250-269 Christian Goths Kill Emperor Decius & Destroy Temple of Diana

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Decius (pictured) died in 251 and was succeeded by Gallus.

Gallus died in 252 and was succeeded by Aemiliannus who, in turn, died in 254 and was succeeded by Valerian. Valerian died in 260 and was succeeded by Gallienus who, in turn, died in 268 and was succeeded by Claudius

Decius was beseiged by the Goths in 251 and in Thrace he was killed by them. Thrace was also the area where there were many Christians seething from his decree demanding sacrifice to the traditional gods -- but his decree was not directed solely at Christians, it was directed to all newcomers, particularly the Syrians, who sought the elevation of their gods over the traditional Roman gods.

With Decius' death, two decades of ruling chaos broke out, all succeeding emperors seizing power through military usurpation.

The next emperor was Gallus whose reign was another disaster with the Goths running amok.

Gallus died in 252 aftrer his troops switched loyalty to Aemiliannus and killed him; and when he was succeeded by Aemilius Aemiliannus - the former Governor of Moesia - there was a victory in the Balkans in 253, but eventually his troops, too, soured of his rule and killed him in 254.

The next emperor was Valerian, a Senator, who resumed the former attempt to suppress Christianity by confiscating their property if they refused to follow Roman sacrifice customs. He spent most of his time in the East, where Shapur defeated a Roman army in Syria.

Valerian died in 260 and his son, Gallienus, became emperor and immediately revoked his father's property confiscation of the Christians.

In 262 the Temple of Diana destroyed by Goths.

During Gallienus' reign, an edict removed Senators from military command, allowing them governance of non-military provinces where they owned property and giving border provinces, where trouble was most likely to break out, to low bred men.

During Gallienus' reign, too, the first of the so-called Gallic Emperors arose, governing their own territory, separate from Rome. Postumus, for instance, commanded all the provinces in the the north, west of the Alps - Gaul, Spain and Britain.

In 268 Gallienus was killed by his troups and Claudius Gothicus, one of Gallienus' generals responsible for his murder, became emperor.

230-249 Murder, Mayhem & Christian Persecution Starts

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Alexander (pictured), a Syrian, was murdered in 235 and succeeded by Maximinus who, in turn, was murdered in 238 and was succeeded by Gordian who, in 244, was also murdered.

Gordian was succeeded by Philippus who died in 248 and was succeeded by Decius who was responsible for the persecution of Christians in 249

Alexander's mother had engineered by murder the accession of her son, and when she lost power after engineering the marriage of her son into a prominent senator's family, she had the senator murdered and exiled her son's wife.

In 230 news reached Rome that Ardashir, the King of the Persians, had defeated the Parthians and established rule. The Romans invaded by three routes, were defeated and forced to retreat to Syria - Alexander's birthplace - where troops had to be given large sums of money in order to retain their loyalty.

In 234 Alexander was back in Rome, finding that the Germans had formed a confederacy he also gave them large sums of money in order to buy peace.

After Alexander and his mother were murdered in 235, Maximinus, a general, a trainer of recruits - born to peasants in Thrace, formerly a shepherd, drafted and rose through the ranks - was proclaimed Emperor. He never appeared in Rome as the emperor. He was campaigning in the North the whole time, and then in 237 he had trouble in Africa with the Governer, Gordian, proclaiming himself and son, emperor.

Maximinus crushed the African revolt with the help of the Governor of Numidia, but the Senate was in favour of the Gordian dynasty and when Maximinus was killed in 238 the remaining Gordian - the young grandson - was proclaimed Emperor.

By an engineered marriage to the daughter of a prefect, Gordian was controlled by his father in law.

He faced much conflict in the East as well as revolts in Germany and Africa. King Ardashir was succeeded by Shapur in 241 who defeated the Romans after 3 years of battle.

In the meantime, Gordian's father in law had died in 243 and two prefects - brothers, one of which was Philippus - took over control in Rome and when Gordian was killed by his troops in 244 Philippus became emperor.

Philippus was an Arab, probably a brigand, coming from a village in the south-eastern border desert of Syria, he spoke Greek and was conversant in Latin. He bought peace from Shapur and put his relatives in positions of power.

In 248 there was a revolt in the Danube area, the prefect Decius was sent to suppress it, he was proclaimed emperor by the troops, then marched to Italy where he faced Philippus in battle and killed him.

When Decius came to power in 248 he wanted a return to the good old days of Roman law and order and glory. First, he had to make a concerted effort to suppress Christianity. In 249 he issued a decree demanding sacrifice to the traditional gods from all citizens of the Empire. This enraged the Christians and by 249 his decree was a failure.