Gordian III

Gordian III (Latin: Marcus Antonius Gordianus; 20 January 224 – c. February 244) was Roman emperor from 238 to 244. At the age of 14, he became the second-youngest sole emperor of the united Roman Empire; the youngest ever being Severus Alexander, who had assumed the princepship at thirteen.[8] Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana[9] and Junius Balbus, who died before 238.[10] Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I[9] and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known of his early life before his acclamation. Gordian had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238.

Gordian III
Statue of Gordian III
Bust, 242–244
Roman emperor
Augustusc. August 238 – February 244[1]
PredecessorPupienus and Balbinus
SuccessorPhilip the Arab
Caesarc. May – August 238[2]
Born20 January 224[6]
Rome, Italy
Diedc. February 244 (aged 20)
Zaitha
SpouseTranquillina
Names
Marcus Antonius Gordianus[7]
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus
DynastyGordian
FatherJunius Balbus
MotherAntonia Gordiana

Rise to power
Aureus of Gordian III. Inscription: IMP. CAES. M. ANT. GORDIANVS AVG.

In 235, following the murder of Emperor Alexander Severus in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz),[11] the capital of the Roman province Germania Superior, Maximinus Thrax was acclaimed emperor.[12] In the following years, there was a growing opposition against Maximinus in the Roman Senate and amongst the majority of the population of Rome. In 238, a rebellion broke out in the Africa Province, where Gordian's grandfather and uncle, Gordian I and II, were proclaimed joint emperors.[13] This revolt was suppressed within a month by Cappellianus, governor of Numidia and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax.[13]

The Senate, showing its hostility towards Maximinus by supporting the Gordiani, elected Pupienus and Balbinus as joint emperors.[14] These senators were not popular men, so the Senate decided to raise Marcus Antonius Gordianus to the rank of Caesar.[15] Maximinus, moving quickly to attack the Senate's newly elected emperors, encountered difficulties marching his army through an Alpine winter.[15] Arriving at Aquileia and short on supplies, Maximinus besieged the city.[15] After four weeks, Maximinus' demoralized army mutinied and the Legio II Parthica murdered him.[16]

The situation for Pupienus and Balbinus, despite Maximinus' death, was doomed from the start with popular riots, military discontent and an enormous fire that consumed Rome in June 238. The next month, Pupienus and Balbinus were killed by the Praetorian Guard and Gordian proclaimed sole emperor.[17]

Reign
silver antoninianus of Gordian III
Silver Antoninianus of Gordian III, mint of Rome, 238–239 AD; Obverse: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: VIRTVS AVG, Virtus standing facing in military dress, head left, with shield and spear; Reference: RIC 6, RSC 381

Due to Gordian's age, the imperial government was surrendered to the aristocratic families, who controlled the affairs of Rome through the Senate.[18] In 240, Sabinianus revolted in the African province, but he was quickly defeated.[19] In 241, Gordian was married to Furia Sabinia Tranquillina,[20] 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.[21]

During Gordian's reign there were severe earthquakes, so severe that cities fell into the ground along with their inhabitants.[22] In response to these earthquakes Gordian consulted the Sibylline books.[22]

By the 3rd century, the Roman frontiers weakened against the Germanic tribes across the Rhine and Danube, and the Sassanid Empire across the Euphrates increased its own attacks. When the Sasanians under Shapur I invaded Mesopotamia, the young emperor opened the doors of the Temple of Janus for the last time in Roman history, and sent a large army to the East. The Sassanids were driven back over the Euphrates and defeated in the Battle of Resaena (243).[23] 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.[24] Without Timesitheus, the campaign, and the Emperor's security, were at risk. Due to the campaign's success, Gordian celebrated with a triumph and boasted about his achievements to the Senate.[22]

Part of a series on Roman imperial dynasties
Year of the Six Emperors
AD 238

Gaius Julius Priscus and, later on, his own brother Marcus Julius Philippus, also known as Philip the Arab, stepped in at this moment as the new Praetorian Prefects.[25] Gordian would then start a second campaign. Around February 244, the Sasanians fought back fiercely to halt the Roman advance to Ctesiphon.

