Gordian III, Emperor of Rome

Gordian III became Emperor of Rome in the year 238, when aged only 13. This was during a particularly chaotic period of Roman history when being emperor virtually guaranteed a violent death, and Gordian was not an exception to that rule.

Marcus Antonius Gordianus was born on 20^th January 225. His father was a Roman senator and his mother was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I, who chose to reign jointly with his son (Gordian III’s maternal uncle) who is known as Gordian II. 

The elder Gordians did not last long, dying in battle and by suicide in April 238, and only held their titles courtesy of the Senate, who preferred them to the appalling (in their eyes) Maximinus Thrax. The Senate then chose to appoint, as joint emperors, Pupienus and Balbinus, who decided to give themselves some extra legitimacy by taking young Gordian on board as their heir. This move failed to prevent Pupienus and Balbinus from meeting violent ends at the hands of the Praetorian Guard, which left Gordian as the new emperor.

Rome had had very young emperors before, notably Elagabalus and his cousin Alexander Severus (who was probably only 11 when he ascended the throne), and it was therefore expected that Gordian would have the backing of someone who was the real power behind the throne. This was Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus, who held the office of Praetorian Prefect. His link to Gordian was strengthened when the latter married Tranquilliana, the former’s daughter.

The chief problem facing the new regime was incursions by various tribes into Roman territory. An immediate threat was posed by Goths who raided across the Danube and attacked several towns on the coast of the Black Sea. These were twice driven back by Timesitheus, first in 238 and again early in 242.

Later in 242, Gordian accompanied Timesitheus in a mission to confront the growing Sassanid Empire in what is now Iran and northern Iraq. This campaign was eventually successful, with the forces of the Sassanid King Shapur being driven back across the Euphrates and defeated at the Battle of Resaena in 243.

However, Timesitheus died of disease soon after the battle and was succeeded by Julius Priscus, who co-opted his brother, Marcus Julius Philippus, to share the office of prefect with him. 

Gordian, now aged 18, no longer had his father-in-law to guide him and presumably thought that it was his responsibility to make the decisions that determined the future of the empire. It might, however, have been the case that the advice he got from Priscus and Philippus was not as wise as that he had received from Timesitheus. Whatever the reason, Gordian’s next move was not a good one.

He decided on a winter advance into what is now Iraq but got no further than the town of Dura Europos, which overlooks the River Euphrates near what is now the border between Iraq and Syria. The Roman army was preparing to advance across the river when Shapur struck and inflicted a severe defeat on them. 

Not long after this Gordian was murdered in his camp, possibly on the orders of Phillipus, who now became the new emperor, known to history as Philip the Arab. 

Gordian died on 11th February 244, aged 19.

© John Welford