Roman Emperor. He was born in AD 225 and was the son of a senator. At age 13 he was proclaimed Caesar and Imperial heir by the senate, and after the death of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax in AD 238 and the murder soon afterwards of his successors, Pupienus and Balbinus, he was made Emperor by the army and the senate. Uprisings continued in Germany, but a more serious threat to the Empire came from the expansion of the Sassanian Empire in Mesopotamia. In AD 240 the garrison at Hatra, in modern day Iraq, was captured, provoking a massive Roman counterattack, with Gordian joining his army in AD 243. A year later the Sassanians claimed that he had been killed in battle near Misiche, but most sources suggest that he was in fact murdered by his own soldiers under the orders of his successor, Marcus Julius Phillippus, known as Philip the Arab. He was deified after his death, and a monument was erected on the site of his murder, while his body was returned to Rome for burial.
Roman Emperor. He was born in AD 225 and was the son of a senator. At age 13 he was proclaimed Caesar and Imperial heir by the senate, and after the death of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax in AD 238 and the murder soon afterwards of his successors, Pupienus and Balbinus, he was made Emperor by the army and the senate. Uprisings continued in Germany, but a more serious threat to the Empire came from the expansion of the Sassanian Empire in Mesopotamia. In AD 240 the garrison at Hatra, in modern day Iraq, was captured, provoking a massive Roman counterattack, with Gordian joining his army in AD 243. A year later the Sassanians claimed that he had been killed in battle near Misiche, but most sources suggest that he was in fact murdered by his own soldiers under the orders of his successor, Marcus Julius Phillippus, known as Philip the Arab. He was deified after his death, and a monument was erected on the site of his murder, while his body was returned to Rome for burial.
Bio by: js
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