Editing Maximian (section)

==Campaigns in North Africa==
[[File:Statue of Maximian, from Utica (Tunisia), Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden (9642554439).jpg|alt=Cuirassed statue of Maximian or Diocletian from the city of Utica in modern day Tunisia. Late 3rd century.|thumb|Cuirassed statue of Maximian or Diocletian from the city of Utica in modern day [[Tunisia]]. Late 3rd century.<ref>[http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=1401 http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-1029 (J. Lenaghan)]</ref>]]
With Constantius' victorious return, Maximian was able to focus on the conflict in Mauretania ([[Northwest Africa]]).{{sfnm|1a1=Barnes|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Southern|2y=2001|2p=150|3a1=Williams|3y=1997|3pp=73–75}} As Roman authority weakened during the third century, nomadic Berber tribes harassed settlements in the region with increasingly severe consequences. In 289, the governor of [[Mauretania Caesariensis]] (roughly modern [[Algeria]]) gained a temporary respite by pitting a small army against the [[Bavares]] and [[Quinquegentiani]], but the raiders soon returned. In 296, Maximian raised an army, from [[Praetorian Guard|Praetorian cohorts]], [[Aquileia]]n, Egyptian, and Danubian legionaries, Gallic and German [[Auxiliaries (Roman military)|auxiliaries]], and [[Thracian]] recruits, advancing through Spain later that year.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnes|1y=1982|1p=59|2a1=Williams|2y=1997|2p=75}} He may have defended the region against raiding [[Moors]]{{sfn|Barnes|1981|p=16}} before crossing the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] into [[Mauretania Tingitana]] (roughly modern [[Morocco]]) to protect the area from Frankish pirates.{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=75}}

By March 297, Maximian had begun a bloody offensive against the Berbers. The campaign was lengthy, and Maximian spent the winter of 297–298 resting in [[Carthage]] before returning to the field.<ref>Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 16; Barnes, ''New Empire'', 59.</ref> Not content to drive them back into their homelands in the [[Atlas Mountains]] – from which they could continue to wage war – Maximian ventured deep into Berber territory. The terrain was unfavorable, and the Berbers were skilled at [[guerrilla warfare]], but Maximian pressed on. Apparently wishing to inflict as much punishment as possible on the tribes, he devastated previously secure land, killed as many as he could, and drove the remainder back into the [[Sahara]].<ref name="ODHW">Odahl, 58; Williams, 75.</ref> His campaign was concluded by early 298 and, on 10 March, he made a triumphal entry into Carthage.<ref>Barnes, ''New Empire'', 59; Odahl, 58; Williams, 75.</ref> Inscriptions there record the people's gratitude to Maximian, hailing him – as Constantius had been on his entry to London – as ''redditor lucis aeternae'' ("restorer of the eternal light").<ref name="ODHW"/> Maximian returned to Italy in early 299 to celebrate another triumph in Rome.<ref>Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 16; Barnes, ''New Empire'', 59; Odahl, 58.</ref>

After his Mauretanian campaign in 299, Maximian returned to the north of Italy, living a life of leisure in palaces in Milan and Aquilea, and leaving warfare to his subordinate Constantius.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnes|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Barnes|2y=1982|2p=56}} Maximian was more aggressive in his relationship with the Senate than Constantius, and Lactantius contends that he terrorized senators, to the point of falsely charging and subsequently executing several, including the prefect of Rome in 301–2.<ref>Lactantius, ''DMP'' 8.4; quoted in {{harnvb|Barnes|1981|p=16}}</ref> In contrast, Constantius kept up good relations with the senatorial aristocracy and spent his time in active defense of the empire. He took up arms against the Franks in 300 or 301 and in 302 – while Maximian was resting in Italy – continued to campaign against Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine.{{sfn|Barnes|1981|p=16}}

According to [[Aurelius Victor]], he also built a palace near his home town of [[Sirmium]].<ref>Aurelius Victor, ''[https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html De Caesaribus]''</ref> In addition to the imperial palace in Sirmium another palace has been found at Glac, which may be that of Maximian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2018/08/07/tracing-emperors-footsteps-in-the-mother-of-cities-07-30-2018/|title=Tracing Emperors' Footsteps in Serbia's Ancient Roman City|date=7 August 2018|website=Balkan Insight|first=Milan|last=Radonjic}}</ref>