, a consular, in which many officers and posing during the mid-day heat, and having forced
men of rank were involved. The vengeance of the an entrance, cut off their heads, which were first
tyrant was not glutted until four thousand victims displayed on poles to the gaze of the citizens on
had been sacrificed, the greater number of whom the battlements of Aquileia, and then despatched
were destroyed upon the most vague suspicion. to Rome. The grisly trophies were exposed for
From this time forward informers were encouraged a time to public view,' that all might revel in the
to ply their trade. An accusation was instantly spectacle, and then burned in the Campus Marfollowed by a sentence of death or confiscation; tins, amidst the insulting shouts of the crowd.
the most opulent were persecuted with untiring These feelings were shared by all the civilised prorancour; and numbers of illustrious families reduced vinces in the empire, although the rude dwellers
to indigence. When the sums lavished: on the on the northern frontiers lamented the loss of a
troops could no longer be supplied by the plunder sovereign chosen from among themselves.
of private individuals, the next step was to lay We have already seen that Maximinus owed his
violent hands on public property of every descrip- first advancement to his physical powers, which
tion. The sums reserved in the treasury for the seem to have been almost incredible. His height
purchase of corn, the fund set apart for theatrical exceeded'eight feet, but his person was not unexhibitions, the wealth accumulated in the temples, graceful, for the size and muscular development of
and the very statues of the gods, were all ruthlessly his limbs were in proportion to his stature, the cirseized,-proceedings which called forth expressions cumference of his thumb being equal to that of a
of such deep indignation, that the soldiers were woman's wrist,'so that the bracelet of his wife
ashamed to enrich themselves from these sources. served him for a ring. His fair skin gave token of
Against no class did the jealous rage of Maximinus his Scandinavian extraction, while the remarkable
burn so fiercely as against' the senate. Remem- magnitude of his eyes communicated a bold and
bering with bitterness the insults he had endured imposing expression to his features. In addition
in former days from the very slaves of the haughty to his unequalled prowess as a wrestler, he was able
nobles, he eagerly seized every pretext for pillaging, single-handed to drag a loaded waggon, could with
exiling, and murdering the members of a body so his fist knock out the grinders, and with a kick
detested. The. same ferocity broke forth even break the leg of a horse; while his appetite was
against the soldiers, who were subjected for trivial such, that in a day he could eat forty pounds of
offences to the most horrid tortures, so that history meat, and drink -an amphora of wine. At least
and mythology were ransacked to discover some such are the statements of ancient writers, though
monstrous prototype for the man whom they had they should doubtless be received with some
once loved to term Hercules, or Ajax, or Achilles, deductions.
but who was now more frequently designated as The chronology of this reign, which is extremely
Cyclops,' or Busiris, or Sciron, or Phalaris, or obscure, in consequence of the ignorance and careTyphon, or Gyges., But this fury was kindled lessness of our ancient authorities, has been eluciinto absolute madness, when, in the beginning of dated with great skill by Eckhel, whose arguments,
4. P. 238, Maximinus received intelligence of. the founded chiefly upon the evidence afforded by