Who Were the “Soldier Emperors”?
In 235 AD, during a soldiers’ mutiny, the last emperor of the Severan dynasty, Alexander Severus, was killed. The founder of this dynasty, Septimius Severus, came to power in 193 AD thanks to the legions loyal to him. His descendants failed to please the army and thus lost power and life. From that year, the fate of the throne of the Roman Empire for many decades was entirely determined by the will and sympathies of the Roman army, not the Senate, and even less so by the ordinary citizens of Rome. The emperors who reigned during this period relied exclusively on military force, ignoring Roman “civil society.” Therefore, the third century entered the history of Ancient Rome as the era of the “soldier emperors.”
The first was Maximinus Thrax, a professional soldier who rose from the ranks. During his three-year reign, he never appeared in Rome, spending his time in wars with the Alemanni, Sarmatians, and Dacians. He only needed recruits and money from the Romans to maintain his troops. Tax revenues were insufficient, leading to repression and confiscations. The outraged Senate put forward its candidates for emperor — Pupienus and Balbinus. In the ensuing bloody turmoil, they, Maximinus, and eventually a 13-year-old Gordian III, the grandson of Gordian I and had claimed the throne in 238 AD and died in battle with Maximinus’ legions, perished.
