Antoninus Pius 138 - 161 AD ~Roman Imperial . High Grade

Description: Antoninus Pius(Latin:Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius; 19 September 86 7 March 161) wasRoman emperorfrom 138 to 161. He was the fourth of theFive Good Emperorsfrom theNervaAntonine dynasty.Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reign of EmperorHadrian. He married Hadrian's nieceFaustina, and Hadrian adopted him as his son and successor shortly before his death. Antoninus acquired thecognomenPiusafter his accession to the throne, either because he compelled theSenatetodeifyhis adoptive father, or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.His reign is notable for the peaceful state of the Empire, with no major revolts or military incursions during this time. A successful military campaign in southern Scotland early in his reign resulted in the construction of theAntonine Wall. Antoninus was an effective administrator, leaving his successors a large surplus in the treasury, expanding free access to drinking water throughout the Empire, encouraging legal conformity, and facilitating the enfranchisement of freed slaves. He died of illness in 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sonsMarcus AureliusandLucius Verusas co-emperors. Antoninus Pius was born Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus nearLanuvium(modern-dayLanuvio) inItalytoTitus Aurelius Fulvus,consulin 86, and wife Arria Fadilla The Aurelii Fulvi were anAurelianfamily settled inNemausus(modernNmes).Titus Aurelius Fulvus was the son of a senator of the same name, who, as legate ofLegio III Gallica, had supportedVespasianin his bid to the Imperial office and been rewarded with a suffect consulship, plus an ordinary one underDomitianin 85. The Aurelii Fulvi were therefore a relatively new senatorial family fromGallia Narbonensiswhose rise to prominence was supported by theFlavians.The link between Antoninus' family and their home province explains the increasing importance of the post ofproconsulof Gallia Narbonensis during the late second century. Antoninus' father had no other children and died shortly after his 89 ordinary consulship. Antoninus was raised by his maternal grandfatherGnaeus Arrius Antoninus,reputed by contemporaries to be a man of integrity and culture and a friend ofPliny the Younger.The Arrii Antonini were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential duringNerva's reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus' mother, married afterwardsPublius Julius Lupus, suffect consul in 98; from that marriage came two daughters, Arria Lupula and Julia Fadilla. Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia GaleriaFaustina the Elder.They are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consulMarcus Annius Verus (II)andRupilia Faustina(a step-sister to the EmpressVibia Sabina).Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters.They were: Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.His name appears on a Greek Imperial coin. Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135); she marriedLucius Plautius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145. She appeared to have no children with her husband; and her sepulchral inscription has been found inItaly. Annia Galeria Faustina Minor orFaustina the Younger(between 125 and 130175), a future Roman Empress, married her maternal cousinMarcus Aureliusin 146. When Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed.In honour of her memory, he asked theSenateto deify her as a goddess, and authorised the construction of a temple to be built in theRoman Forumin her name, with priestesses serving in her temple.He had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were scripted "DIVA FAUSTINA" and were elaborately decorated. He further founded a charity, calling itPuellae FaustinianaeorGirls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girlsof good family.Finally, Antoninus created a newalimenta, a Roman welfare program, as part ofCura Annonae. The emperor never remarried. Instead, he lived withGaleria Lysistrate,one of Faustina's freed women.Concubinagewas a form of female companionship sometimes chosen by powerful men in Ancient Rome, especially widowers likeVespasian, andMarcus Aurelius. Their union could not produce any legitimate offspring who could threaten any heirs, such as those of Antoninus. Also, as one could not have a wife and an official concubine (or two concubines) at the same time, Antoninus avoided being pressed into a marriage with a noblewoman from another family. (Later, Marcus Aurelius would also reject the advances of his former fiance Ceionia Fabia, Lucius Verus's sister, on the grounds of protecting his children from a stepmother, and took a concubine instead.) Having filled the offices ofquaestorandpraetorwith more than usual success,he obtained theconsulshipin 120having as his colleagueLucius Catilius Severus.He was next appointed by the EmperorHadrianas one of the fourproconsulsto administerItalia,his district includingEtruria, where he had estates.He then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as