title: Maximinus Thrax: From Common Soldier to Emperor of Rome
author:  Paul N. Pearson 
description: An approachable and study of Rome's most colorful and neglected emperor during a tumultuous era. <br /> <b>Philip Matyszak, author of <i>Legionary: The Roman Soldiers (Unofficial) Manual and Chronicle of the Roman Republic</i></b>
zlib_text: The Gladiator of Rome
  
  
  
  ![https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/She-
  wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg/85px-She-
  wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg](Image00000.jpg)
  
  
  
  There is a legend popular in my country, Ennin- sensei. It tells of how a
  brave Roman warrior defied a corrupt and evil emperor – with a little help
  from a cunning jailor…
  
  So with the assistance of the translator here – and, of course, with your
  permission – I, Affonso Abbadelli, captain of the Italian galleon currently
  docked in port, will attempt to tell it…
  
  
  
  ![https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/She-
  wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg/85px-She-
  wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg](Image00000.jpg)
  
  
  
  The centurion named Marcus Castus had lately returned from that wild, unruly
  island called Britain. There he’d assisted in putting down an uprising by the
  Celts, led by the warrior-queen Boadicea.
  
  Castus returned to the city of Rome full of joy, expecting to discover that
  he’d