Maximinus Daza became embroiled in the Civil wars of the Tetrarchy between rival claimants for control of the empire, in which he was defeated by Licinius.
14 Facts About Maximinus Daza
2.
Maximinus Daza acquired the name Maximinus Daza at the request of his maternal uncle, Galerius, and his full name as emperor was Galerius Valerius Maximinus.
3.
Maximinus Daza was born in the Roman Illyria region to the sister of emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana, in Dacia Ripensis, a rural area then in the former Danubian region of Moesia, now modern Eastern Serbia.
4.
Maximinus Daza rose to high distinction after joining the Roman Army.
5.
When Licinius and Constantine I began to make common cause, Maximinus Daza entered into a secret alliance with the usurper Maxentius, who controlled Italy.
6.
Maximinus Daza has a bad name in Christian annals for renewing their persecution after the publication of the Edict of Toleration by Galerius, acting in response to the demands of various urban authorities asking to expel Christians.
7.
In one rescript replying to a petition made by the inhabitants of Tyre, transcribed by Eusebius of Caesarea, Maximinus Daza expounds a pagan orthodoxy, explaining that it is through "the kindly care of the gods" that one could hope for good crops, health, and the peaceful sea, and that not being the case, one should blame "the destructive error of the empty vanity of those impious men [that] weighed down the whole world with shame".
8.
Maximinus Daza' death was variously ascribed "to despair, to poison, and to the divine justice".
9.
Maximinus Daza probably married a relative of his uncle Galerius, possibly a daughter or granddaughter.
10.
The Christian writer Eusebius claims that Maximinus Daza was consumed by avarice and superstition.
11.
Maximinus Daza suffered no one to surpass him in debauchery and profligacy, but made himself an instructor in wickedness to those about him, both rulers and subjects.
12.
Maximinus Daza urged on the army to live wantonly in every kind of revelry and intemperance, and encouraged the governors and generals to abuse their subjects with rapacity and covetousness, almost as if they were rulers with him.
13.
Maximinus Daza refers to one high-born Christian woman who rejected his advances.
14.
Maximinus Daza exiled her and seized all of her wealth and assets.