Maximian

Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, about 250 to about July 310), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305, after serving as Caesar from 285. He shared the rank of Augustus with Diocletian, whose political judgment complemented Maximian's military strength, and he made his residence at Trier while spending most of his time on campaign. He put down the Bagaudae rebels in Gaul in 285, fought Germanic tribes along the Rhine until 288, and failed to remove Carausius, the commander he had appointed to guard the Channel, who broke away with Britain and north-western Gaul in 286. After campaigns against piracy and Berber raids ended in 298 he lived in Italy, then abdicated on 1 May 305 at Diocletian's wish. He returned to the purple in 306 to support his son Maxentius, was forced to renounce the claim again in 308, and killed himself in 310 on Constantine's orders after a failed attempt on Constantine's title. His image was purged and then rehabilitated, and he was deified.