Gordian III

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Gordian III

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (January 20 225

225

Events...
– February 11, 244

244

Events...
), known in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
as Gordian III, was Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana

Antonia Gordiana

Antonia Gordiana Sempronia was a prominent, wealthy and noble Roman woman that lived in the troubled and unstable 3rd century. She was the daughter of Roman Emperor Gordian I; younger sister to Roman Emperor Gordian II and mother to Roman Emperor Gordian III....
and his father was an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I

Gordian I

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus , known in English language as Gordian I, was Roman Emperor during the year 238....
and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II

Gordian II

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus , known in English language as Gordian II, was Roman Emperor during the year 238....
. His younger sister was called Gordiana

Gordiana

Gordiana was the only daughter and youngest child of the prominent, wealthy and noble woman Antonia Gordiana and her father was an unnamed Roman Senator, who died before 238....
. Very little is known on his early life before becoming Roman Emperor.

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Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (January 20 225

225

Events...
– February 11, 244

244

Events...
), known in English

English language

Roman Emperor

Antonia Gordiana

Gordian I

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus , known in English language as Gordian I, was Roman Emperor during the year 238....
and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II

Gordian II

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus , known in English language as Gordian II, was Roman Emperor during the year 238....
. His younger sister was called Gordiana

Gordiana

Rise to power

Following the murder of emperor Alexander Severus

Alexander Severus

Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, commonly called Alexander Severus, was the last Roman Emperors of the Severan dynasty, having succeeded, as heir apparent, his despised cousin, the eighteen year old Elagabalus who had been murdered along with his mother by his own guards—and as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into...
in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz

Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
), the capital of the Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, Maximinus Thrax

Maximinus Thrax

Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus , also known as Maximinus Thrax and Maximinus I, was a Roman Emperor .Maximinus is described by several ancient sources as the first barbarian who wore the imperial purple and the first emperor never to set foot in Rome....
was acclaimed emperor, despite strong opposition of the Roman senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
and the majority of the population. In response to what was considered in Rome as a rebellion, Gordian's grandfather and uncle, Gordian I and II, were proclaimed joint emperors in the Africa Province

Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
. Their revolt was suppressed within a month by Cappellianus, governor of Numidia

Numidia

Numidia was an ancient Berber people kingdom in present-day Algeria and part of Tunisia that later alternated between being a Roman province and being a Roman client state, and is no longer in existence today....
and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax. The elder Gordians died, but public opinion cherished their memory as peace loving and literate men, victims of Maximinus' oppression.

Meanwhile, Maximinus was on the verge of marching on Rome and the Senate elected Pupienus

Pupienus

Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, born about 178, was jointly Roman Emperor with Balbinus between April and July of 238, the Year of the Six Emperors....
and Balbinus

Balbinus

Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus born about 165, was jointly Roman Emperor with Pupienus between April and July of 238, the Year of the Six Emperors....
as joint emperors. These senators were not popular men and the population of Rome was still shocked by the elder Gordian's fate, so that the Senate decided to take the teenager Gordian, rename him Marcus Antonius Gordianus as his grandfather, and rise him to the rank of Caesar

Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
and imperial heir. Pupienus

Pupienus

Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, born about 178, was jointly Roman Emperor with Balbinus between April and July of 238, the Year of the Six Emperors....
and Balbinus

Balbinus

Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus born about 165, was jointly Roman Emperor with Pupienus between April and July of 238, the Year of the Six Emperors....
defeated Maximinus, mainly due to the defection of several legions

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
, namely the II Parthica

Legio II Parthica

Legio secunda Parthica was a Roman legion levied by Emperor Septimius Severus in 197, for his campaign against the Parthian Empire, hence the cognomen Parthica....
who assassinated Maximinus. But their joint reign was doomed from the start with popular riots, military discontent and even an enormous fire that consumed Rome in June 238. On July 29, Pupienus and Balbinus were killed by the Praetorian guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
and Gordian proclaimed sole emperor.

Rule

Due to Gordian's age, the imperial government was surrendered to the aristocratic families, who controlled the affairs of Rome through the senate. In 240, Sabinianus

Sabinianus

Sabinianus was the leader of a revolt against Gordian III in Africa . He proclaimed himself emperor, but after being defeated by the governor of Mauretania , his supporters in Carthage surrendered him to the imperial authorities....
revolted in the African province, but the situation was dealt quickly. In 241, Gordian was married to Furia Sabinia Tranquillina

Tranquillina

Furia Sabinia Tranquillina or Sabinia Tranquillina was the Empress of Rome and wife of Emperor Gordian III. She was the beautiful, intelligent and young daughter of the Praetorian Prefect Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus by an unknown wife....
, daughter of the newly appointed praetorian prefect, Timesitheus. As chief of the Praetorian guard and father in law of the emperor, Timesitheus quickly became the de facto ruler of the Roman empire.

In the 3rd century, the Roman frontiers weakened against the Germanic tribes across the Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
and Danube

Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
, and the Sassanid

Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
kingdom across the Euphrates

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia which flows from Anatolia....
increased its own attacks. When the Persians under Shapur I

Shapur I

Shapur I was the second Sassanid King of the Sassanid Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 241 - 272, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 241....
invaded Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, the young emperor opened the doors of the Temple of Janus for the last time in Roman history, and sent a huge army to the East. The Sassanids were driven back over the Euphrates and defeated in the Battle of Resaena

Battle of Resaena

The Battle of Resaena or Resaina, near Ceylanpinar TR, was fought in 243 between the forces of the Roman Empire, led by Praetorian Prefect Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus, and a Sassanid Empire army, led by King Shapur I....
(243). The campaign was a success and Gordian, who had joined the army, was planning an invasion of the enemy's territory, when his father-in-law died in unclear circumstances. Without Timesitheus, the campaign, and the emperor's security, were at risk.

Marcus Julius Philippus, also known as Philip the Arab

Philip the Arab

Marcus Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs , known in English language as Philip the Arab or formerly in English as Philip the Arabian, was a Roman Emperor from 244 to 249....
, stepped in at this moment as the new Praetorian Prefect and the campaign proceeded. In the beginning of 244, the Persians counter-attacked. Persian sources claim that a battle was fought (Battle of Misiche

Battle of Misiche

The Battle of Misiche was fought between the Sassanid Empire and the Roman Empire somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia. The result was a Roman defeat....
) near modern Fallujah

Fallujah

Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kilometers west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
(Iraq

Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
) and resulted in a major Roman defeat and the death of Gordian III. Roman sources do not mention this battle and suggest that Gordian died far away, upstream of the Euphrates. Although ancient sources often described Philip, who succeeded Gordian as emperor, as having murdered Gordian at Zaitha (Qalat es Salihiyah), the cause of Gordian's death is unknown. Gordian's youth and good nature, along with the deaths of his grandfather and uncle and his own tragic fate at the hands of another usurper, granted him the everlasting esteem of the Romans. Despite the opposition of the new emperor, Gordian was deified by the Senate after his death, in order to appease the population and avoid riots.

Gordian III

Rise to power

Rule

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