Magnus II Clemens (emperor of the West)

   Maximianus, Macsen Wledig

Personal and Family Information

Magnus was born about 0335 in Hispania, the son of unknown parents.

He died on 23 AUG 0388 in Aquileia, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italia .

His wife was Helen. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their two known children were Ennodia (?-?) and Flavius Victor (?-?).

Events

Attributes

Notes

Note 1

a spaniard

Note 2

Severa Magnus Clemens Maximus was born on the Iberian Peninsula in the mid 4th century. Though from a Roman household, his origins are confused. He was certainly a relative of the Comes Theodosius, whose son was to become Emperor Theodosius the Great, but Welsh writers tell us more. The popular story says he was the son of a Romano-Briton, named Lolelinus (or Llywelyn), who had travelled to Rome and become a senator in the Imperial Senate. Coel Godhebog was thus made Maximus' uncle, and the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, the husband of his cousin, Helena. However, this chronology is all wrong. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that Maximus was of Imperial descent, and other sources show Constantius to have been his ancestor. Maximus, in fact, appears to have been a son of one Maximianus (Geoffrey's name for the former), a younger son of Constantine the Great. The grandaughter of Comes Theodosius married Maximus' cousin, Constantius III. His ancestry should hence be given as here.

Note 3

Magnus Maximus, or Macsen Wledig as he was known to the British, was a general in the Roman Army stationed in Wales. Wledig means Land-Holder or Imperator. His background, possibly maternal, was Spanish, but he was also said to have been a descendant of the Emperor Constantine the Great. As Roman control over the Western Empire began to break down in the late 4th century, Magnus was chosen by his men as Emperor of Britain & Gaul. He travelled to Gaul to persue his claims but was killed in Italy in AD 388