Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus vs Timotheus

Maximinus Thrax led successful campaigns against Germanic tribes along the Rhine and Danube. He defeated the Alemanni and the Sarmatians, earning the title Germanicus Maximus and securing the frontiers, though at great cost to the treasury.

After the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander, the Pannonian legions proclaimed their commander, Maximinus Thrax, as emperor. His accession marked the first time a man of non-senatorial, barbarian background became Roman emperor.

During the Year of the Six Emperors, Maximinus marched on Italy to suppress a senatorial rebellion. He besieged the city of Aquileia, but the prolonged siege drained his army's morale and supplies, leading to his downfall.

Disillusioned by the failed siege of Aquileia and Maximinus's harsh discipline, soldiers of the Legio II Parthica assassinated him in his tent. His son Maximus was also killed, ending his three-year reign and plunging the empire into further chaos.

Timotheus defeated a Spartan fleet off the coast of Acarnania at Alyzeia. He captured 20 Spartan ships and secured Athenian influence in northwestern Greece. This victory was part of Athens's effort to rebuild its naval hegemony.

Timotheus led an Athenian fleet to capture the island of Samos from a Persian garrison. The siege lasted ten months. This victory restored Athenian control over a key strategic island in the Aegean and demonstrated the revival of Athenian naval power.

Timotheus was appointed as a commander in the Social War against rebellious Athenian allies. After a failed naval engagement at Embata, he was prosecuted by his political rivals, fined a huge sum, and went into exile. He died shortly after.