MAXIMIANUS, Posthumous
AD 286-305
AE 1/4 Follis. 1.22g, 15.3mm
MINTED: Trier mint, AD 318
REF: RIC VII Trier 205 (R3)
OBVERSE: DIVO MAXIMIANO OPT IMP, veiled and laureate head right.
REVERSE: REQVIES OPT • MER, Maximianus veiled, seated left in curule chair, holding short sceptre; STR in exergue.

Grade/Notes: 
Fine.  In fairly rough shape, but a particularly rare issue for the Trier mint.
Despite the fact that Constantine forced Maximianus, his father-in-law, to commit suicide after a failed rebellion, in later years he rehabilitated his image and had deified him, as this posthumous commemorative issue attests. 
 
Historical Notes: 
Maximianus, also known as Maximian or Maximianus Herculius, was an acclaimed Roman general who was made co-emperor by his close friend and ally Diocletian when the latter ascended to the throne. When Diocletian decided to retire in 305 after 21 years of rule, he enjoined Maximianus to do the same so that their respective Caesars, Galerius and Constantius I, could take their places and rule the empire. Maximianus was reluctant to abdicate, and in 306, urged on by his son, Maxentius to join his revolt against the legitimate emperors, Maximianus took the purple for the second time. He was forced to retire again in 308, but in 310, he declared himself Augustus in rebellion against Constantine I. His third reign lasted mere months, and when captured by Constantine, he was forced to commit suicide.