Roman Emperor Gordian III
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Roman Emperor Gordian III, The Boy Emperor
AD 238 - 244
Roman Emperor Gordian III is known as the boy Emperor because he assumed that office at age 13. His reign was cut short due to his assassination in AD 244 at the age of 19! Gordian III is remembered for his stunning victories over the Persians. History has repeated itself with the recent defeat of Saddam Hussein's Persian Iraq!
Gordian III was a boy of thirteen living in Rome at the time of his grandfather's ill-fated revolt in North Africa. When the Roman populace learned of the elevation of Pipienus, who was quite unpopular owing to his recent prefecture of the city, general rioting broke out, and many among the populace demanded that dynastic traditions be followed by elevating Gordian III to the throne recently lost by Gordian I and Gordian II. A compromise was struck when the Senate appointed the boy as Caesar. He was elevated to the position of Augustus, on July 29, 238 AD, by the same Mutinous Praetorian guardsmen that slew Pipienus and Balbinus.
Little is known about Gordian's reign, other than it was a period of relative stability in a chaotic era. Menophilus, the Governor of Lower Moesia, kept peace in the Balkans by a combination of shrewd diplomacy and the aggressive construction of roads and fortifications. A revolt in North Africa by a certain Sabinianus in 240 AD was quickly put down by troops sent over from Mauretania. In 241 AD Gordian appointed a former tax-collector and finance officer named Timesthius to the post of Praetorian Prefect, and marries his daughter, Tranquillina. Timesthius was a model of loyalty and dutifulness, and his tireless efforts on behalf of Gordian won him the epithet "Father of the Emperor and protector of the state."
IN 241 AD the Persian King Ardashir died, and his aggressive son, Shapur I, immediately launched a series of raids into Roman Syria. The following year, Gordian and Timesthius mobilized and led a large army against the Persians. Timesthius died of an illness in 243 AD soon after winning a series of major victories over Shapur I. The new Praetorian Prefect, Philip the Arab, arranged to have Gordian killed on February 25, 244 AD
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Gordian III, the boy Emperor |
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