Gordianus
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
the name of three Roman emperors. Marcus Antonius Gordianus I, descended from a noble family, and distinguished for his literary education, was twice consul, under Caracalls and Severus. By the latter he was appointed proconsul of the province of Africa, in which position he gained the affection of :the people of the province to so high a degree, that on the assassination of the emperor Maeximinus, he was, at the age of 80 years, proclaimed emperor in 238, together with his son, who assumed the same of Marcus Antonius Gordianus II. The Roman Senate recognized them; but after a reign of only a few weeks Gordianus II fell in a battle at Carthage against Capellianus, the governor of Mauritania, and Gordianus I, on hearing the news, killed himself. At the demand of the Roman people, a minor grandson of Gordianus I was placed as Caesear by, the side of Pupienus Maximus and Balbinus, who had been elected emperors against Maximinus; and when all these three emperors were killed by their own soldiers, he was still in the same year (238) proclaimed as Augustus by thee Praetorians. He carried on a successful war against the Persians, and had an excellent adviser in his father-in-law Misitheus. He reigned until 244, when Philippus the Arabian who for some time had been his colleague, caused him to be assassinated. The Christian Church during the reign of Gordianus was undisturbed. (A.J.S.)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
The name of three Roman Emperors, father, son, and grandson.
urnamed Africanus, rose to be an ædile, consul twice, and subsequently became proconsul of Africa; on the deposition of the Emperor Maximinus in 238, he, then in his eightieth year, was proclaimed emperor, his son ( b . A.D. 192) being associated with him in the imperial office; grief at the death of his son, killed in battle, caused him to commit suicide a month after he had assumed the purple; he was a man of refined and generous nature.
randson of preceding, was early raised to the dignity of Cæsar, and in 238 rose to the rank of Augustus; his most important achievement was his driving back of the Persians beyond the Euphrates and his relief of Antioch; he was assassinated in 244 by his own soldiers while preparing to cross the Euphrates.
