MAXIMINUS

died 238 original name Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus, also called Maximin first soldier who had started from the ranks to become Roman emperor (235238). His reign marked the beginning of a half century of civil war in the empire. Originally from Thrace, he is said to have been a shepherd before enlisting in the army. There his immense strength attracted the attention of Septimius Severus (emperor 193211). Under Severus Alexander (emperor 222235), Maximinus held high command in the Army of the Rhine, and, when Severus was murdered, he was proclaimed emperor by the Rhine army. Maximinus spent most of his reign fighting invading tribes along the Danube and the Rhine. The numerous milestones displaying his name attest to his energetic reconstructions of the roads in these regions. When in 238 a group of landowners in Africa, discontented with imperial taxation, rebelled, killed their tax collectors, and proclaimed the aged Gordian emperor, Maximinus quickly suppressed the revolt; but he himself was soon deposed by the Senate at Rome. Maximinus and the army crossed the Alps and besieged Aquileia, in northeast Italy. The city resisted, and after several months of stalemate Maximinus was killed by his own soldiers. Gordian's grandson, Gordian III, emerged as Maximinus' successor.