AR antoninianus 238-244 AD Nice of Gordian III , Rome, Roman Empire (RIC 95)

IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right / VIRTVTI AVGVSTI, Hercules, naked, standing right, right hand on hip, left hand on club on rock, lion-skin beside club. 24mm, 3.93 grams. Mint of Rome. RIC IV-3 95; RSC 404; Sear 8670.

Gordian III (225–244 CE) became Roman emperor at just 13 years old, the youngest sole ruler in Roman history, after the chaotic Year of the Six Emperors in 238. Elevated first as Caesar under Pupienus and Balbinus, he soon became sole emperor with broad public and senatorial support. His reign was dominated by the empire’s struggles against Sasanian Persia; under his capable praetorian prefect Timesitheus, Rome achieved military successes and stabilized frontier defenses. After Timesitheus’s death, however, Gordian’s authority weakened, and in 244 he died during the Persian campaign - either in battle near Misiche or murdered during a mutiny led by his successor, Philip the Arab. Despite his youth and the turbulence of the period, Gordian III’s reign is often viewed as relatively stable and competent thanks to his advisers.

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