Maxentius Acclaimed at Rome

Rome had accepted a reduced role under the Tetrarchy: ceremonies, a praefectus urbi, fewer decisions. In 306, after Constantine’s acclamation at Eboracum, the city seized a chance to matter. Maxentius, son of the retired Augustus Maximian, was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorians and the urban crowd, an assertion that defied the college and invited retaliation [16][11][1].

Severus II, the lawful Caesar now Augustus in the West by the 305 plan, marched on Rome. Lactantius’ sharp narrative tells how the effort unraveled—Maxentius lured Severus’ troops, many of whom had served under Maximian, into defecting. Severus retreated to Ravenna and was captured; his bid to restore order died in the trap of Rome’s revived charisma [1][16]. The sound in the city was triumphant: drums, cheers, crimson standards shaking along the Via Sacra.

Maximian, tasting the purple again, returned to the stage to bolster his son’s claim. For the college, the roster became a jigsaw with pieces from two boxes. Galerius faced a Rome that no longer deferred and a West now split between Constantine and Maxentius.

The city’s geography mattered. Rome’s walls and prestige could shield an upstart; its grain could be seized; its voice could rally Italian municipalities that resented distant capitals. The Tetrarchy had moved power to Trier and Mediolanum; Rome had just dragged some back.