Gaius Claudius Maximus (fl. 2nd century AD) was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
politician, a
Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
* STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
* ...
philosopher and a teacher of
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
. No works by him are known to exist; however, he is mentioned in a few prestigious works from classical literature.
Life
Anthony Birley
Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was the son of Margaret Isabel (Goodlet) and historian and archaeologist Eric Birley.
Early life and education
Anthony ...
believes that Maximus was born no later than AD 99. An inscription from
Aquincum
Aquincum (, ) was an ancient city, situated on the northeastern borders of the province of Pannonia within the Roman Empire. The ruins of the city can be found today in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. It is believed that Marcus Aurelius w ...
(now at the Gorsium Szabadtéri Museum) provides us details of his ''
cursus honorum
The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...
''. The earliest office Maximus is attested as holding was in the ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum'', one of the four boards that formed the ''
vigintiviri
__NOTOC__The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards:
* the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 1 ...
''; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate. Next he was commissioned a
military tribune
A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone to ...
in
Legio IV Scythica
Legio was a Roman military camp south of Tel Megiddo in the Roman province of Galilee.
History
Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136CE), Legio VI Ferrata was stationed at Legio near Caparcotna. The approximate location of the camp of the Le ...
, during which time he distinguished himself, earning ''
dona militaria
As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for military transgressions.
Decorations, awards and victory titles
Crowns
*Grass crown ...
'' from the emperor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
. Maximus returned to Rome, where he became a
quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...
serving in the city, and upon completion of this traditional Republican magistracy Maximus was enrolled in the Senate. Following this he served as ''ab actis Senatus'', or recorder of the
Acta Senatus. Two more of the traditional Republican magistracies then followed:
plebeian tribune
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...
, and
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
.
Once he stepped down from his duties as praetor, Maximus was assigned a series of imperial posts. First was curator of the
Via Aurelia
The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Cla ...
, which
Géza Alföldy
Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history.
Life
Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he i ...
dates to around 132.
[Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen'' (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 334] Next he was commissioned ''
legatus legionis
A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...
'' or commander of
Legio I Adiutrix
Legio I Adiutrix ( First Legion "Rescuer"), was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 68, possibly by Galba when he rebelled against emperor Nero (r. 54–68). The last record mentioning the ''Adiutrix'' is in 344, when it was stati ...
, then stationed at
Brigetio; Alföldy dates this appointment from around 134 to 137.
[ Maximus served as ''juridius utriusque Pannonia'', which was followed by governor of ]Pannonia Inferior
Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...
alone, Alföldy dating the later office from the year 137 to 141. This was followed by his consulship.
Only a few offices of the consular portion of his ''cursus honorum'' are known. One is curator of ''aedium sacrarum canabenses publice'', which Alföldy dates to around 144. The second was proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...
ar governor of Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
in 158/159. While proconsul he presided at the trial where Apuleius
Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...
delivered a defense against a charge of magic. The ''Historia Augusta
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
'' mentions Claudius Maximus as one of Marcus Aurelius' Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
* STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
* ...
teachers. Marcus Aurelius also mentions Maximus’ sickness and death as well as that of his wife, Secunda, in his ''Meditations
''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...
''. As Marcus says Antoninus witnessed Maximus' illness, if this was the cause of his death, then he must have died at some point before the death of Antoninus in 161 AD.
The ''Historia Augusta'' reports the following anecdote from the life of Antoninus Pius, which does not refer to Claudius Maximus, rather it says Apollonius, as Marcus' other main tutors appear to have outlived Antoninus.
It is related of him, too, as an instance of his regard for his family, that when Marcus ureliuswas mourning the death of his tutor and was restrained by the palace servants from this display of affection, the Emperor ntoninus Piussaid: "Let him be only a man for once; for neither philosophy nor empire takes away natural feeling".
