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Maximinus Daia

Gaius Valerius Galerius Maximinus was born in 270 and was the nephew of Galerius though this did not change the fact he was born a peasant. After joining the army he rose through the ranks to a position of great distinction after which he was adopted by Galerius and promoted to Caesar. Once Licinius rose to Augustus, both Maximinus and Constantine were declared “sons of the augusti” which didn’t hold much more rank than Caesar and it is believed that in 310 Maximinus promoted himself to Augustus during an expedition against the Sassanid’s. 

Following the death of Galerius in 311, Maximinus took it upon himself to divide the empire between himself and Licinius. Upon discovering that Licinius and Constantine had joined together in power, he and the usurper Maxentius (a Caesar at the time) entered into an alliance with each other that was kept secret.

In 313 when war was raged between Licinius and Maximinus, Maximinus was defeated and fled towards Tarsus where he later committed suicide. 

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