For a collector of the Tetrarchic era, the coinage of Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius is a fascinating anomaly. While his rivals, Constantine and Licinius, were moving toward a new, increasingly Christianized imperial identity, Maxentius (306–312 AD) used the Roman mint to stage a defiant “Pagan Renaissance.” To hold a bronze follis of Maxentius is to hold the propaganda of a man who viewed himself not as a usurper, but as the true “Conservator Urbis Suae”—the Preserver of His Own City. While history, written by the victors, paints him as a tyrant, his coins reveal a ruler deeply invested in the classical glory of Rome.
The Prince in Exile: 305–306 AD
Maxentius was the son of the senior Augustus Maximian, born into the purple but denied the throne. When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated in 305 AD, the “sons of the Augusti”—Maxentius and Constantine—were famously overlooked in favor of Galerius’s hand-picked candidates. Maxentius retired to his sprawling estate on the Via Appia, watching with growing resentment as the Empire moved on without him.
But when Constantine was acclaimed Augustus by his troops in Britain in 306 AD, Maxentius saw his opening. Supported by the disgruntled Praetorian Guard and a Senate that felt marginalized by the new Eastern capitals, Maxentius was proclaimed Princeps in Rome on October 28, 306 AD. He didn’t just seize a city; he seized the symbolic heart of the world.
The Conservator of the City
Because Maxentius was never officially recognized by the other Tetrarchs, he had to work twice as hard to prove his legitimacy to the people of Italy and Africa. His numismatic strategy was genius: he leaned into the “Old Religion” and the ancient traditions of Rome.
The most iconic coin of Maxentius features a six-columned temple on the reverse, housing the goddess Roma. The legend reads CONSERVATOR VRBIS SVAE. While other emperors were building new capitals in Trier or Nicomedia, Maxentius was rebuilding Rome. He initiated massive projects like the Basilica of Maxentius (the largest structure in the Forum) and his own circus and palace complex. On his coins, he wasn’t a soldier-emperor of the frontiers; he was the guardian of the Eternal City.
The Conflict of the Three Augusti
The years 307–310 AD were a chaotic “Game of Thrones.” Maxentius’s father, Maximian, came out of retirement to help his son defeat and execute the legitimate Augustus, Severus. For a brief moment, the coins of Rome featured father and son as a unified front. However, the two soon quarreled—Maximian even tried to literally strip the purple robe off his son during a public assembly.
Maximian fled to the court of Constantine, and later, at the Conference of Carnuntum in 308 AD, Diocletian himself returned to declare Maxentius a “public enemy.” Maxentius responded by striking coins with even more traditional symbols—the She-wolf and Twins (Romulus and Remus) became a standard reverse type, a bold statement that he alone held the pedigree of the founders.
The African Rebellion: 308–310 AD
Maxentius’s power rested on the grain supply from North Africa. In 308 AD, his vicar there, Domitius Alexander, revolted and cut off the grain ships, threatening Rome with famine. Maxentius showed a rare flash of military decisiveness, sending a force to crush the rebellion and execute Alexander by 310 AD.
Collectors highly prize the “Revolt of Alexander” coins—they are crude, rare, and represent one of the few times a provincial official challenged the master of Rome during this period. With Africa secured, Maxentius turned his full attention to the threat crossing the Alps: Constantine.
The Milvian Bridge: 312 AD
The final showdown took place on October 28, 312 AD—the sixth anniversary of Maxentius’s rise. While Constantine reportedly saw a vision of the Chi-Rho (☧) and the cross in the sky, Maxentius consulted the Sibylline Books, which enigmatically told him that “on that day, the enemy of the Romans would perish.”
Maxentius chose to meet Constantine outside the walls of Rome at the Milvian Bridge. In the heat of the battle, Maxentius’s retreat turned into a rout. The temporary wooden bridge collapsed under the weight of his fleeing heavy cavalry, and Maxentius, weighed down by his ornate armor, fell into the Tiber and drowned.
The Winner Takes the Basilica
Constantine entered Rome as a liberator. In a final act of historical irony, he completed the massive building projects Maxentius had started, simply carving his own name into the stones. The Basilica of Maxentius became the Basilica of Constantine.
For the numismatist, the death of Maxentius marks the end of a specific era of Roman art. His coins are the last to feature the classical, high-relief style of the traditional Roman gods with such conviction. When you add a Maxentius follis to your collection, you are holding the “what if” of the 4th century—the last gasp of a Rome that wanted to remain Pagan, traditional, and centered on its own ancient hills.
