424 



R O M AN EMPIRE. 



Uoman 



Empire, 



Gordian 

 and his son 

 proclaimed 

 emperor. 

 A. D. 237. 



Death of 

 the two 

 Gordians. 



Pupienus 

 and Bal- 

 binus elcc 

 ed emper- 



killing some with blows ; by exposing others to wild 

 beasts ; by nailing them on crosse?, and by enclosing 

 them in the bellies of animals newly slain. 



In his military capacity he now showed the same 

 spirit, and his bravery and his skill remained the same. 

 He defeated the Germans in several engagement?, and 

 cutting down the standing corn, and laying waste the 

 country with fire and sword for 450 miles round, he 

 wished to impress upon the Germans the punishment 

 of rebellion. The soldiers were deeply attached to 

 him, not only from the increase of pay which he al- 

 lowed them in these expeditions, but from the zeal 

 with which he partook of all the duties of a common 

 soldier, being constantly found in the points of danger, 

 and fighting as an individual soldier while he com- 

 manded as a general. 



Notwithstanding this general popularity of Maxi- 

 minus, he had lost the affections of his subjects, and 

 many partial but ill- devised conspiracies were formed 

 against him. The plot contrived by Magnus, of 

 abandoning the emperor to the enemy, by breaking 

 down a wooden bridge after he had crossed it, was 

 discovered, and on this ground alone he put to death 

 above 4000 of his troops. 



In the African provinces, the spirit of discontent 

 arose to a still higher pitch. Roused by his cruelties 

 and inordinate exactions, they first slew his procurator, 

 and then proclaimed a new emperor. Tiie person on 

 whom this choice fell was Gordian, the proconsul of 

 Africa, who had now reached his 80th year, and whose 

 talents and virtues were well known in the empire. 

 The soldiers and the people literally forced upon him 

 this unexpected honour ; and he and his son, who was 

 then forty six years of age, were declared emperor?. 

 Gordian lost no time in acquainting the senate with 

 these event?. He assured them of his aversion to such 

 an office, and stated that he would retain his authority 

 no longer than till he had freed the empire of its pre- 

 sent oppressor. The senate and the people unani- 

 mously confirmed the election of Gordian. They de- 

 clared Maximinus an enemy and traitor. They dis- 

 placed his governors, and commanded the provinces 

 to acknowledge Gordian. 



No sooner did Maximinus hear of these transactions, 

 than he threw himself into a fury which nothing could 

 control. He is said to have raged like a wild animal, 

 and to have beat his head upon the wall ; but when 

 he recovered from this fit of distraction, he harangued 

 his army, promised them the estates of his enemies, 

 and resolved to march to Rome to deal out slaughter 

 and revenge among his enemies. During his progress 

 through the provinces, he learned with joy that Cape- 

 lianus, the governor of Numidia, had continued faith- 

 ful to his cause, that he had slain the younger Gordian 

 in battle and destroyed his army, and that the elder 

 Gordian had strangled himself when he heard of the 

 death of his son. 



These unlocked for events, while they raised the 

 hopes of the tyrant, produced the roost terrible con- 

 sternation in Rome. Without the aid of Gordian, and 

 without time to prepare effectually for their defence, 

 the senate assembled in the temple of Jupiter, and af- 

 ter the most solemn deliberation, they elected Pupie- 

 nus and Balbinus joint emperors. 



Accustomed to the government of provinces, and 

 the command of armies, the new emperors raised le- 

 vies with the utmost expedition; and Pupienus march- 

 ed at the head of them to oppose the entrance of Max- 

 iminus. No sooner had they left the city, than two of 



Maximinus's soldiers who had entered the senate-house 

 were slain by two of the senators. The Praetorian 

 troops took offence at this event. Rome became the 

 scene of a bloody tumult, and the city was set on fire 

 by the soldiers. 



The news of his having been deposed by the senate, 

 threw Maximinus into the most violent rage. He 

 hurried on his army for the purposes of revenge ; but 

 instead of finding repose, food, and supplies, in the 

 fertile vales of Italy, he was obstructed by the strong 

 holds of the country, into which the senate had taken 

 the precaution of carrying every kind of sustenance. 

 Aquileia, which he expected to enter without opposi- 

 tion, was defended by Crispinus and Menophilis, who 

 ordered scalding pitch and sulphur to be thrown down 

 upon the scaling parties, and thus forced them to aban- 

 don the assault. Dreading the cruelties of Maximinus, 

 the old men and women were seen fighting on the rasn- 

 parts ; and the women are said to have cut off their 

 hair to furnish the soldiers with bow-strings. The en- 

 raged emperor attributed the resistance of the bdeiged 

 to the incapacity of his own generals, and put many 

 of them to death ; and the discontent which this Gees'' 

 sioned soon swelled into a mut ; ny, from the famine 

 and fatigue with which the troops were exhausted. 

 The mutineers were at first afraid to attack a man of 

 such gigantic strength, but having enlisted his own 

 body guards in their cause, they slew both him and his 

 son when they were asleep at noon in their tent ; and 

 thus freed the empire from the greatest scourge with 

 which it had yet been afflicted. Maximinus perished 

 in the third year of his usurpation, and in the sixty- 

 fifth year of his age. His body was left to be devour- 

 ed by dogs and birds of prey. 



Rome being thus freed from her alarms before her 

 armies met those of the usurper, Pupienus returned to 

 Rome to enjoy the tranquillity of peace. He was re- 

 ceived with the greatest rejoicings, thanksgivings were 

 offered up for the deliverance of the city, and whole 

 hecatombs blazed on the altars. The Persians having 

 begun to make aggressions against the Romans, Pu- 

 pienus was preparing to march against them with a 

 powerful army, when events of a more serious nature 

 claimed his attention. Although both the emperors 

 were distinguished by their wisdom and experience, 

 yet the fiend of jealousy seems to have early conspired 

 to separate them. Pupienus was universally allowed 

 to surpass his colleague, both as a soldier and a state?-. 

 man ; but as he was the son of a blacksmith, Balbinus-- 

 considered himself as his superior both from his opu- 

 lence and from his family. The petty dissensions which 

 from these causes 1 took place between the rival empe- 

 rors, emboldened the Praetorian guards to effect a 

 change in the government, which they had long con- 

 templated. They therefore attacked the palace when 

 the emperors were returning from the c^pitoliue 

 games. Perceiving the approach of the troops, and 

 anticipating its object, Pupienus sent fur the German 

 guards, who were stationed rou-nd Balbinus; but whe- 

 ther Balbinus wished to leave his. colleague unprotect- 

 ed, or whether he prudently retained the guards for 

 his own defence, he refused to send any assistance to 

 Pupienus. The Praetorian troops meeting with no re- 

 sistance, seized both the emperors, and dragging them 

 to the camp, they put them to death, and left their 

 bodies in the streets. 



While the tumult which was thus excited was at its 

 height, the mutineers met accidentally with Gordian, 

 the grandson of their late emperor, in the street. This 



Roman 

 Empire. 



Assassina- 

 tion of 

 Maximi- 

 nus. 

 A. D. S38. 



Pupknus 

 and Bal- 

 binus assas- 

 sinated by 

 the Prstor- 

 ian troops. 

 A. D, 236. 



