284 
The Empire. 
II O 
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 emperors. 
Gordian lost no time in acquainting the senate with these 
events. 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 present oppressor. The 
senate and the people unanimously confirmed the election 
of Gordian. They declared Maximinus an enemy and 
traitor. They displaced 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 con¬ 
trol. 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 anny, pro¬ 
mised them the estates of his enemies, and resolved to 
march to Rome to deal out slaughter and revenge. During 
his progress through the provinces, he learned with joy that 
Capelianus, the governor of Numidia, had continued faithful 
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 unlooked-for events, while they raised the hopes of 
the tyrant, produced the most terrible consternation 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 after the most solemn deliberation, 
they elected Pupienus and Balbinus joint emperors. 
Accustomed to the government of provinces, and the 
command of armies, the new emperors raised levies with 
the utmost expedition ; and Pupienus marched at the head 
of them to oppose the entrance of Maximinus. 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 opposition, was defended by Crispinus and Meno- 
philis, who ordered scalding pitch and sulphur to be thrown 
down upon the scaling parties, and thus forced them to 
abandon the assault. Dreading the cruelties of Maximinus, 
the old men and women were seen fighting on the ramparts; 
and the women are said to have cut off their hair to furnish 
the soldiers with bow-strings. The enraged emperor attri¬ 
buted the resistance of the besieged to the incapacity of his 
own generals, and put many of them to death; and the dis¬ 
content which this occasioned soon swelled into a mutiny, 
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 thud year of his usurp¬ 
ation, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His body was left 
to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey, A. D. 238. 
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 received 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 Ro¬ 
mans, Pupienus 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 
M E. The Empire. 
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 statesman; but as he was the son of a 
blacksmith, Balbinus considered himself as his superior both 
from his opulence and from his family. The petty dissen- 
tions which from these causes took place between the rival 
emperors, emboldened the praetorian guards to effect a 
change in the government, which they had long contem¬ 
plated. They therefore attacked the palace when the empe¬ 
rors were returning from the capitoline games. Perceiving 
the approach of the troops, aud anticipating its object, 
Pupienus seDt for the German guards, who were stationed 
round Balbinus; but whether Balbinus wished to leave his 
colleague unprotected, 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 resist¬ 
ance, 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 amiable young 
rnau, then in his sixteenth year, promised, by his virtues 
and talents, to retrieve the Roman character. The senate 
and the people concurred with the army in his election. 
His governor and instructor, Misitheus, who had been cele¬ 
brated for his eloquence and public virtues, was entrusted 
with the most responsible offices in the state. The emperor 
married his daughter, Furia Sabina Tranquillina, and foU 
lowed the advice of his father-in-law in every question of 
importance. They reformed the various abuses which had 
crept into the government; they restored the antient discip¬ 
line of the army; they endeavoured to reconcile the soldiers 
and the citizens, and they laid up stores of provisions in the 
chief towns of the empire, in order that, upon any emer¬ 
gency, a large army could be maintained for fifteen days. 
Having thus established himself in the good opinion 6f 
his subjects, Gordian marched into the east to attack Sapor 
king of Persia, who had seized upon Antioch, and plun¬ 
dered Syria and the adjoining provinces. During his march 
to the east, he fell in with an army of the Gauls in Maesia, 
who had endeavoured to settle in Thrace ; and after many 
successful conflicts, he compelled them to retreat into their 
own territories. He next advanced against the Persians; and 
after defeating the army of Sapor, he obtained possession of 
several of the most flourishing cities in the east. The senate 
decreed a triumph to Gordian, and selected Misitheus as the 
guardian of the state. This able and upright minister, how¬ 
ever, who had been made praetorian prefect, and who had a 
principal share in the success of the Roman arms, died very 
suddenly, and was supposed to have been poisoned by one 
Philip, an Arabian, who succeeded him as praetorian pre¬ 
fect. Misitheus bequeathed all his possessions to the Romans. 
The good fortune of Gordian seems to have left him at the 
death of his father-in-law. The army was not supplied with 
provisions as before; and Philip artfully took advantage of 
the discontent which was thus occasioned. He contrived to 
have himself raised to equal power with Gordian ; and hav¬ 
ing attained this elevation, he assassinated his colleague, who 
died in the twenty-second year of his age, and the sixth of 
his reign. The senate honoured the remains of Gordian 
with a splendid funeral on the confines of Persia ; and they 
decreed that his descendants should be freed from all the 
heavy taxes of the state. 
Philip was now, A.D. 244, proclaimed emperor by the 
army ; and their choice was with some reluctance confirmed 
by the voice of the senate, who gave him the title of Augustus. 
Philip ascended the throne at the age of forty; and he asso¬ 
ciated with him as the partner of his power, his son, who 
was only six years of age. His father, who was an Arabian, 
had been captain of a band of robbers, and had no doubt 
brought up his son to the same adventurous profession. 
Philip conceived a desire to visit the scenes of his early 
exploits 