Characterization in works
In the ''Meditations''
In the first book of his ''Meditations'', Marcus Aurelius remembers all of the people who have had a strong and benevolent influence upon him. A "Maximus" is listed last among Marcus Aurelius' teachers and to him is given one of the longer descriptions in the first book. It is likely that Maximus' education of the future emperor took place during the reign of Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatoria ...
. Marcus claims to have learned from Maximus among other virtues self-control, honesty, gravity of character, and kindness. He describes Maximus as the perfect sage.
Later in the ''Meditations'', Marcus Aurelius, when reflecting on suffering and death remembers how Maximus endured sickness and the death of his wife without complaint. He takes this as a model of good behavior.
Historians have had difficulty in the past identifying the person of "Maximus" mentioned in the ''Meditations''. Méric Casaubon
Meric Casaubon (14 August 1599 in Geneva – 14 July 1671 in Canterbury), son of Isaac Casaubon, was a French-English classical scholar. He was the first to translate the ''Meditations'' of Marcus Aurelius into English.
Although biographical di ...
in his 1692 edition of the ''Meditations'' refutes in his footnotes a previously held identification of this Maximus with "that other Maximus Tyrius
Maximus of Tyre ( el, Μάξιμος Τύριος; fl. late 2nd century AD), also known as Cassius Maximus Tyrius, was a Greek rhetorician and philosopher who lived in the time of the Antonines and Commodus, and who belongs to the trend of the ...
; mentioned by Eusebius." William Smith some two hundred years later wrote, "Some have identified Claudius Maximus with the Maximus who was consul, A.D. 144; Fabricius... identifies him with the Claudius Maximus, 'proconsul of frica." He concludes, however, that the truth of all these identifications is "very uncertain." Only towards the end of the 20th century has there been any consensus on the matter favoring full identification of all these persons with the Maximus of the ''Meditations'' (excepting Maximus Tyrius, who was a Platonic).
In the ''Apologia''
In the ''Apologia'', Apuleius, author of ''The Golden Ass
The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.
The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the no ...
'', the only completely-surviving Roman novel, attempts to defend himself against a charge of magic, largely by appealing to his judge whom he identifies as Claudius Maximus. According to Apuleius, Maximus was a pious man who shunned ostentatious displays of wealth and was intimately familiar with the works of Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
. Apuleius refers to Maximus as "one, who holds so austere a creed and has so long endured military service". Apuleius also makes reference to the sternness of his judge's philosophy which is understood to be a reference to Stoicism. Though Apuleius is clearly trying to flatter his judge, at least some of his attributions were likely true since he was acquitted.
In the ''Historia Augusta''
The ''Historia Augusta
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
'' mentions Claudius Maximus in a single sentence in the section on Marcus Aurelius. The sentence is unclear as to whether the philosophers listed were Stoics or whether the intention is to mention unspecified Stoic philosophers. It is from this entry that association was originally made between the Claudius Maximus of the ''Apologia'' and the Maximus mentioned in the ''Meditations''. Although the ''Historia Augusta'' is known for its inaccuracies, Pierre Hadot
Pierre Hadot (; ; 21 February 1922 – 24 April 2010) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy specializing in ancient philosophy, particularly Neoplatonism.
Life
In 1944, Hadot was ordained, but following Pope Pius XII’s e ...
feels that there is no reason to doubt this portion of the text because it accurately characterizes other philosophers mentioned in the same paragraph.[Hadot, ''The Inner Citadel'' (1998), p. 17] On the other hand, the identification of Sextus of Chaeronea
Sextus of Chaeronea ( grc-gre, Σέξτος ὁ Χαιρωνεύς ''Sextos ho Chaironeus''; c. 95 – c. 185) was a philosopher, a nephew or grandson of Plutarch, and one of the teachers of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Biography
The ''Suda'' ( ...
as a Stoic is disputed.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Maximus
2nd-century Romans
2nd-century philosophers
Philosophers of Roman Italy
Roman-era Stoic philosophers
Roman governors of Pannonia Superior
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Africa
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Maximus
Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to:
* Circus Maximus (disambiguation)
* Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome
People Roman h ...