Maximinus I (Maximinus Thrax) was the first in a string of 26 legitimate emperors over less than 50 years. Only one of these died naturally. The Third Century Crisis saw not only upheaval in the imperial seat, but the empire struggled also with internal rebellions, external invasions, inflation, and separatist kingdoms. Upon the death of Emperor Severus Alexander at the hands of mutinous troops near Moguntiacum (modern Mainz) in 235, the imposing Maximinus was selected to take his place. At the time he was sixty-two years old, and had risen in the ranks from a young Thracian shepherd to the Roman cavalry, to centurion, to prefect of an Egyptian legion, and also Mesopotamia. He was appropriately a “barracks emperor,” a soldier first, and was during the third century that it became clear that the loyalty and control of the military was of more vital importance than ever. This coin’s reverse is rather transparent. Seen as a barbarian and peasant by the senate, Maximinus faced multiple conspiracies against him, and was a ruthless punisher of anyone he suspected. The senate eventually feared and resented him so greatly that they deposed him with two of their own, Pupienus and Balbinus. When Maximinus marched on Rome, a town refused him entry, and the lack of provisions and delay frustrated his troops to mutiny. They assassinated Maximinus and his son, and delivered their heads to Rome. KHK.