GORDIAN III (Marcus Antonius Gordianus), Roman Emperor. - Born in Rome on 20 Dec. 224 to Junius Balbus and Maecia Faustina, died in Syria, near Circesium, in Feb. or March 244. He was emperor from 238 to 244. After the death in Africa of his uncle Gordian II and his grandfather Gordian I in 238, he was acclaimed emperor by the soldiers and the people of Rome against the Senate, which had invested with power Pupienus and Balbinus, who were killed shortly afterwards.
In 241 he married Furia Sabinia Tranquillina, daughter of the able commander Timesitheus, whom G. elevated to praetorian prefect, thereby becoming the effective master of the Empire. With him, in the following year, G. went to fight the Persians in Syria. But while the imperial armies were triumphant, reconquering Antioch, Carrhae, and Nisibis, Timesitheus died in 243, thus changing the fortune of the young G., since the new praetorian prefect, Philip the Arab, who aspired to the Empire, stirred up the soldiers against him, and they killed him in the first months of 244. Under G. the Church enjoyed a period of peace, consolidated under his successor Philip the Arab, perhaps a sign of a changed direction in domestic policy, but it lasted only a short time.
Bibliography3 worksK. F. W. Lehmann, Kaiser Gordian III., Berlin 1911; von Rohden, s. v. in Realencyc., I, coll. 2620-28; G. Costa, in De Ruggiero, Dizionario
BIBL.: K. F. W. Lehmann, Kaiser Gordian III., Berlin 1911; von Rohden, s. v. in Realencyc., I, coll. 2620-28; G. Costa, in De Ruggiero, Dizionario epigrafico, III, pp. 540-59.
Ghinato, Alberto. “Gordiano III (M. Antonius Gordianus), imperatore romano.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, col. 929. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/gordiano-iii-m-antonius-gordianus-imperatore-romano.
MLA
Ghinato, Alberto. “Gordiano III (M. Antonius Gordianus), imperatore romano.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 929. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/gordiano-iii-m-antonius-gordianus-imperatore-romano.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_gordiano_iii_m_antonius_gordia,
author = {Ghinato, Alberto},
title = {Gordiano III (M. Antonius Gordianus), imperatore romano},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {929},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/gordiano-iii-m-antonius-gordianus-imperatore-romano}
}
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