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Antoninus Pius
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{{Antonine dynasty}}
Image:Sesterius-Antoninus Pius-Italia-RIC 0746a.jpg 200px|thumb|right|[[Sestertius of Antoninus Pius, with the personification of
Italia (Roman province) Italia on reverse. Antoninus had been entrusted with the government of this province as
proconsul.]]
'''Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus Pius''' (
September 19,
86–
March 7 161) was
Roman Emperors Roman emperor from
138 to
161. He was the fourth of the
Five Good Emperors and a member of the
Aurelii.
Life
Image:Antonius Pius 01.jpg thumb|left|Emperor Antoninus Pius
Childhood and family
He was the son of
Titus Aurelius Fulvus,
consul in
89 whose family came from
Nemausus (modern-day
Nîmes), and was born near
Lanuvium. After the death of his father, he was brought up under the care of
Arrius Antoninus, his maternal grandfather, a man of integrity and culture, and a friend of
Pliny the Younger.
Favour with Hadrian
Having filled with more than usual success the offices of
quaestor and
praetor, he obtained the consulship in
120; he was next appointed by the Emperor
Hadrian as one of the four
proconsuls to administer
Italia (Roman province) Italia, then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as
proconsul of
Asia Province Asia. He acquired much favour with the Emperor Hadrian, who adopted him as his son and successor on
February 25, 138, after the death of his first adopted son
Aelius Verus, on the condition that he himself would adopt Marcus Annius Verus, the son of his wife's brother, and Lucius, son of Aelius Verus, who afterwards became the emperors
Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus Lucius Aelius Verus (colleague of Marcus Aurelius).
Reign
One of his first acts as Emperor was to persuade the
Roman Senate Senate to grant divine honours to Hadrian, which they had at first refused; his efforts to persuade the Senate to grant these honours is one of the reasons given for his title of ''Pius'' (dutiful in affection; compare ''
pietas''). Two other reasons for this title are that he would support his aged father-in-law with his hand at Senate meetings, and that he had saved those men that Hadrian, during his period of ill-health, had condemned to death. He built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and salaries upon the teachers of
rhetoric and
philosophy.
His reign was comparatively peaceful; there were several military disturbances throughout the Empire in his time, in
Mauretania,
Iudaea (Roman province) Iudaea, and amongst the
Brigantes in
Roman Britain Britannia, but none of them are considered serious. The unrest in Britannia is believed to have led to the construction of the
Antonine Wall from the
Firth of Forth to the
Firth of Clyde, although it was soon abandoned.
Of the public transactions of this period we have scant information, but, to judge by what we possess, those twenty-two years were not remarkably eventful in comparison to those before and after his; the surviving evidence is not complete enough to determine whether we should interpret, with older scholars, that he wisely curtailed the activities of the Roman Empire to a careful minimum, or perhaps that he was uninterested in events away from Rome and
Italy and his inaction contributed to the pressing troubles that faced not only Marcus Aurelius but also the emperors of the
third century.
=Contacts with China
=
{{Main|Roman commerce#China}}
Death
Image:RomaForoRomanoTempioAntoninoFaustina.JPG thumb|Temple of Antoninus and [[Faustina the Elder|Faustina in the
Roman forum (now the church of
San Lorenzo in Miranda). The emperor and his ''
Augusta (honorific) Augusta'' were deified after their death by
Marcus Aurelius.]]
Antoninus died of fever at
Lorium in
Etruria, about twelve miles from Rome, on
March 7 161, giving the keynote to his life in the last word that he uttered when the
tribune of the night-watch came to ask the password — "aequanimitas".
Marriage and issue
In his domestic relations Antoninus was not so fortunate. His wife,
Faustina the Elder, has almost become a byword for her lack of womanly virtue; but she seems to have kept her hold on his affections to the last. On her death in the third year of his reign, he honoured her memory by the foundation of a
charity for orphan girls, who bore the name of ''Alimentariae Faustinianae'', following the practice of prior emperors in endowing an ''
alimentaria'' to promote the welfare of children and an increased population. He had by her two sons and two daughters; but they all died before his elevation to the throne, except
Annia Faustina, who became the wife of Marcus Aurelius.
Sources
The only account of his life handed down to us is that of Julius Capitolinus, one of the ''
Scriptores Historiae Augustae''.
In later scholarship
Antoninus in many ways was the ideal of the landed gentleman praised not only by ancient Romans, but also by later scholars of classical history, such as
Edward Gibbon or the author of the article on Antoninus Pius in the ninth edition of the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica:
: A few months afterwards, on Hadrian's death, he was enthusiastically welcomed to the throne by the Roman people, who, for once, were not disappointed in their anticipation of a happy reign. For Antoninus came to his new office with simple tastes, kindly disposition, extensive experience, a well-trained intelligence and the sincerest desire for the welfare of his subjects. Instead of plundering to support his prodigality, he emptied his private treasury to assist distressed provinces and cities, and everywhere exercised rigid economy (hence the nickname κυμινοπριστης "cummin-splitter"). Instead of exaggerating into treason whatever was susceptible of unfavorable interpretation, he spurned the very conspiracies that were formed against him into opportunities for demonstrating his clemency. Instead of stirring up persecution against the Christians, he extended to them the strong hand of his protection throughout the empire. Rather than give occasion to that oppression which he regarded as inseparable from an emperor's progress through his dominions, he was content to spend all the years of his reign in Rome, or its neighbourhood.
References
* Bossart-Mueller, ''Zur Geschichte des Kaisers A.'' (1868)
* Lacour-Gayet, ''A. le Pieux et son Temps'' (1888)
* Bryant, ''The Reign of Antonine'' (Cambridge Historical Essays, 1895)
* P. B. Watson, ''Marcus Aurelius Antoninus'' (London, 1884), chap. ii.
* {{1911}}
{{Commons|Antoninus Pius}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box four to four|title1=
List of Roman Emperors Roman Emperor|before=
Hadrian.html">Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus |title2=Five Good Emperors|title3=
Antonines Antonine dynasty|title4=
Nervan-Antonian Dynasty|years1=138–161|years2=96 –180|years3=138 –192|years4=96 –192}}
{{end box}}
Category:86 births
Category:161 deaths
Category:Roman emperors
Category:Nerva-Antonine Dynasty
Category:Adoptive parents
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