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Balbinus
Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus (died 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Pupienus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Origins and career Not much is known about Balbinus before his elevation to emperor. It has been conjectured that he descended from Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius, the consul ordinarius of 137, and wife Aquilia. If this were true, he was also related to the family of Q. Pompeius Falco, which supplied many politicians of consular rank throughout the 3rd century, and to the 1st-century politician, engineer and author Julius Frontinus. He was born around 178. He was a patrician from birth, and was the son (either by birth or adoption) of Caelius Calvinus, who was legate of Cappadocia in 184. He was one of the Salii priests of Mars. According to Herodian he had governed provinces, but the list of seven provinces given in the unreliable ''Historia Augusta'', as well as the statement that Balbinus had been both Proconsul of Asia and of Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pupienus
Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus ( 168 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Balbinus for 99 days in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary texts he is referred to by his cognomen "Maximus" rather than by his second nomen (family name) Pupienus (). Origins and early career The ''Historia Augusta'', whose testimony is not to be trusted unreservedly, paints Pupienus as an example of advancement through the ''cursus honorum'' due to military success. It claims he was the son of a blacksmith, was adopted by one Pescennia Marcellina (otherwise unknown), and who started his career as a '' Centurio'' ''primus pilus'' before becoming a tribunus militum, and then a praetor. Pupienus's career was allegedly impressive, serving a number of important posts during the reign of the Severan dynasty throughout the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. This included assignment as Proconsul of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius
Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius was a Roman senator active during the first half of the second century AD. He was consul for 137 as the colleague of Lucius Aelius. Balbinus is known only from non-literary sources, where he is usually referred to by the short form of his name, Publius Coelius Balbinus. Olli Salomies speculates that Balbinus came from Hispania, and notes that Ronald Syme has suggested that the elements "Vibullius Pius" in Balbinus' name came from his mother.Salomies, ''Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire'' (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 141 Salomies further suggests that Balbinus was the son of Publius Coelius Apollinaris, consul in 111, and the father of Publius Coelius Apollinaris, consul in 169. The ''cursus honorum'' of Balbinus up to his consulate is known from an inscription reported from Rome. He began his career as one of the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'', one of the four boards that form the ''vigintivi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Year Of The Six Emperors
The Year of the Six Emperors was the year AD 238, during which six men made claims to be Roman Emperor, emperors of Rome. This was an early symptom of what historians now call the Crisis of the Third Century, also known as Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of foreign invasions and Human migration, migrations into the Roman territory, civil wars, bagaudae, peasant rebellions, political instability (with multiple Roman usurper, usurpers competing for power), Roman reliance on (and growing influence of) foreign mercenaries known as foederati and commanders nominally working for Rome (but increasingly independent), the devastating social and economic effects of the Plague of Cyprian, plague, debasement of Roman currency, currency, and economic collapse, economic depression. The crisis ended with the ascension of Diocletian and his implementation of reforms in 284. History Maximinu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maximinus Thrax
Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus "Thrax" ("the Thracian"; – 238) was Roman emperor from 235 to 238. His father was an accountant in the governor's office and sprang from ancestors who were Carpi (a Dacian tribe), a people whom Diocletian would eventually drive from their ancient abode (in Dacia) and transfer to Pannonia. Maximinus was the commander of the Legio IV ''Italica'' when Severus Alexander was assassinated by his own troops in 235. The Pannonian army then elected Maximinus emperor. In 238 (which came to be known as the Year of the Six Emperors), a senatorial revolt broke out, leading to the successive proclamation of Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus and Gordian III as emperors in opposition to Maximinus. Maximinus advanced on Rome to put down the revolt, but was halted at Aquileia, where he was assassinated by disaffected elements of the Legio II ''Parthica''. Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordian I
Gordian I ( la, Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus; 158 – April 238 AD) was Roman emperor for 22 days with his son Gordian II in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in a rebellion against the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by forces loyal to Maximinus, and he committed suicide after the death of his son. Family and background Little is known about the early life and family background of Gordian I. There is no reliable evidence on his family origins. Gordian I was said to be related to prominent senators of his time. His praenomen and nomen ''Marcus Antonius'' suggested that his paternal ancestors received Roman citizenship under the triumvir Mark Antony, or one of his daughters, during the late Roman Republic. Gordian's cognomen ‘Gordianus’ also indicates that his family origins were from Anatolia, more specifically Galatia or Cappadocia. According to the ''Historia Augusta'', his mother was a Roman woman called Ulpia Gordiana and his fath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordian III
