Legendary Kings Who Died In Battle

Areus ruled Sparta for about 44 years, a lifetime compared to other Spartan kings who died in battle. As with Agis III, the Macedonian domination of the Greek Islands during this period in history led to his downfall. He was killed in battle near Corinth in the Peloponnese during the Chremonidean War.

Just three weeks into his reign, Gordian II died in battle defending Carthage (in modern day Tunisia) during a Roman civil war, a viciously tumultuous period that saw six roman emperors in the same year Gordian II was killed. His father and predecessor, Gordian I, hanged himself upon hearing of his son’s death.

Eleven years after the death of Gordian II and his despondent, suicidal father, Philip the Arab died in a fight against a rebellion led by Decius, who became the next Roman emperor. Philip, who was born in modern day Syria, ruled for only five years after plotting against Gordian III, the teenage nephew of Gordian II who was murdered by Roman soldiers in Zaitha on the Euphrates River that led to Philip’s ascension.

The rule of Emperor Decius, whose rebellion led to the death of Emperor Philip the Arab, was short-lived. He ruled for only two years before he was cut down fighting Scythians and Goths at the Battle of Abritus. His son Herennius Etruscus was also killed. It was the first time a Roman emperor was killed by outside forces rather than through interior conflict.

The 58th Roman emperor ruled for six years, but the winds of the empire were changing. Constantine the Great – the first Christian convert to become emperor, responsible for splitting the empire in two – was amassing power with his father, Flavius Constantius, in the empire’s eastern provinces, including modern day Britain. Civil wars erupted as a result, including one against Emperor Maxentius, who drowned in Tiber River after Constantine’s forces routed his troops.