MAXENTIUS, Marcus Aurelius Valerius, Roman emperor from 306 to 312, was the son of Maximianus Herculius, and the son-in-law of Galerius, but on account of his vices and incapacity was left out of account in the division of the empire which took place in 305. A variety of causes, however, had produced strong dissatisfaction at Rome with many of the arrangements established by Diocletian, and the public discontent on October 28, 306, found expression in the massacre of those magistrates who maintained their loyalty to Severus and in the election of Maxentius to the imperial dignity,—an election in which the rest of Italy, as well as Africa, concurred. With the help of his father, Maxentius was enabled to put Severus to death and to repel the invasion of Galerius; his next steps were first to banish Maximian, and then, after achieving a military success in Africa against one Alexander, to declare war against Constantine for the conduct towards the old emperor of which he in turn had been guilty at Marseilles. The contest resulted in the defeat of Maxentius at Saxa Rubra, and his death by drowning in the Tiber at the Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. (See Constantine.) The general testimony to the worthlessness and brutality of his character is unambiguous and unanimous; less apparent are the grounds for the particular statement of Gibbon that he was “just, humane, and even partial towards the afflicted Christians.”