Pupienus
Encyclopedia
Pupienus also known as Pupienus Maximus, was Roman Emperor
with Balbinus
for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors
. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary texts Pupienus is referred to, incorrectly, as 'Maximus' rather than by his family name of Pupienus.
, who started his career as a Centurio
primus pilus
and became a Tribunus Militum, and then Praetor
. In truth, he was the son of Marcus Pupienus Maximus
, a Senator, and wife Clodia Pulchra. Probably his father was not yet a Senator when he started his career. It further claims he was adopted by one Pescennia Marcellina (otherwise unknown), and served as Proconsul
of Bithynia et Pontus
, then of Achaea
, and then Gallia Narbonensis
before serving as a special Legatus
in Illyricum
and subsequently governing one of the German
provinces. It is likely most of this is fiction: only the last post – probably the troublesome Germania Inferior
– is independently attested (by Herodian
). It was presumably then that Pupienus gained the personal bodyguard of Germans which is mentioned by Herodian as remaining with him when he became Emperor.
What is certain is that Pupienus, though he may not have been born a Patrician, was a leading member of the senatorial class during the latter half of the Severan dynasty. He may have come from the Etruscan
city of Volterra
, where inscriptions relating to his daughter, who carried the highly aristocratic name Pupiena Sextia Paulina Cethegilla, wife of Marcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus
, show that Pupienus (and his father, needed not have been the blacksmith claimed by the Historia Augusta) married into the ancient Roman noble family of the Sextii, with his second cousin Sextia Cethegilla, born c. 170, daughter of Titus Sextius Africanus
and wife Cornelia. He was twice Consul
– the date of his first consulship is unknown, but was probably about 213, maybe as a Suffectus in July 205 or Ordinarius in 217. His second consulship was in 234 and in that year or c. 230 he was Praefectus Urbi
of Rome and gained a reputation for severity, to the extent that he became unpopular with the Roman mob. In addition to his daughter, Pupienus had two sons, Tiberius Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus
, who was a Consul Suffectus about 224 or 226 or July 235, and Marcus Pupienus Africanus Maximus
, Consul Ordinarius in 236 as colleague of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax
. The second consulship, the city prefecture, and the son as consul of the year with the reigning Emperor, are all signs that the family was influential and in high favour. Evidently they owned property in Tibur
outside Rome, where Pupienus Pulcher Maximus was a patron
of the town.
When the Gordians
were proclaimed Emperors in Africa, the Senate appointed a committee of twenty men, including the old Senator Pupienus, to co-ordinate operations against Maximinus. On the news of the Gordians' defeat, the Senate met in closed session in the Temple of Jupiter and voted Pupienus and Balbinus as co-emperors, though they were soon forced to co-opt Gordian III
as a colleague. Pupienus marched to Ravenna
, where he oversaw the campaign against Maximinus; after the latter was assassinated by his soldiers just outside Aquileia
he despatched both Maximinus's troops and his own back to their provinces and returned to Rome with just the Praetorian Guard
and his German bodyguard. Balbinus had failed to keep public order in the capital. The sources suggest that Balbinus suspected Pupienus of wanting to supplant him, and they were soon living in different parts of the Imperial palace, where they were later assassinated by disaffected elements in the Praetorians, who resented serving under Senate-appointed emperors.
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
with Balbinus
Balbinus
Balbinus , was Roman Emperor with Pupienus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors.- Origins and career :Not much is known about Balbinus before his elevation to emperor. It has been conjectured that he descended from Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius, the consul ordinarius of...
for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors
Year of the Six Emperors
The Year of the Six Emperors refers to the year 238, during which six people were recognised as emperors of Rome.The emperor at the beginning of the year was Maximinus Thrax, who had ruled since 235. Later sources claim he was a cruel tyrant, and in January 238 a revolt erupted in North Africa...
. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary texts Pupienus is referred to, incorrectly, as 'Maximus' rather than by his family name of Pupienus.
Origins, career and family
The Historia Augusta, whose testimony is not to be trusted unreservedly, paints Pupienus as an example of ascension in the Roman hierarchical system due to military success. It claims he was the son of a blacksmithBlacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, who started his career as a Centurio
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
primus pilus
Primus Pilus
The Primus pilus was the senior centurion of a Roman legion.-Historical role:In the late Roman republic, the cohort , became the basic tactical unit of the legions. The cohort was composed of five to eight centuries each led by a centurion assisted by an optio, a soldier who could read and write...
and became a Tribunus Militum, and then Praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
. In truth, he was the son of Marcus Pupienus Maximus
Marcus Pupienus Maximus
Marcus Pupienus Maximus was a Roman senator.He married Clodia Pulchra, born c. 145, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher and wife Sextia, and had a son, the Emperor Pupienus....
, a Senator, and wife Clodia Pulchra. Probably his father was not yet a Senator when he started his career. It further claims he was adopted by one Pescennia Marcellina (otherwise unknown), and served as Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Bithynia et Pontus
Bithynia et Pontus
Bithynia et Pontus was the name of a province of the Roman empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia . It was formed by the amalgamation of the former kingdoms of Bithynia and Pontus ....