The eventual fate of Gordian after the battle is unclear. Sasanian sources claim that a battle occurred (Battle of Misiche) near modern Fallujah (Iraq) and resulted in a major Roman defeat and the death of Gordian III.[26] One view holds that Gordian died at Zaitha, murdered by his frustrated army, while the role of Philip is unknown.[27] Scholarly analyses suggest the Sasanian version, "while defective[,] is superior" to the Roman one.[28]

The deposition of Gordian's body is also a matter of controversy. According to David S. Potter, Philip transferred the body of the deceased emperor to Rome and arranged for his deification.[29] Edwell, Dodgeon, and Lieu state that Philip had Gordian buried at Zaitha after the campaign against the Sasanians had ended in failure.[30][31]

Family tree

References
  1. Peachin, Michael (1990). Roman Imperial Titulature and Chronology, A.D. 235–284. Amsterdam: Gieben. p. 29-30. ISBN 90-5063-034-0.
  2. Rea, J.R. (1972). "O. Leid. 144 and the Chronology of A.D. 238". ZPE 9, 1–19.
  3. Furius Dionysius Filocalus, Chronograph of 354, Part 3: "N·GORDIANI·CM·XXIIII".
  4. Kienast, Dietmar; Werner Eck & Matthäus Heil (2017) [1990]. Römische Kaisertabelle. WBG. p. 189. ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
  5. Epitome de Caesaribus 27
  6. Gordian's birthday is recorded in the Chronograph of 354.[3] The year is often given as 225 or 226 on the basis of a statement in the Epitome de Caesaribus.[4] However, the text explicitly states that he was "killed in the twenty-first year of his life", meaning that he was 20 years old, i.e. born in 224.[5]
  7. Cooley 2012, p. 497.
  8. Later child emperors only ruled one half of the Empire, e.g. Honorius (aged 10) and Valentinian III (aged 6) in the West, Theodosius II (aged 7) and Michael III (aged 2) in the East.
  9. D’Amato 2020, p. 54.
  10. Townsend 1934, p. 63.
  11. Drinkwater 2007, p. 28.
  12. Drinkwater 2007, p. 29.
  13. Raven 1993, p. 142.
  14. Drinkwater 2007, pp. 31–32.
  15. Drinkwater 2007, p. 32.
  16. Varner 2004, p. 200.
  17. Drinkwater 2007, p. 33.
  18. Potter 2004, p. 171.
  19. Wilhite 2007, p. 31.
  20. Townsend 1934, p. 84.
  21. Mennen 2011, p. 34.
  22. Boin 2018, p. 61.
  23. Tucker 2010, p. 147.
  24. Chisholm 1911.
  25. Potter 2004, p. 236.
  26. Brosius 2006, p. 144.
  27. Potter 2004, pp. 234, 236.
  28. Shahbazi 2017.
  29. Potter 2004, p. 238.
  30. Edwell 2020.
  31. Dodgeon & Lieu 1991, p. 41.

Sources
  • Bland, Roger (2023). The coinage of Gordian III from the mints of Antioch and Caesarea. London: Spink.
  • Boin, Douglas (2018). A Social and Cultural History of Late Antiquity. Wiley. ISBN 978-111-907-681-0.
  • Brosius, Maria (2006). The Persians. Routledge.
  • Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
  • D’Amato, Raffaele (2020). Roman Standards & Standard-Bearers (2): AD 192–500. Osprey Publishing.
  • Dodgeon, Michael H.; Lieu, Samuel N. C., eds. (1991). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226–363): A Documentary History, Part 1. Taylor & Francis.
  • Drinkwater, John (2007). "Maximinus to Diocletian and the 'Crisis'". In Bowman, Alan K.; Garnsey, Peter; Cameron, Averil (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History: The crisis of Empire, A.D. 193–337. Vol. XII (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Edwell, Peter (2020). Rome and Persia at War: Imperial Competition and Contact, 193–363 CE. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317061267.
  • Mennen, Inge (2011). Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284. Brill.
  • Potter, David S. (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180–395. Routledge.
  • Raven, Susan (1993). Rome in Africa (3rd ed.). Routledge.
  • Shahbazi, Shapur (2017). "ŠĀPUR I". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  • Townsend, Prescott Winson (1934). The Administration of Gordian III. Yale University Press.
  • Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "241-244:Southwest Asia". A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO.
  • Varner, Eric R. (2004). Monumenta Graeca et Romana: Mutilation and Transformation : Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Iperial Portraiture. Brill.
  • Wilhite, David E. (2007). Tertullian the African: An Anthropological Reading of Tertullian's Context and Identities. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.

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