Editing Magnus Maximus (section)

== Role in British and Breton history ==
Maximus's bid for imperial power in 383 coincides with the last date for evidence of a Roman military presence in the western [[Pennines]] and the fortress of [[Chester|Deva]]. Coins dated later than 383 have been found in excavations along [[Hadrian's Wall]], suggesting that troops were not entirely stripped from it, as was once thought.<ref name=Frere1>{{Citation
|last=Frere
|first=Sheppard Sunderland
|author-link=Sheppard Frere
|year=1987
|contribution=The End of Roman Britain
|title=Britannia: A History of Roman Britain
|edition=3rd, revised
|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul
|publication-date=1987
|location=London
|page=354
|isbn=0-7102-1215-1
}}</ref> In the ''[[De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]]'' written {{circa|lk=no|540}}, [[Gildas]] says that Maximus "deprived" Britain not only of its Roman troops, but also of its "armed bands...governors and of the flower of her youth", never to return.<ref>{{Citation
|year=1841
|editor-last=Giles
|editor-first=John Allen
|editor-link=John Allen Giles
|contribution=The Works of Gildas
|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3R1mCE7p44MC&pg=PA13
|title=The Works of Gildas and Nennius
|publisher=James Bohn
|publication-date=1841
|location=London
|page=13
}}, The History, ch. 14.</ref>

Having left with the troops and senior administrators, and planning to continue as the ruler of Britain in the future, his practical course was to transfer local authority to local rulers. Welsh legend supports that this happened, with stories such as ''[[Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig]]'' (English: The Dream of Emperor Maximus), where he not only marries a wondrous British woman (thus making British descendants probable), but also gives her father sovereignty over Britain (thus formally transferring authority from Rome back to the Britons themselves).

[[File:Pillar of Eliseg watercolour.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Pillar of Eliseg]] in Wales. The pillar's inscription and the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' trace the sovereignty of contemporary Welsh kingdoms back more than 500 years to Maximus.]]
The earliest Welsh genealogies give Maximus (referred to as ''Macsen/Maxen Wledig'', or ''Emperor Maximus'') the role of founding father of the dynasties of several medieval Welsh kingdoms, including those of [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]], [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]] and [[Kingdom of Gwent|Gwent]].<ref>{{Citation
|year=1887
|editor-last=Phillimore
|editor-first=Egerton
|contribution=Pedigrees from Jesus College MS. 20
|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlUrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA83
|title=Y Cymmrodor
|volume=VIII
|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
|publication-date=1887
|pages=83&ndash;92
}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
|last=Phillimore
|first=Egerton
|year=1888
|editor-last=Phillimore
|editor-first=Egerton
|contribution=The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859
|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFMrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141
|title=Y Cymmrodor
|volume=IX
|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
|publication-date=1888
|pages=141&ndash;183
}}</ref> He is given as the ancestor of a Welsh king on the [[Pillar of Eliseg]], erected nearly 500 years after he left Britain, and he figures in lists of the [[Fifteen Tribes of Wales]].<ref name="Rachel Bromwich 2006">Rachel Bromwich, editor and translator. Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads. Cardiff: [[University of Wales Press]], Third Edition, 2006. 441-444</ref>

After he became emperor of the West, Maximus returned to Britain to campaign against the [[Picts]] and [[Gaels]] (following Gaelic settlements in [[Kingdom of Dyfed|Wales]] and [[Dal Riata|Scotland]]), probably in support of Rome's long-standing allies the [[Damnonii]], [[Votadini]], and [[Novantae]] (all located in modern [[Scotland]]). While there he likely made similar arrangements for a formal transfer of authority to local chiefs&mdash;the later rulers of [[Galloway]], home to the Novantae, claimed Maximus as the founder of their line, the same as did the Welsh kings.<ref name=Frere1/>

The ninth century ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' gives another account of Maximus and assigns him an important role:

{{blockquote|The seventh emperor was Maximianus, He withdrew from Britain with all its military force, slew Gratianus the king of the Romans, and obtained the sovereignty of all Europe. Unwilling to send back his warlike companions to their wives, families, and possessions in Britain, he conferred upon them numerous districts from the lake on the summit of Mons Iovis, to the city called Cant Guic, and to the western Tumulus, that is Cruc Occident. These are the Armoric Britons, and they remain there to the present day. In consequence of their absence, Britain being overcome by foreign nations, the lawful heirs were cast out, till God interposed with his assistance.}}

Modern historians believe that this idea of mass British troop settlement in [[Brittany]] by Maximus may very well reflect some reality, as it accords with archaeological and other historical evidence and later Breton traditions.

[[Armorica]] declared independence from the Roman Empire in 407, but contributed archers for [[Aetius (general)|Aetius]]'s defence against [[Attila]] the Hun, and [[Riothamus]], who may have ruled there as king, was subsequently mentioned in contemporary documents as an ally of Rome's against the [[Goths]]. Despite its continued usage of two distinct languages, [[Breton language|Breton]] and [[Gallo language|Gallo]], and extensive invasions and conquests by Franks and Vikings, Armorica retained considerable cultural cohesion into the 13th century.

Maximus also established a military base in his native [[Gallaecia]], which persisted as a cultural entity despite occupation by the [[Suebi]] in 409, see [[Kingdom of Galicia]].

Aetius sent large numbers of [[Alans]] to both Armorica and Galicia following the defeat of Attila at the [[Battle of the Catalunian Plains]]. The Alans evidently assimilated quickly into the local Celtic cultures, contributing their own legends, e.g., to the Arthurian Cycle of romances.