Antoninus Pius (138

Antoninus Pius (138 - 161 AD)

Family and Background

Descended from a family that had moved into the upper echelons of Roman society at the end of the Julio-Claudian period. His grandfather was born at Nimes in southern France, and was a commander of the third legion Gallica under Corbulo in Armenia in 64 AD, and, as legate of the same legion on the Danube in 69, won a battle against invading barbarians, which led Otho to give him the "ornaments" of a consul (the privledges of the rank without the office). He held a second consulship with Domitian in 85 and was prefect of he city of Rome (both very high honors). His son, the emperor Antoninus Pius' father, was consul in 89; his wife was the daughter of Arrius Antoninus, consul in 69 and, for a second time, under Nerva. Antoninus himself was born September 19, 86 and was consul in 120. He was adopted by Hadrian in 138, and ordered to adopt his grand-nephew, Annius Verus, later the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and L. Ceionius Commodus, son of Hadrian short-lived heir apparent (later the emperor Lucius Verus).

Principal Events (Foriegn)

Barbarian incursions along the Rhine and in Britain (139-142)
Construction of a wall north of Hadrian's wall in Britain

Principal Events (Domestic)

Forced deification of Hadrian (138)
Death: March 7, 161.

Outlines of Policy

Antoninus was notable as an emperor under whom virtually nothing

happened. He seems never to have left Rome, and to have ensured that the empire ran smoothly. Marcus Aurelius wrote very fondly of him in his Meditations, suggesting that he was a man of sense and balance. What little we know of his domestic policy seems to have been continuation of Hadrianic initiatives. His reign saw a tremendous flowering of Greek culture, and evidence from the beginning of the reign of Marcus suggests that he promoted relatively able men to high commands (though such men were noticably absent in eastern commands in the year of his death.