Gordian III

Gordian III (225 to 244) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 238 to 244. He became emperor at the age of 13, the second-youngest sole emperor of the united Roman Empire, as the grandson of Gordian I and nephew of Gordian II, who had been proclaimed joint emperors in a short-lived African revolt against Maximinus Thrax. The Senate first elected Pupienus and Balbinus as emperors and raised the boy to the rank of Caesar; after Maximinus was murdered by his own army and the two senators were killed by the Praetorian Guard, Gordian was proclaimed sole emperor. Because of his age, government passed to aristocratic families working through the Senate, and after his marriage in 241 to Furia Sabinia Tranquillina his father-in-law Timesitheus, the praetorian prefect, became the de facto ruler. A Sasanian invasion of Mesopotamia led to a campaign that won the Battle of Resaena in 243. Timesitheus then died in unclear circumstances, and Gordian himself died in early 244 during the eastern campaign, with ancient sources giving conflicting accounts.