Gordian III ( la, Marcus Antonius Gordianus; 20 January 225 – February 244) was Roman emperor from 238 to 244. At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole emperor up to that point (until Valentinian II in 375). Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and Junius Balbus, who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I 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. Rise to power In 235, following the murder of Emperor Alexander Severus in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz), the capital of the Roman province Germania Superior, Maximinus Thrax was acclaimed emperor. 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 jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordian II
Gordian II ( la, Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus; 192 – April 238) was Roman emperor with his father Gordian I in 238 AD, the Year of the Six Emperors. Seeking to overthrow Maximinus Thrax, he died in battle outside Carthage. Since he died before his father, Gordian II had the shortest reign of any Roman emperor, at 22 days. Early life Born 192, Gordian II was the only known son of Gordian I, who was said to be related to prominent senators. His praenomen and nomen ''Marcus Antonius'' suggest that his paternal ancestors received Roman citizenship under the triumvir Mark Antony, or one of his daughters, during the late Roman Republic. Gordian's cognomen "Gordianus" suggests that his family origins were from Anatolia, especially Galatia and Cappadocia. According to the notoriously unreliable '' Historia Augusta'', his mother was a Roman woman called Fabia Orestilla, born circa 165, who the ''Historia'' claims was a descendant of emperors Antoninus Pius an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herodian
Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς μετὰ Μάρκον βασιλείας ἱστορία) in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his less biased account of Elagabalus is more useful than that of Cassius Dio. Herodian himself may have been a Syrian (perhaps from Antioch) who appears to have lived for a considerable period of time in Rome, but possibly without holding any public office. From his extant work, we gather that he was still living at an advanced age during the reign of Gordianus III, who ascended the throne in 238. Beyond this, nothing is known of his life. Herodian writes (1.1.3; 2.15.7) that the events described in his history occurred during his lifetime. Photius (Codex 99) gives an out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historia Augusta
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the similar work of Suetonius, ''The Twelve Caesars'', it presents itself as a compilation of works by six different authors (collectively known as the ''Scriptores Historiae Augustae''), written during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I and addressed to those emperors or other important personages in Ancient Rome. The collection, as extant, comprises thirty biographies, most of which contain the life of a single emperor, but some include a group of two or more, grouped together merely because these emperors were either similar or contemporaneous. The true authorship of the work, its actual date, its reliability and its purpose have long been matters for controversy by historians and scholars ever since Hermann Dessau, in 1889, rejected ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Aquileia
The Siege of Aquileia is a siege battle that took place in 238 in the town of Aquileia during the Year of the Six Emperors which resulted in the assassination of Maximinus Thrax. Battle Origins After the revolt of Gordian I and Gordian II and ascension of Balbinus and Pupienus, Maximinus marched on Rome. He reached the city of Aquileia, expecting an easy victory: the city's walls had long been in disrepair. However under the leadership of senators Rutilius Pudens Crispinus and Tullus Menophilus, the walls were repaired and the city rallied to defend itself in a siege. According to Herodian: These two had seen to everything with careful attention. With great foresight they had brought into the city supplies of every kind in quantities sufficient to enable it to withstand a long siege. An ample supply of water was available from the many wells in the city, and, a river flowing at the foot of the city wall provided both a defensive moat and an abundance of water. The siege Maximinus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Proclaimed co-ruler by his father in 198, he reigned jointly with his brother Geta, co-emperor from 209, after their father's death in 211. His brother was murdered by the Praetorian Guard later that year, under orders from Caracalla himself, who then reigned afterwards as sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Caracalla found administration to be mundane, leaving those responsibilities to his mother. Caracalla's reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples. Caracalla's reign became notable for the Antonine Constitution ( la, Constitutio Antoniniana), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Roman Empire. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort for high-rank political officials ( senators and procurators) and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by which influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the new ''caesar'' of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the and destroyed their barracks at the Castra Praetoria. In the Roman Republic In the period of the Roman Republic (509–27 BC) the Praetorian Guard originated as bodyguards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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