Maximinus Thrax; Gordian I; Gordian II; Pupienus; Balbinus; Gordian III; Philip the Arab; Philip II; Decius; Herennius Etruscus; Hostilian; Trebonianus Gallus; Volusianus; Aemilian; Valerian; Gallienus; Saloninus; Claudius Gothicus; Quintillus; Aurelian; Ulpia Severina; Tacitus; Florianus; Probus; Carus; Carinus; Numerian. 🖼️ Print available here.

Appearance of The Principate [Pt. IV]

235–285: Gordian dynasty and Crisis of the Third Century

8 min readJul 24, 2020

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Using the neural-net tool Artbreeder, Photoshop and historical references, I have created photoreal depictions of Roman Emperors. Scroll down to see each emperor.

Introduction
[Pt I] 27 BC–68 AD: Julio-Claudian dynasty
[Pt II] 68–96: Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty
[Pt III] 96–192: Nerva–Antonine dynasty
→[Pt IV] 235–285: Gordian dynasty and Crisis of the Third Century

ON CREATIVE COMMONS & COPYRIGHT: Faces can be shared non-watermarked at 200 pixels max height OR 512 pixels with the digital mosaic watermark with Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Please link back to this page. Continuation of this project depends on prints, licensing and commissions.

Maximinus Thrax

235–238 (Died aged 65 — Assassinated by his men during the siege of Aquileia)

Born: Sopianae, Valeria Thrace (Modern-day Hungary-Croatia)
Hair: —
Eyes: “eyes of great size”
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Height: “Ancient Roman writers claimed that Maximinus Thrax stood over 8 feet 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. These are all exaggerations, of course.” (via W&M) “strikingly huge stature and feats of strength won him a place in Septimius Severus’ army; body preeminent in height, size, and proportions-extraordinary accounts given of his feats of strength, eating, drinking, etc.” (via Canter)

Gordian I

238 (Died aged 79 — Committed suicide upon hearing of the death of Gordian II)

Born: Phrygia? (Turkey)
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Gordian II

238 (Died aged 46 — Killed during the Battle of Carthage, fighting a pro-Maximinus army)

Father: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus the Elder (Gordian I)

Born: —
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Pupienus

238 (Died aged 68 or 73 — Assassinated by the Praetorian Guard)

Father: Marcus Pupienus Maximus (?)

Mother: Clodia Pulchra (?)

Born: —
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Balbinus

238 (Died aged 60 — Assassinated by Praetorian Guard)

Was Roman emperor with Pupienus for three months. The son (either by birth or adoption) of Caelius Calvinus.

Born: —
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Gordian III

238–244 (Died aged 19 — Unknown; possibly murdered on orders of Philip I)

At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole legal Roman emperor throughout the existence of the united Roman Empire. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unknown 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 of his early life before his acclamation. Gordian had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238 AD.

Born: —
Hair: —
Eyes: —
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Other: “handsome and winsome in appearance” (via Canter)
Height: —

Philip the Arab

244–249 (died aged 45 — Killed in the Battle of Verona by Decius)

Born: Philippopolis, Arabia Petraea (Modern-day Syria)
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Philip II

247–249 (Died aged 12 —Murdered by the Praetorian Guard after his father was killed in battle by his successor Decius in 249)

Born: —
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Decius

249–251 (Died aged 50 — Killed in the Battle of Abrittus fighting against the Goths)

Born: Budalia, Pannonia Inferior (Seribia)
Hair: —
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Height: —

(UL) Possibly a bust of mother Herennia Etruscilla; (UR) Unknown bust via Alchetron;

Herennius Etruscus

249–251 (Died age 24 — Killed in the Battle of Abrittus fighting against the Goths)

Father: Decius

Born: —
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Hostilian

251 (Died aged 21 — Natural causes (plague))

Father: Decius

Born: Sirmium (Northern Serbia)
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Trebonianus Gallus

251–253 (Died aged 47 — Assassinated by their own troops, in favour of Aemilian)

Born: Italy
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Volusianus

251–253 (Died aged ~23 — Assassinated by their own troops, in favour of Aemilian)

Father: Trebonianus Gallus.

Mother: Afinia Gemina Baebiana.

Born: —
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Aemilian

253 (Died aged 40 or 46 — Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Valerian)

Regarding his lineage, there are two versions, both exaggerated: while Eutropius and his translator Paeanius probably defame a failed usurper when they say that he was from an insignificant family,[6] John of Antioch may refer to Aemilian’s propaganda when he says that the usurper used his ancestry to take power.[7]

Wife: Cornelia Supera, a woman of African origin

Born: 207 or 213 Girba, Africa (Tunisia)
Hair: —
Eyes: —
Skin: Moor OR Lybian according to 12th-century historian Joannes Zonaras, (that is, coming from western Egypt-eastern Libya) rather than a Moor
Other: —
Height: —

Valerian

253–260 (Died aged 65 — Captured in Battle of Edessa against Persians, died in captivity)

Wife: Egnatia Mariniana.

Sons: Later emperors Gallienus and Valerianus.

Born: —
Hair: “clean shaven” (via Historum)
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Height: “was stocky in build” (via Historum)

Gallienus

253–268 (Died aged 50 — Murdered at Aquileia by his own commanders)

Father: Valerian, made co-emperor in 253

Born: —
Hair: “Vain in dress-powdered his hair, appeared in public with a halo upon his head” (via Canter)
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Saloninus

258–260 (Died aged ~18 — Murdered at Aquileia by his own commanders)

Father: Later emperor Gallienus

Mother: Cornelia Salonina, a Greek

Born: —
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Claudius Gothicus (aka: Claudius II)

268–270 (Died aged 60 — Natural causes (plague))

Father: Unknown possibly Gordian II

Mother: Unknown

Born: Sirmium (northern Serbia)
Hair: —
Eyes: “lustrous eyes” (via Canter)
Skin: —
Other: —
Height: “tall of stature” (via Canter)

Quintillus [Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus]

270 (Died age ~60 — Unclear; possibly suicide or murder)

Brother: Claudius II (Claudius Gothicus), seized power after his death

Father: Unknown possibly Gordian II

Mother: Unknown

Born: Sirmium (northern Serbia)
Hair: —
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Height: —

Aurelian

270–275 (Died aged ~61 — Assassinated by Praetorian Guard)

Father: Peasant-farmer

Mother: Suggested that Aurelian’s mother was a freedwoman. (Unreliable)

Spouse: Ulpia Severina

Born: —
Hair: “Aurelian, along with Probus, Carus, Diocletian, and Maximian after him, favored short hair and a goatee.” (via Historum)
Eyes: —
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Height: —

Ulpia Severina: Several coins as reference.

Ulpia Severina (possibly)

275 (Died age unknown)

Husband: Aurelian,

“Numismatic evidence gave rise to the speculation that she ruled in her own right during the interregnum between Aurelian’s death and the election of Tacitus.”

Born: —
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Tacitus

275–276 (Died aged 76 — Natural causes (possibly assassinated))

Born: Interamna (Terni), in Italia (Central italy)
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Florianus

276 (Died age unknown — Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Probus)

Maternal half-brother, Tacitus

Born: Terni, Italy (Possibly)
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Probus

276–282 (Died aged 50 — Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Carus)

Father: Dalmatius (Dalmatius was the nephew of Constantine I. His father, also named Flavius Dalmatius, was the half-brother of Constantine and served as censor.)