238 A.D. is called the era of six emperors. During that time, six rulers were changed in the Roman Empire. The first emperor was Maximinus Thrax, who ruled since 235 A.D. but was overthrown at the beginning of 238 A.D. Then there ruled two emperors simultaneously – Gordian and his son Gordian II. The latter was killed during the battle near Carthage, and Gordian committed suicide when he found out that his son was dead. After that, two senators, Pupienus and Balbinus, were elected as the rulers of the Roman Empire.
However, they were not popular among Roman citizens. Hence a thirteen years old Gordian III became the Emperor instead of them. At the same time, Maximinus tried to go back to Rome but spent some time on the siege of Aquileia, where he was killed in March 238 (Herodian, 1961). Then Balbin, who, together with Pupiennus, remained unofficial ruler of the Empire, went back to Rome. However, the two senators argued quite often, and during the last fight in July 238 A.D., they were captivated by the soldiers and later killed. Hence Gordian III remained the only Emperor and ruled till 244 A.D.
When reading Herodian’s text, it is possible to single out several reasons for the latter fall of the Roman Empire. As seen from the events of the year of six Emperors, civil and internal wars significantly weakened both the economy and the army. They also caused a crisis of power when the rulers could not reach a compromise. A clear example of such a feud was when Balbin and Pupiennus were unable to agree and were publically humiliated and later killed (Herodian, 1961). As a result of their feud, a thirteen years old Gordian III was left to rule a huge empire with millions of citizens to take care of and an enormous amount of obligations to bear.
However, modern historians single out several other reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. The first one is the financial crisis since the huge Empire required a lot of money for the army and different needs. It led to the growth of taxes and provoked inflation and public rage. Another reason is the emergence of a prosperous opponent – Byzantium, which flourished when Rome faced several crises. There exists one more reason, but it was implicitly mentioned in Herodian’s writing. It was the weakening of the army since Roman people were not eager to enroll in the army, and those already registered were tired of constant battles (Herodian, 1961). Hence, the fall of the Roman Empire was caused by several factors that influenced both the economy and the army.
Reference
Herodian. (1961). Herodian’s history of Roman Empire since the death of Marcus Aurelius. (E.C. Echols, Trans.). University of California Press.