GORDIAN I Africanus Roman Emperor 238AD Biography & Ancient Roman Coins
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GORDIAN I Roman Emperor coins
from a trusted ancient coin dealer. Gordian I was Roman Emperor for one month with his
son Gordian II in 238, the
Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in
a rebellion against the Emperor
Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by
forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.
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Gordian I (Latin:
Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus
Romanus Africanus Augustus; c. 159 – 12 April 238),
 was
Roman Emperor for one month with his
son
Gordian II in 238, the
Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in
a rebellion against the Emperor
Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by
forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.
Early
life
Little is known on the early life and family background of Gordian.
There is no reliable evidence on his family origins. His family were of
Equestrian rank, who were modest and
very wealthy. Gordian was said to be related to prominent senators. His
praenomen and nomen Marcus Antonius suggest that his paternal
ancestors received Roman citizenship under the Triumvir
Mark Antony, or one of his daughters,
during the late
Roman Republic. Gordian’s cognomen
‘Gordianus’ suggests that his family origins were from
Anatolia, especially
Galatia and
Cappadocia.
According to the
Augustan History, his mother was a
Roman woman called Ulpia Gordiana and his father Roman Senator Maecius
Marullus. While modern historians have dismissed his father's name as
false, there may be some truth behind the identity of his mother.
Gordian's family history can be guessed through inscriptions. The name
Sempronianus in his name may indicate a connection to his mother
or grandmother. In
Ankara
Turkey, a funeral inscription has been
found that names a Sempronia Romana, daughter of a named
Sempronius Aquila (an imperial secretary). Romana erected this
undated funeral inscription to her husband (whose name is lost) who died
as a
praetor-designate. Gordian might have
been related to the gens
Sempronia.
French historian
Christian Settipani gives as his
parents Marcus Antonius (b. ca 135), tr. pl., praet. des.,
and wife Sempronia Romana (b. ca 140), daughter of Titus Flavius
Sempronius Aquila (b. ca 115), Secretarius ab epistulis Graecis,
and wife Claudia (b. ca 120), daughter of an unknown father and wife
Claudia Tisamenis (b. ca 100), sister
of
Herodes Atticus. It seems therefore
that the person who was related to Herodes Atticus was Gordian I's
mother or grandmother and not his wife. Also according to the Augustan
History, his wife was a Roman woman called
Fabia Orestilla, born circa 165, who
the Augustan History claims was a descendant of Roman Emperors
Antoninus Pius and
Marcus Aurelius through her father
Fulvus Antoninus. Modern historians have dismissed this name and her
information as false.
With his wife, Gordian had at least two children: a son of the same
name (Gordian
II) and a daughter,
Antonia Gordiana (who was the mother of
the future Emperor
Gordian III). His wife died before 238.
Christian Settipani gives as her
parents Marcus Annius Severus, who was a Suffect
Consul, and wife Silvana, born circa
140, daughter of
Lucius Plautius Lamia Silvanus and wife
Aurelia Fadilla, daughter of
Antoninus Pius and wife Annia Galeria
Faustina or
Faustina the Elder.
Gordian climbed the hierarchy until he entered the
Roman Senate. His political career
started relatively late in his life and probably his early years were
spent in rhetoric and literary studies. As a military man, Gordian
commanded the
Legio IIII Scythica when the legion was
stationed in
Syria. He served as governor of
Roman Britain in 216 and was a Suffect
Consul sometime during the reign of
Elagabalus. Inscriptions in Roman
Britain bearing his name were partially erased suggesting some form of
imperial displeasure during this role.
While he gained unbounded popularity by the magnificent games and
shows he produced as
aedile, his prudent and retired life
did not excite the suspicion of
Caracalla, in whose honour he wrote a
long epic poem called Antoninias. Gordian certainly retained his
wealth and political clout during the chaotic times of the Severan
dynasty, which suggest his personal dislike for intrigue.
Rise
to Power
During the reign of
Alexander Severus
proconsular governorship of the
province of
Africa Proconsularis which he assumed
in 237.[16]
However, prior to the commencement of his
promagistrature,
Maximinus Thrax killed Emperor
Alexander Severus at
Moguntiacum in
Germania Inferior and assumed the
throne.
Gordian I on a coin, bearing the title AFR, Africanus.
Maximinus was not a popular emperor and universal discontent roused
by his oppressive rule culminated in a revolt in Africa in 238. The
trigger was the actions of Maximinus’s
procurator in Africa, who sought to
extract the maximum level of taxation and fines possible, including
falsifying charges against the local aristocracy. A riot saw the death
of the procurator, after which they turned to Gordian and demanded that
he accept the dangerous honor of the imperial throne. Gordian, after
protesting that he was too old for the position, eventually yielded to
the popular clamour and assumed both the purple and the
cognomen Africanus on March
22.
According to Edward Gibbon::
An iniquitous sentence had been pronounced against some opulent
youths of [Africa], the execution of which would have stripped them
of far the greater part of their patrimony. (…) A respite of three
days, obtained with difficulty from the rapacious treasurer, was
employed in collecting from their estates a great number of slaves
and peasants blindly devoted to the commands of their lords, and
armed with the rustic weapons of clubs and axes. The leaders of the
conspiracy, as they were admitted to the audience of the procurator,
stabbed him with the daggers concealed under their garments, and, by
the assistance of their tumultuary train, seized on the little town
of Thysdrus, and erected the standard of rebellion against the
sovereign of the Roman empire. (...) Gordianus, their proconsul, and
the object of their choice [as emperor], refused, with unfeigned
reluctance, the dangerous honour, and begged with tears that they
should suffer him to terminate in peace a long and innocent life,
without staining his feeble age with civil blood. Their menaces
compelled him to accept the Imperial purple, his only refuge indeed
against the jealous cruelty of Maximin (...).
Due to his advanced age, he insisted that his son, Marcus Antonius
Gordianus (Gordian
II), be associated with him. A few days later, Gordian
entered the city of
Carthage with the overwhelming support
of the population and local political leaders. Meanwhile in Rome,
Maximinus'
praetorian prefect was assassinated and
the rebellion seemed to be successful. Gordian in the meantime had sent
an embassy to Rome, under the leadership of
Publius Licinius Valerianus, to obtain
the Senate’s support for his rebellion. The senate confirmed the new
emperor on 2 April and many of the provinces gladly sided with Gordian.
Opposition would come from the neighbouring province of
Numidia. Capelianus, governor of
Numidia, loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax, and who held a grudge
against Gordian, renewed his alliance to the former emperor and invaded
Africa province with the only legion stationed in the region,
III Augusta,
and other veteran units. Gordian II, at the head of a militia army of
untrained soldiers, lost the
Battle of Carthage and was killed, and
Gordian took his own life by hanging himself with his belt. The Gordians
had reigned only thirty-six days.
Legacy
Pupienus and
Balbinus, as joint emperors.
Nevertheless, by the end of 238, the recognised emperor would be
Gordian IIIII, his grandson. Gordian and
his son were
deified by the Senate. | 
