Background

He joint emperor of Rome in a.d. 238 with Pupienus; their reign represented one of the last attempts by the Senate to impose its authority on the armies. Earlier in the year, Balbinus had been appointed a member of a commission to assist in administration when Gordianus I and his son, Gordianus II, were made emperors in opposition to the imperial claims of Maximinus. After little more than a month, Gordianus II had been killed in battle and Gordianus I had committed suicide out of grief. Balbinus and Pupienus then divided the imperial authority, the former taking the civil administration, the latter the military; each was elected pontifex maximus. After a reign of three months, which saw the death of Maximinus, the joint emperors were murdered by the soldiery in Rome.