Before Constantine could shout a warning to the eunuch who had taken his place in the bed, he heard a muted cry of triumph from the assassin followed by a moan from the bed. Jerking open the door, he allowed Dacius to run past him to secure the corridor door, while Fausta brought a candle from the closet in which she had hidden it, so there would be no sign of light beneath the door to warn the assassin.
Maximian bending over
They were too late to help the unwary eunuch, who had apparently made the mistake of falling asleep, in spite of Constantine’s warning. The glow of the burning candle showed Maximian bending over the bed, stabbing again at the inert body lying there. When he stood up with the bloody dagger in his hand, Fausta screamed, dropping the candle.
Taking advantage of the confusion as Constantine stooped to pick up the stillburning candle, Maximian darted like a cornered animal toward the outer door, but Dacius was there, sword in hand, so the old Emperor turned toward Constantine again. Seeing the dagger in his soninlaw’s hand, he realized he was trapped and dropped his bloody weapon.
“Your daughter has interceded for you, even though you are a murderer,” Constantine said coldly. “You shall have the same leniency you gave Severus, and I trust you will have the dignity not to disgrace the purple you once wore.”
Shortly after dawn, Dacius came with news that Maximian had hanged himself in his own quarters. But though the story of the old Emperor’s treachery was widely known by now, Constantine ordered that his body be given every honor to which a former Augustus was entitled. When the funeral pyre had burned out, the ashes were gathered up and sent to Maxentius ostensibly to be placed, as was the custom in Roman households, in an alcove of the family home called the columbarium set aside for the remains of the dead. Actually, however, Constantine meant them to be a pointed reminder to his brotherinlaw that treachery earned its own swift and ruthless reward.
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