Flavius was born about 0396, the son of Flavius Anicius Probinus and Ennodia of Rome. The place is not known.
He died on 22 APR 0455. The place is not known.
He had two marriages/partners. His first wife was Eparchia of Rome (Gallo). They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their two known children were Papianille (c0430-?) and Audentia (?-?).
His second wife was Licinia Eudoxia Flavia, who he married in 0455. The place has not been found. They had no known children.
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Flavius IV Petronius Maximus |
Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus |
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Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius |
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Turrenia Anicia Juliana |
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Magnus II Clemens |
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Helen |
| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes |
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| Birth | ABT 0396 |
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| Death | 22 APR 0455 |
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| Attribute | Date | Description | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes |
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| Nobility Title | ABT 0411 | praetor | ||||
| Nobility Title | ABT 0415 | tribunus et notarius | ||||
| Nobility Title | FROM 0416 TO 0419 | Comes sacrarum largitionum | ||||
| Nobility Title | FROM 0419 TO 0433 | Praefectus urbanus | ||||
| Nobility Title | 0433 | consul | ||||
| Nobility Title | 0439 | praefectus praetorio italiae | ||||
| Nobility Title | 0443 | consul | ||||
| Nobility Title | 0445 | patrician | ||||
| Nobility Title | FROM 17 MAR 0455 TO 31 MAY 0455 | emperor of the West |
Note 1
When he was granted the title of Patrician in 445, he was briefly the most honored of all non-Imperial Romans, until the third consulate of Aëtius, generalissimo of the Western empire, the following year.
It is clear that the enmity between Maximus and Aetius led to the catastrophic events that brought down the Western Roman Empire. According to the account of John of Antioch, Maximus and the eunuch Heraclius persuaded the emperor Valentinian III to have Aëtius killed – which he did by his own hands. The historian John further alleges that Valentinian's death (March 16, 455) at the hands of Optila and Thranstila was also at Maximus' instigation.
Following Valentinian's death, there was no one obvious successor to the throne: Maximus competed with one Maximianus, son of Domninus, who had been a bodyguard of Aëtius, and with the future emperor Majorian, who had the backing of the empress Licinia Eudoxia. Maximus managed to defeat his rivals by gaining control of the palace and forced Eudoxia to marry him.
Maximus quickly appointed Avitus as Master of Soldiers, and sent him on a mission to Toulouse to gain the support of the Visigoths; however, by the time Avitus arrived, Maximus was dead, and the mission pointless. Within two months of Maximus gaining the throne, word came that Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, had arrived in Italy, news that panicked the inhabitants of Rome. In the disorder Maximus was killed, either by a mob or by "a certain Roman soldier named Ursus".
Three days after Maximus' death on April 22, Gaiseric entered Rome with his army. While the Vandals looted the city and captured people as slaves or hostages, in response to the pleas of Pope Leo I, they desisted from more destructive behaviour that accompanied the sack of a city – arson, torture, and murder.
Note 2
Being of obscure origin, yet belonging to the Anicii family - related to later Emperor Olybrius -, a son either of Probinus or Olybrius, sons of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus