raised him to the responsible post of tribune of the fourth legion,
which, under his rigid care, soon became the best disciplined in the
whole army. He was the favorite of the soldiers under his command, who
bestowed on their gigantic leader the names of Ajax and Hercules, and
rejoiced as he steadily rose in rank under the discriminating judgment
of the emperor. Step by step he was advanced until he reached the
highest rank in the army, and, but for the evident marks of his savage
origin, the emperor might have given his own sister in marriage to the
son of his favorite general.

The incautious emperor was nursing a serpent. The favors poured upon the
Thracian peasant failed to secure his fidelity, and only nourished his
ambition. He began to aspire to the highest place in the empire, which
had been won by many soldiers before him. Licentiousness and profligacy
had sapped the strength of the army during the weak preceding reigns,
and Alexander sought earnestly to overcome this corruption and restore
the rigid ancient discipline. It was too great a task for one of his
lenient disposition. The soldiers were furious at his restrictions, many
mutinies broke out, his officers were murdered, his authority was widely
insulted, he could scarcely repress the disorders that broke out in his
immediate presence.

This sentiment in the army offered the opportunity desired by Maximin.
He sent his emissaries among the soldiers to enhance their discontent.
For thirteen years, said these men, Rome had been governed by a weak
Syrian, the slave of his mother and the senate. It was time the empire
had a man at its head, a real soldier, who could add to its glory and
win new treasures for his followers.

Alexander had been engaged in a war with Persia. He had no sooner
returned than an outbreak in Germany forced him to hasten to the Rhine.
Here a large army was assembled, made up in part of new levies, whose
training in the art of war was given to the care of Maximin. The
discipline exacted by Alexander was no more acceptable to the soldiers
here than elsewhere, and the secret agents of the ambitious Thracian
found fertile ground for their insinuations.

At length all was ripe for the outbreak. One day--March 19, 239 A.D.--as
Maximin entered the field of exercise, the troops suddenly saluted him
as emperor, and silenced by violent exclamations his obstinate show of
refusal. The rebels rushed to the tent of Alexander and consummated
th