The tale of Maxentius is one of the more convoluted accounts of any Roman emperor. It all started when some years before Diocletian came up with his Tetrarchy scheme. Together with Maximian, both were to be Augusti ruling jointly with each overseeing half of the empire. Each in turn named a Caesar as right-hand-man and would succeed the emperor when the latter died. Maximian was the father of Maxentius and, in other times, would have normally been Maximian's successor but the new ruling format had no place for him. When Diocletian abdicated and forced Maximian to do likewise Maxentius lost all hope....

Second wife of Constantine I and daughter of Maximian. Fausta was blamed for presenting false accusations of intended rape against her by Crispus, her stepson. Constantine then had his son murdered as a result. When the plot was revealed Constantine avenged Crispus's innocence by having her boiled to death.   AU Solidus RIC 12 (Constantinople) AE3 Obv: FLAVMAXFAVSTAAVG - Draped bust right. Rev: SALVSREIPVBLICAE Exe: SMT - Salus standing left, holding a baby in each arm. 326 (Constantinopolis). $111,197 12/16/03.   AE3 RIC 12 (Constantinople) AE3 Obv: FLAVMAXFAVSTAAVG...

Originally Diokles, a greek name, Diocletian gained the Latinized form of his name shortly before masterminding a revolt against Carinus. When Carinus received news of this insolence he set out at once with a large army to confront him. The two sides met in a prolonged and bloody match the results of which were finally turning against Diocletian. Seeing that all was lost he prepared to flee with what was left of his army when the most amazing thing happened. It seems Carinus had seduced the wife of one of his bodyguards who, for whatever possible reason, chose during the waning moments of the battle...

If the accounts of chroniclers of the day can be believed, Constantius was the grandnephew of Claudius Gothicus. However, the links to Claudius may have been made up by Constantius sympathizers who noted that Claudius's niece (Claudia) had the same name as his great-aunt. The link would have been valuable as a means to substantiate an imperial line of succession from a desirable former emperor. Whatever his ancestry, Constantius climbed the military ranks and was in the position of Praetorian Prefect under Maximian. When Maximian was elevated as co-emperor he selected Constantius as his Caesar...