Turney, Simon Emperor Maxentius

The Last Great Roman

This is the biography of the last man who can truly be called a Roman emperor. Maxentius was the last pagan emperor to rule in Rome itself, the last emperor to reside on the Palatine Hill, and the last emperor with a Praetorian Guard. He was a prolific builder, popular with the people and armies of Rome, and surprisingly successful against impressive odds, fighting two opposing emperors until he was brought down by disaster at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Simon Turney examines his background (he was the son of Emperor Maximian) and describes the context of the imperial situation of the Tetrarchy that led to his rise. He reviews all the architectural, numismatic and inscriptional evidence and attempts to identify where Christian (and Constantinian) prejudices have distorted the truth. He recounts Maxentius' six-year reign during a turbulent period of civil wars, culminating in the dramatic Battle of the Milvian Bridge, in which he fell. He debunks the later denigration by Christian sources and reveals a capable emperor, a great builder (whose legacy in the form of monuments is still visible today) and, ironically, a tolerant ruler who ended the great persecution of Christians in his territories years before Constantine.