ABSTRACT
The military breathing space, the fragile stability on the Danube and Rhine frontiers and the concerted policies of the two imperial colleagues were abruptly shattered in the spring of 383. In an unexpected but obviously popular revolt, Magnus Maximus,1 the military commander in Britain (Comes Britanniarum),2 was declared Augustus by the acclamation of the army, and quickly crossed with powerful forces to Gaul, where the local army units soon joined him.3
