On April 22, 238 CE, the year 238 CE became known as the Year of the Six Emperors. It was on this date that the Roman Senate outlawed the current emperor Maximinus Thrax for being an overall, just unlikable, murdering swine and nominated Pupienus and Balbinus as co-emperors. I know, that only makes three so far and just like in a Doctor Who episode when it is named “The Five Doctors”, you expect there to be five Doctors and that the Doctors will save the Earth, or the universe, or even Time itself. Well, this is the Roman empire. Prepare to be disappointed. The other three Emperors were Gordian I, his son Gordian II, and his grandson Gordian III, rounding out all six. Before Pupienus and Balbinus were nominated, Gordian I became emperor when the people of his province have had enough of Maximinus Thrax’s shenanigans and asked him to proclaim himself as emperor and depose Maximinus Thrax. He decided he’d do that, but because he was 80 years old, he also named his son, Gordian II, as co-emperor. So, let’s start the count. We’re up to three. Thrax, Gordian I and Gordian II. Thrax, who was outlawed by the Roman Senate, still had an army and wasn’t about to relinquished control without a fight. Unfortunately, Gordian I and Gordian II didn’t even have enough time to make plans to fight Maximinus Thrax. Why? Because an old enemy, Capelianus, the Governor of the neighboring province Numidia showed up. He didn’t want the throne, he just didn’t want Gordian or his son getting it. Capelianus sent his army against the army of Gordian I and Gordian II and defeated it. Gordian II was killed during the battle and Gordian I became so distraught that he killed himself. In total, Gordian I and Gordian II didn’t even last 20 days as co-emperors. This left Maximinus Thrax as the outlawed emperor. The Roman Senate learned of this and on April 22, 238, the senators named Pupienus and Balbinus, both elderly men, as co-emperors. So now we’re up to five. Thrax, outlawed, Gordian I, dead, Gordian II, dead, and Pupienus and Balbinus, still alive. The people of Rome were not happy. They hated the two old geezers, Pupienus and Balbinus. To appease the disgruntled populace the Senate then appointed the thirteen year-old son and grandson of Gordian II and Gordian I, Gordian III, as co-co-emperor with Pupienus and Balbinus. And there you have it. Six Emperors, one year. One outlawed, two dead, two not dead, but shaking the bony hands of Death, and a thirteen year-old boy. It didn’t last long. The soldiers of Maximinus Thrax also get tired of his incompetence and killed him. So that left only Gordian III, Balbinus and Pupienus to run the Roman Empire. That also did not last long. Balbinus and Pupienus did not trust each other and were always bickering and sniping at one another instead of competently running the empire. The Praetorian Guard quickly got tired of it and took a hint from Maximinus’s army. During a rather contentious bitchfest between Balbinus and Pupienus, the Praetorian Guard drug them outside and killed them. This left Gordian III as sole emperor in 238 CE. And that was the year of the Six Emperors. There can be only one.
Categories
- Announcements (8)
- Historical Facts (1,692)
- 10th Century (4)
- 11th Century (9)
- 12th Century (4)
- 13th Century (10)
- 14th Century (10)
- 15th Century (20)
- 16th Century (45)
- 17th Century (65)
- 18th Century (93)
- 19th Century (284)
- 1st Century (12)
- 20th Century (886)
- 21st Century (190)
- 2nd Century (2)
- 3rd Century (2)
- 4th Century (4)
- 5th Century (3)
- 6th Century (4)
- 7th Century (3)
- 8th Century (4)
- 9th Century (3)
- BCE (13)
- The Future (2)
- Misc (1)
Tags
Alabama alcohol aliens America americans Baseball breasts California Cthulhu Donald Trump drugs England firsts france Georgia Germany HP Lovecraft inventions laws London marriage men men behaving badly music NASA new technology New York patents police Presidents religion Russia science sex sheep space sports television Texas the english the french the scottish United States US Supreme Court womenComments
- Don Croner on September 8, 2015
- willie j. edwards on June 5, 1933
- David on August 11, 3114 BC
- Drunk Commenter on The Twisted Historian wrote a book!
- Raymond M Boettcher on February 28, 1646
Calendar
September 2023 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
- December 2022 (1)
- March 2021 (2)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (31)
- December 2020 (31)
- November 2020 (32)
- October 2020 (29)
- September 2020 (30)
- August 2020 (31)
- July 2020 (31)
- June 2020 (30)
- May 2020 (31)
- April 2020 (30)
- March 2020 (31)
- February 2020 (31)
- January 2020 (31)
- December 2019 (31)
- November 2019 (30)
- October 2019 (31)
- September 2019 (30)
- August 2019 (31)
- July 2019 (31)
- June 2019 (30)
- May 2019 (31)
- April 2019 (30)
- March 2019 (31)
- February 2019 (29)
- January 2019 (26)
- June 2016 (27)
- May 2016 (31)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (31)
- February 2016 (27)
- September 2015 (11)
- August 2015 (31)
- July 2015 (31)
- June 2015 (29)
- April 2015 (21)
- March 2015 (31)
- February 2015 (28)
- January 2015 (31)
- December 2014 (31)
- November 2014 (30)
- October 2014 (31)
- September 2014 (30)
- August 2014 (31)
- July 2014 (31)
- June 2014 (30)
- May 2014 (31)
- April 2014 (30)
- March 2014 (31)
- February 2014 (28)
- January 2014 (32)
- December 2013 (31)
- November 2013 (30)
- October 2013 (32)
- September 2013 (30)
- August 2013 (31)
- July 2013 (25)
- June 2013 (5)