The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313 · External witness
Maximian Herculius
c. AD 250 – 310 (forced suicide) · Co-Augustus of Diocletian · Enforcer of the persecution in the West · Milan → Massilia
External witness
Who Maximian Herculius was
Diocletian's blunt colleague in the purple — 'Herculius' to Diocletian's 'Jovius' — who enforced the persecution edicts in Italy and Africa with a soldier's thoroughness. He abdicated with his senior in 305, snatched at power twice more, and was forced to hang himself at Marseilles after plotting against his son-in-law Constantine: Lactantius's gallery of ends gave him a chapter of his own.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses and roman emperors.
Common questions
When did Maximian Herculius live?
Maximian Herculius is dated c. AD 250 – 310 (forced suicide) in the archive, which places Maximian Herculius in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Maximian Herculius?
Maximian Herculius is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Maximian Herculius from?
The archive associates Maximian Herculius with Milan, Massilia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Maximian Herculius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Maximian Herculius to 6 other figures, including Emperor Diocletian, Constantine the Great, Emperor Maxentius and Emperor Galerius. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 30
c. AD 315That great Herculius… his neck broken in the noose, ended his detestable life by a death fitted to it.Lactantius · 30 · source text
Ecclesiastical History VIII (appendix)
c. AD 325Maximian, who with Diocletian had held the first place, was the author with him of the war against us.Eusebius of Caesarea · VIII app. · source text
Connected in the archive
People
- Emperor Diocletian
- Constantine the Great
- Emperor Maxentius
- Emperor Galerius
- Constantius I Chlorus
- Severus II
Events in this lifetime
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Maximian Herculius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.