Maximinus Thrax

Born around 173 in Thrace, Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus rose through the legions to command the Legio IV Italica under Severus Alexander. When Alexander was assassinated by his soldiers in 235, the Pannonian army proclaimed Maximinus emperor on the spot. His ascent kicked off the Crisis of the Third Century, fifty years of civil war and fracture. By 238 — the Year of the Six Emperors — the Senate revolted, declaring a cascade of rivals: Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus, Gordian III. Maximinus marched on Rome to crush them but stalled at Aquileia, where soldiers of the Legio II Parthic…