- Petronius Maximus (455 CE) was a Roman Emperor in the West.
- He caused the Second Sack of Rome (455 CE).
1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
- NAME:
- Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus
- PETRONIUS MAXIMUS’ DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
- 17 March 455 CE to 31 March 455 CE. He lasted two and a half months.
- Co-Emperor with Marcian in the East.
- PETRONIUS MAXIMUS’ DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Born c. 396 CE. Died 31 May 455 CE.
- PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Place of birth unknown. Died in Rome.
- PETRONIUS MAXIMUS’ PREDECESSOR:
- PETRONIUS MAXIMUS’ SUCCESSOR:
- HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
- He was the most powerful man in Italy after General Aetius and Valentinian III had been murdered.
- DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
- He was stoned to death by a mob in Rome.
- WHERE BURIED:
- His body was thrown into the River Tiber.
- PETRONIUS MAXIMUS WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE:
- By cancelling the Engagement between the widowed Empress daughter and Geiseric the Vandal, he caused the Second Sack of Rome.
- In 455 CE, three days after he died, Geiseric and the Vandal army began the Second Sack of Rome which lasted for 14 days.
- EVENTS:
- Second Sack of Rome (455 CE) by Geiseric the Vandal.
- MONUMENTS
- Before he became Emperor, Petronius Maximus built a Forum on the Caelian Hill in Rome.
2. BRIEF SYNOPSIS
EARLY LIFE
- Petronius Maximus rose through the Roman Civil Service to become Praefectus Urbanus of Rome, then Consul in 433 CE and again in 443 CE.
- Petronius Maximus became the most powerful man in Italia, after General Aetius and Valentinian III.
ASSASSINATION OF AETIUS (454 CE) AND VALENTINIAN III (455 CE)
- One source states that Valentinian III raped Petronius Maximus’ wife. In order for Petronius Maximus to take his revenge, he had to remove General Aetius who protected Valentinian III. Petronius Maximus then allied himself with Valentinian III‘s chief Eunuch, Heraclius, and together they convinced Valentinian III that Aetius was organising a Revolt against him.
- On 21 September 454 CE, Valentinian III assassinated Aetius himself, with assistance from Heraclius.
- Petronius Maximus then persuaded two of Aetius‘ aides who had become Valentinian III‘s bodyguards, to assassinate him.
- On 16 March 455 CE, they assassinated him in the Campus Martius, also killing his Eunuch, Heraclius. They brought the crown straight back to Petronius Maximus.
PETRONIUS MAXIMUS IS PROCLAIMED EMPEROR (455 CE)
- On 17 March 455 CE, Petronius Maximus was proclaimed Emperor. But the East refused to recognise him. So he sent Avitus, his Magister Militum, to Toulouse, to raise a Visigothic army.
- Petronius Maximus then married Licinia Eudoxia, Valentinian III‘s widow. He ended the pending marriage alliance of Licinia and Valentinian III‘s daughter, Placidia, to Geiseric the Vandal. So Licinia secretly wrote a letter to Geiseric, appealing for him to intervene. Geiseric raised an army and set sail to invade Italia.
- In May, the news reached Rome that a Vandal fleet was on its way, and the city went into turmoil.
- Petronius Maximus had no army to defend Rome, and Avitus had not returned with a Visigothic army. So he gave permission to anyone who didn’t want to stay, to leave Rome. He himself tried to persuade the Senate to leave with him.
DEATH (455 CE)
- On 31 May, whilst riding his horse in the city, his bodyguards having deserted him, Petronius Maximus was either stoned to death by a Roman mob or assassinated by his slaves. His body was thrown into the river Tiber.
Second Sack of Rome (455 CE)
- On 2 June 455 CE, began the Second Sack of Rome. Geiseric‘s fleet arrived and disembarked his army. With no army to oppose him, he entered Rome and looted it for 14 days.
- He went back to Africa, with the Roman Senators, Licinia and her two daughters, Placidia and Eudocia, where his son Huneric married Eudocia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
- CLASSICAL SOURCES: