Editing Caesar (title) (section)

===Crisis of the Third Century===
The popularity of using the title ''caesar'' to designate heirs-apparent increased throughout the third century. Many of the soldier-emperors during the [[Crisis of the Third Century]] attempted to strengthen their legitimacy by naming their sons as heirs with the title of ''caesar'', namely [[Maximinus Thrax]], [[Philip the Arab]], [[Decius]], [[Trebonianus Gallus]], [[Gallienus]] and [[Carus]]. With the exception of [[Gaius Julius Verus Maximus|Verus Maximus]] and [[Valerian II]] all of them were later either promoted to the rank of ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'' within their father's lifetime (like [[Philip II (Roman emperor)|Philip II]]) or succeeded as ''augusti'' after their father's death ([[Hostilian]] and [[Numerian]]). The same title would also be used in the [[Gallic Empire]], which operated autonomously from the rest of the Roman Empire from 260 to 274, with the final Gallic emperor [[Tetricus I]] appointing his heir [[Tetricus II]] as ''caesar'' and his consular colleague. 

Despite the best efforts of these emperors, however, the granting of this title does not seem to have made succession in this chaotic period any more stable. Almost all ''caesares'' would be killed before, or alongside, their fathers, or, at best, outlive them for a matter of months, as in the case of [[Hostilian]]. The sole ''caesar'' to successfully obtain the rank of ''augustus'' and rule for some time in his own right was [[Gordian III]], and even he was heavily controlled by his court.