Editing Magnus Maximus (section)

===Final conflicts and execution===
In 387, Maximus managed to force emperor Valentinian II out of [[Mediolanum|Milan]]. Valentinian fled to Theodosius I, and the two subsequently invaded from the east; their armies, led by [[Richomeres]] and other generals, campaigned against Maximus in July–August 388. Maximus was defeated in the [[Battle of Poetovio]],<ref>Pan. Lat. II.34</ref><ref>For a summary of the invasion of Italy and subsequent campaign against Theodosius see Hebblewhite, M. (2020) Theodosius and the Limits of Empire, 81ff</ref> and retreated to [[Aquileia]]. Meanwhile, the [[Franks]] under [[Marcomer]] had taken the opportunity to invade northern Gaul, further weakening Maximus's position.

[[Andragathius]], ''[[magister equitum]]'' of Maximus and the killer of the Emperor Gratian, was defeated near [[Siscia]], while Maximus's brother, Marcellinus, fell in battle at [[Poetovio]].<ref>Pan. Lat. II.35-6</ref> Maximus surrendered in Aquileia and, although he pleaded for mercy, was executed. The Senate passed a decree of ''[[Damnatio memoriae]]'' against him, but his mother and at least two daughters were spared.<ref>Ambrose, Ep. 40.32</ref> Theodosius's trusted general [[Arbogast (magister militum)|Arbogast]] strangled Maximus's son, [[Victor (emperor)|Victor]], at Trier in the fall of the same year.<ref>Susan Wise Bauer, "The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade", W. W. Norton & Company, 22 Feb 2010 (p.68)</ref>