 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.Gordian's cognomen "Gordianus" indicates that his family origins were originally from Anatolia, in the region of Galatia or Cappadocia.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 238AD, was tyrannous.