GORDIAN III

born 225 died 244, Zaitha, Mesopotamia Latin in full Marcus Antonius Gordianus Roman emperor from 238 to 244. After the deaths of Gordian I and Gordian II, the Roman Senate proclaimed two elderly senators, Maximus and Balbinus, joint emperors. However, the people and imperial guards in Rome distrusted the Senate's nominees and insisted on making the 13-year-old Gordian (grandson of Gordian I and nephew of Gordian II) caesar and heir to the throne. After the defeat of the deposed emperor Maximinus, the guards rioted and killed Balbinus and Maximus; in August 238 Gordian became sole emperor. The government was directed first by his mother and later by his father-in-law, the praetorian prefect Timesitheus. In 242 Gordian accompanied Timesitheus on a campaign against the Persians. After successes in battle, the prefect died (243) of an illness and was replaced by Philip the Arabian. In the spring of 244 Gordian was murdered by the troops and succeeded by Philip.