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Historical person
c. 2nd century–238
Pupienus was an experienced Roman senator and former urban prefect who became joint emperor with Balbinus during the crisis of AD 238. The senate selected them to resist Maximinus Thrax, and Pupienus travelled north to organise defence while Balbinus remained in Rome.
After Maximinus’s murder, the two emperors returned in triumph but continued to distrust each other. The Praetorian Guard seized and killed them, placing the young Gordian III on the throne.
Harry Sidebottom’s Blood and Steel follows the senatorial revolt against Maximinus Thrax in 238 CE and the crisis that eventually elevates Pupienus and Balbinus as emperors. Fire and Sword then makes Pupienus one of the two senatorial rulers attempting to survive Maximinus’s march on Italy, popular hostility in Rome and the Praetorian Guard; the joint reign ends not in restored order but in the murder of both emperors.
Series
The Throne of the Caesars trilogy follows the collapse of the Severan settlement and the political violence that carried Rome from the murder of Severus Alexander in AD 235 to the Year of the Six Emperors in 238. Its viewpoint moves among emperors, soldiers, senators, provincial officials and…
All books in this series
