59. Maximinus—Caius Julius Verus. Roman Emperor, A.D. 235-238.
[Born on the confines of Thrace, A.D. 173. Died before Aquileia, A.D. 238. Aged 65.]
An Emperor of Gothic origin, who was originally a shepherd, and owed his elevation entirely to his physical power and stature. He stood eight feet high, and was muscular in proportion. Serving with Alexander Severus on the Rhine, he excited a mutiny in the troops, in which Alexander and his mother were assassinated, and he himself declared Emperor by the soldiers. His reign was marked by mad severity, cruelty, and rapacity, and was fiercely closed by a band of Prætorians, who broke into his tent and slew him, having first put an end to his son before his eyes. He was a rare monster. It is related that his thumb was of the girth of a woman’s wrist; he could wear his wife’s bracelet as a ring: his eyes were inordinately large; with a kick, he could break the leg of a horse; and his appetite corresponded with his muscular development.
[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]
60. Caracalla. Roman Emperor, A.D. 211-217.
[Born at Lyons in France, A.D. 188. Died in Mesopotamia, A.D. 217. Aged 29.]
In early life remarkable for gentle and pleasing address; but on the death of his father, Septimius Severus, he assassinated his brother Geta, who was left, with himself, joint heir to the throne. Other crimes were added, and, conscience-stricken, he soon gave rein to the passions of a madman. He oppressed his citizens by extortionate taxation, and plundered the world for the means of paying for his soldiers and his amusements. He, however, erected some great monuments in Rome. He was assassinated in Mesopotamia by order of Macrinus, his chief officer.
[All busts of him show the peculiar deformed turn of the neck with which he was afflicted.]
61. Geta—Publius Septimius. Roman Emperor, A.D. 211-212.
[Born at Milan, A.D. 189. Died A.D. 212. Aged 23.]