Johnnie Ellington II August 24, 2016 at 12:51pm · BlackBerry · Maximinus I (235-238AD) is said to have been the first soldier who rose through the ranks to become Emperor. He was also from Thrace in Greece and is said to have been a shepherd before joining the army. With Hindsight, many considered that he was really a barbarian whose parents merely crossed the border into Thrace unable to rationalize his behavior as a Roman citizen. This was largely a position taken to explain what appeared to be an intense hatred of Rome itself. Under Severus Alexander (222-235AD), he had risen to command the Army of the Rhine. Severus and his mother were murdered while in Germany at Moguntiacum (Mainz). The Rhine Army then proclaimed Maximinus I Emperor of the Roman Empire. Obviously, the Decline and Fall of Rome was underway. When an emperor tried to reduce government expenditure, the troop rioted as we see in Greece today but back then they murdered the presiding emperor such as Pertinax (193AD) and Macrinus (218AD). We see the same economic problems back then as we see today. It was in 238AD that a group of landowners rebelled against the rising imperial taxation killing the tax collectors. As taxes rose and government expenditure rose with every debasing currency, things were just nuts. Maximinus I rising through the ranks as a soldier was a natural selection for government employees demanding money. He took the approach of the government employee. He by no means sought to reduce the pay of government employees; instead, he raised taxes to pay for his troops and even went much further. Maximinus’ three actions against the people were very Marxist in those days regarding ALL wealth now belonged to the state! He was desperate for money and those rich bastards were going to cough up everything! This caused money to be hoarded. The decline of the economy from there took 31.4 years (Pi Cycle) to collapse. As money went into hiding, it never returned in forced. The collapse of Rome picked up steam. Maximinus had doubled the soldiers’ pay, and the military needed additional funds for road-building to maintain control. He also appropriated ornaments from public places and temples. Can you imagine the government coming into your church and taking anything of value to pay for government employee wages? This led to a great tumult resulting in many massacres in defense of religion. In opposing those who had supported Emperor Severus Alexander, Maxininus I ordered Christians were to be persecuted.