Gordian I was said to be related to prominent senators of his time, and his praenomen and nomen Marcus Antonius suggest his ancestors became citizens under the Triumvir Mark Antony, or one of his daughters, during the late Roman Republic.

[2] The Gordian dynasty rose in opposition to Maximinus Thrax, who had been proclaimed Emperor by the army but not the Senate and whose reign from 235 to 238 AD, was tyrannous.

There was a vast amount of corruption during his rule, with his favored officials prosecuting individuals on false charges and extorting huge fines.

[4] A delegation of centurions was sent to Rome from Africa, to assassinate Publius Aelius Vitalianus, the Praetorian prefect and to spread a rumor that Maximinus had been killed while campaigning against the Sarmatians.

[4] News of the Gordians' rebellion reached Maximinus, who was still campaigning against the Sarmatians in Pannonia and he marched on Italy with his Pannonian Legions.

[9][10] When the Sassanids invaded the Roman Empire in 241, occupying the province of Syria and capturing Antioch and Carrhae, Gordian III sent Timesitheus to counterattack.

Orosius, Festus, John of Antioch and Eutropius assert that Philip the Arab played a more direct role in having him killed, beginning to conspire after Gordian III won a great victory in Persia.

George Syncellus and the Epitome de Caesaribus say that Philip began conspiring against him before the army had reached Ctesiphon and not after a great victory.

[18] During the reign of Gordian, provincial silver coins, produced from the important mints of Antioch, Caesarea, and Alexandria, increasingly came to be used by the state for funding, becoming roughly equal in use to that of the Antoninianus.

The reason for this is likely that Gordian III, who was very young and had never had any military position, was attempting to establish his virtus to the army to compensate for his lack of experience.

[20] Late in his reign, coins depicted Gordian holding a Victoriola, a statue which represents victory, thereby declaring himself to possess 'victory' itself.

Despite the efforts of the dynasty, this period was marked by political and economic upheaval,[23] Gordian enacted a rescript that removed the four-year statute of limitation on seeking restitution of soldiers and state officials.

[26] The Gordian dynasty reversed the policy of persecuting Christians established by Maximinus, much of which was the prosecution of bishops and popes.