, then of Achaea
Achaea (Roman province)
Achaea, or Achaia, was a province of the Roman Empire, consisting of the Peloponnese, eastern Central Greece and parts of Thessaly. It bordered on the north by the provinces of Epirus vetus and Macedonia...
, and then Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...
before serving as a special Legatus
Legatus
A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
in Illyricum
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
and subsequently governing one of the German
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
provinces. It is likely most of this is fiction: only the last post – probably the troublesome Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
– is independently attested (by Herodian
Herodian
Herodian or Herodianus of Syria was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is...
). It was presumably then that Pupienus gained the personal bodyguard of Germans which is mentioned by Herodian as remaining with him when he became Emperor.
What is certain is that Pupienus, though he may not have been born a Patrician, was a leading member of the senatorial class during the latter half of the Severan dynasty. He may have come from the Etruscan
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
city of Volterra
Volterra
Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...
, where inscriptions relating to his daughter, who carried the highly aristocratic name Pupiena Sextia Paulina Cethegilla, wife of Marcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus
Marcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus
Marcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus was a Roman politician.He was the son of Marcus Ulpius Leurus and wife Flavia Habroea.He was Consul Suffectus in c. 230 and was from Hypata, in Achaea....
, show that Pupienus (and his father, needed not have been the blacksmith claimed by the Historia Augusta) married into the ancient Roman noble family of the Sextii, with his second cousin Sextia Cethegilla, born c. 170, daughter of Titus Sextius Africanus
Titus Sextius Africanus
Titus Sextius Africanus was a nobleman of ancient Rome who was deterred by Agrippina the Younger from marrying Junia Silana. In 62 AD, he took the census in the provinces of Gaul, together with Quintus Volusius Saturninus and Marcus Trebellius Maximus. Saturninus and Africanus were rivals, and...
and wife Cornelia. He was twice Consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
– the date of his first consulship is unknown, but was probably about 213, maybe as a Suffectus in July 205 or Ordinarius in 217. His second consulship was in 234 and in that year or c. 230 he was Praefectus Urbi
Praefectus urbi
The praefectus urbanus or praefectus urbi, in English the urban prefect, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and held high importance in late Antiquity...
of Rome and gained a reputation for severity, to the extent that he became unpopular with the Roman mob. In addition to his daughter, Pupienus had two sons, Tiberius Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus
Tiberius Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus
Tiberius Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus was a Roman politician.He was the son of Pupienus, later Emperor, and wife Sextia Cethegilla.He was Consul Suffectus in 224 or 226, or perhaps in July 235....
, who was a Consul Suffectus about 224 or 226 or July 235, and Marcus Pupienus Africanus Maximus
Marcus Pupienus Africanus Maximus
Marcus Pupienus Africanus Maximus was a Roman politician.He was the son of Pupienus, later Emperor, and wife Sextia Cethegilla.He was Consul Ordinarius in 236 joint with Emperor Maximinus I ....
, Consul Ordinarius in 236 as colleague of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax
Maximinus Thrax
Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome...
. The second consulship, the city prefecture, and the son as consul of the year with the reigning Emperor, are all signs that the family was influential and in high favour. Evidently they owned property in Tibur
Tivoli, Italy
Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...
outside Rome, where Pupienus Pulcher Maximus was a patron
Patronage in ancient Rome
Patronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...
of the town.
Reign
According to Edward Gibbon (drawing on the narratives of Herodian and the Historia Augusta):The mind of Maximus [Pupienus] was formed in a rougher mould [than that of Balbinus]. By his valour and abilities he had raised himself from the meanest origin to the first employments of the state and army. His victories over the Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his life, and the rigid impartiality of his justice whilst he was prefect of the city, commanded the esteem of a people whose affections were engaged in favour of the more amiable Balbinus. The two colleagues had both been consul (Balbinus had twice enjoyed that honourable office), both had been named among the twenty lieutenants of the senate; and, since the one was sixty and the other seventy-four years old, they had both attained the full maturity of age and experience.
When the Gordians
Gordian I
Gordian I , was Roman Emperor for one month with his son Gordian II in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in a rebellion against the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.-Early life:...
were proclaimed Emperors in Africa, the Senate appointed a committee of twenty men, including the old Senator Pupienus, to co-ordinate operations against Maximinus. On the news of the Gordians' defeat, the Senate met in closed session in the Temple of Jupiter and voted Pupienus and Balbinus as co-emperors, though they were soon forced to co-opt Gordian III
Gordian III
Gordian III , was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation...
as a colleague. Pupienus marched to Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, where he oversaw the campaign against Maximinus; after the latter was assassinated by his soldiers just outside Aquileia
Aquileia
Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...
he despatched both Maximinus's troops and his own back to their provinces and returned to Rome with just the Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
and his German bodyguard. Balbinus had failed to keep public order in the capital. The sources suggest that Balbinus suspected Pupienus of wanting to supplant him, and they were soon living in different parts of the Imperial palace, where they were later assassinated by disaffected elements in the Praetorians, who resented serving under Senate-appointed emperors.