284
GORDIAN III.—M. JULIUS PHILIPPUS.
period in general. He had a praefecius praetoτio, or prime
minister, who was certainly not a Koman, and whose real
name is doubtful. In the “ Historia Augusta” he is called
Misitheus, which name is rejected by Casaubon; and Zosimus1
mentions him under the name of Timesicles. Either this name
or Timesitheus, which occurs in an inscription (but whether it
refers to the same person is uncertain), is undoubtedly more
correct than Misitheusa. Gordian was married to Euria Sabina
Tranquillina, the daughter of Timesicles. His good fortune
forsook him on the death of his father-in-law, who fell a vic-
tim to Philippus. In the reign of Gordian, the northern fron-
tiers of the empire were in a state of commotion, as we must
infer from some allusions in our authorities. But the occur-
rences in Persia, the king of which had taken possession or
Mesopotamia, were of greater importance, and called for
Gordian’s presence in the East. If any confidence can be placed
in the coins, we must believe that Gordian defeated the Persians,
and gained the triumphal insignia, but still the war was not
brought to a close, and he was obliged to prolong his stay in
the East, where he was murdered by M. Julius Philippus, the
praefect of the praetorian guards.
M. Julius Philippus was a native of Bostra in Arabia Petraea.
It is a mistake to speak of him as a Bedouin, for Bostra was a
Roman colony, and a great number of its inhabitants must have
been Romans. He is, indeed, called an Arab; but it does not
follow from this, that he was an Arab in the strict sense of the
word. If he had been a Bedouin, he could not have been
enlisted in a Roman legion, but would have remained in the
cohort of the Idumaeans3 east of the Jordan. It is not
impossible that he may have risen at Rome in the time or
Alexander Severus and Julia Domna. He was the murderer
of his harmless, benevolent, and amiable young sovereign, or
whom we possess a charming bust, the genuineness of which
cannot be doubted.4 Philippus concluded a peace with the
Persians, which was as honourable to the Romans Jis the cir-
cumstances would allow. However, the storm which threatened
the empire drew nearer and nearer.
The reign of Philippus is remarkable, not only because he
1 i 17. 2 Eckhel, Doctrin. Num. Vet. vii. p.319.
3 Other MS. notes have Ituraei.
4 Bunsen, Beschreibung der Stadt Bomi iii. 1. p. 203.
DECIUS.
285
celebrated, with, incredible splendour, the great secular festival of
the thousandth year’s existence of Rome, but because the ecclesi-
astical historians generally suppose that Philippus was a Christian,
and that he was consequently the first Christian emperor.5
Eckhel thinks that Philippus cannot have been a real Christian,
as his coins bear too many pagan emblems. This, however, is
the case also with the coins of Constantine the Great, whose
notions of the Christian religion must have been extremely
confused, and whose coins bear the emblem of the god of the
sun. The statement that Philippus was a Christian, derives
some support from the fact that Origen addressed to him letters
concerning the Christian religion. We must also remember that
Bostra was situated in the neighbourhood of Pella, the real
seat of the Jewish Christians, where Christianity had taken
firm root; we cannot therefore altogether reject the statement
that he was a Christian. There is a tradition in the church
that he did penance for the murder of his sovereign, and ob-
tained absolution. The crime itself cannot have excluded him
from the Christian community, though the absolution, if it
was granted, was unjust. If we except the crime by which
Philippus obtained the empire, his government deserves no
blame; for he is not charged with any act of cruelty, nor with
indulging in any vice. The secular games to celebrate the
thousandth birthday of Rome must have been a highly inter-
esting event for the Romans, but they were in themselves un-
christian, or rather altogether pagan solemnities; Philippus,
however, may not have received baptism, but have been merely
a catechumen, in which capacity he might Continuetill the end
of his life, and not receive baptism till just before his death,
as a purification from all his sins. He reigned upwards of
four years, from A.D. 243 to 248. Shortly before his death,
the legions of Moesia and Pannonia made an insurrection, and
proclaimed Marinus, an officer in the army, emperor, whom
however they put to death soon afterwards6, and Philippus
then gave the command of those legions to Decius, who claimed,
though certainly without reason, to be a descendant of the
ancient Decii. His real name was C. Messius Quintus Trajanus
Deciusτ, and his alleged connexion with the Decii is nothing
s Orosius, vii. 20 ; Zonaras, xii. 19. b Zosimus, i. 20.
7 At that time we frequently meet with persons bearing three or four gentile
names at once, praenomιna and cognomina being mixed up with them. — N.