Gaius Julius Verus was born in 172 or 173 AD in Thrace, a region northeast of Macedonia, to a peasant father and an Alanic mother. A number of Roman emperors of the 3rd–5th century were of Thraco-Roman backgrounds (Maximinus Thrax, Licinius, Galerius, Aureolus, Leo the Thracian, etc.). They were elevated via a military career, from the condition of common soldiers in one of the Roman legions to the foremost positions of political power.
Because of his place of birth, Maximinus became identified with the name of "Thrax". According to the Augustan History, he was a shepherd and bandit leader before joining the Imperial Roman army. In 190 AD he entered the military and because of his immense size and strength, quickly rose through the ranks, eventually commanding a legion in Egypt in 232 AD, governing the Roman province of Mesopotamia, and lastly, in 234 AD leading recruits in Germany.
Ancient Roman writers claimed that Maximinus Thrax stood 2,6 meters tall. His sandals were said to be twice the size of regular army issue. He wore his wife’s bracelet as a thumb ring. It was said he devoured 40 pounds of meat and 18 bottles of wine at each meal. They claimed he crushed rocks in his fists, out-pulled a team of horses, and knocked out a mule with one punch!
Maximinus was proclaimed emperor near the present-day city of Mainz on March 20, 235 AD. The Roman Senate reluctantly approved, even though they considered him a barbarian and below their social standing. His son Gaius Julius Verus Maximus would be named Caesar. Maximinus began his reign by massacring many of the friends of the late emperor, and even all those who showed any regret for his death!
Maximinus spent most of his reign fighting invading tribes along the Danube and the Rhine, earning the titles of Dacius Maximus and Samaticus Maximus. Maximinus was the first of the barracks emperors, rulers elevated by the troops without having any political experience, a supporting faction, distinguished ancestors, or a legitimate claim to the imperial throne. As their rule rested on military might and generalship, they operated as warlords reliant on the army to maintain power.
In 238 a group of landowners in Africa, discontented with imperial taxation, rebelled and proclaimed the aged Gordian emperor. The revolt was soon suppressed by the governor of Numidia. The Roman Senate, however, had used the revolt as an excuse to depose Maximinus and recognize Gordian, and they responded to Gordian’s defeat and death by proclaiming two new emperors, Pupienus and Balbinus. The army lost confidence in him and murdered him and his son in spring 238. The troops in Rome killed Pupienus and Balbinus and declared Gordian III Maximinus’s successor. At the time, Maximinus must have seemed an anomaly who briefly interrupted the military monarchy founded by Septimius Severus.
Illustration by Angus McBride.
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