proconsul ofAsia, probably during 134135. He acquired much favor with Hadrian, who adopted him as his son and successor on 25 February 138,after the death of his first adopted sonLucius Aelius,on the condition that Antoninus would in turn adopt Marcus Annius Verus, the son of his wife's brother, and Lucius, son of Lucius Aelius, who afterwards became the emperorsMarcus AureliusandLucius Verus.He also adopted (briefly) the name Imperator Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus, in preparation for his rule. There seems to have been some opposition to Antoninus' appointment on the part of other potential claimants, among them his former consular colleague Lucius Catilius Severus, then prefect of the city. Nevertheless, Antoninus assumed power without opposition. On his accession, Antoninus' name and style becameImperatorCaesarTitus AeliusHadrianusAntoninusAugustusPontifex Maximus. One of his first acts as Emperor was to persuade theSenateto grant divine honours to Hadrian, which they had at first refused; his efforts to persuade the Senate to grant these honours is the most likely reason given for his title ofPius(dutiful in affection; comparepietas).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. Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to Faustina, Antoninus' daughter, instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brother Lucius Commodus would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Antoninus' proposal. Antoninus built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers ofrhetoricandphilosophy.Antoninus made few initial changes when he became emperor, leaving intact as far as possible the arrangements instituted by Hadrian.Epigraphicalandprosopographicalresearch has revealed that Antoninus' imperial ruling team centered around a group of closely knit senatorial families, most of them members of the priestly congregation for the cult of Hadrian, thesodales Hadrianales. According to the German historianH.G. Pflaum, prosopographical research of Antoninus' ruling team allows us to grasp the deeply conservative character of the ruling senatorialcaste. Lack of warfare The temple of Antoninus andFaustinain theRoman Forum(now the church ofSan Lorenzo in Miranda). The emperor and hisAugustawere deified after their death byMarcus Aurelius. There are no records of any military related acts in his time in which he participated. One modern scholar has written "It is almost certain not only that at no time in his life did he ever see, let alone command, a Roman army, but that, throughout the twenty-three years of his reign, he never went within five hundred miles of a legion."[41] His reign was the most peaceful in the entire history of thePrincipate,notwithstanding the fact that there were several military disturbances in the Empire in his time. Such disturbances happened inMauretania, where a senator was named as governor ofMauretania Tingitanain place of the usual equestrian procurator and cavalry reinforcements fromPannoniawere brought in,towns such asSalaandTipasabeing fortified.[45]Similar disturbances took place inJudea, and amongst theBrigantesinBritannia; however, these were considered less serious than prior (and later) revolts among both.It was however in Britain that Antoninus decided to follow a new, more aggressive path, with the appointment of a new governor in 139,Quintus Lollius Urbicus,a native ofNumidiaand previously governor ofGermania Inferior as well as anew man. Under instructions from the emperor, Lollius undertook an invasion of southernScotland, winning some significant victories, and constructing theAntonine Wall from theFirth of Forthto theFirth of Clyde. The wall, however, was soon gradually decommissioned during the mid-150s and eventually abandoned late during the reign (early 160s), for reasons that are still not quite clear.Antonine's Wall is mentioned in just one literary source, Antoninus' biography in theHistoria Augusta.Pausaniasmakes a brief and confused mention of a war in Britain. In one inscription honoring Antoninus, erected byLegio II Augusta, which participated in the building of the Wall,a relief showing four naked prisoners, one of them beheaded, seems to stand for some actual warfare. Although Antonine's Wall was, in principle, much shorter (37 miles in length as opposed to 73), and at first sight more defensible than Hadrian's Wall, the additional area that it enclosed within the Empire was barren, with land use for grazing already in decay.This meant that supply lines to the wall were strained enough such as the costs for maintaining the additional territory outweighed the benefits of doing so.Also, in the absence of urban development and the ensuing Romanization process, the rear of the wall could not be lastingly pacified. It has been therefore speculated that the invasion of Lowland Scotland and the building of the wall had to do mostly with internal politics, that is, offering Antoninus an opportunity to gain some modicum of necessary military prestige at the start of his reign. Actually, the campaign in Britannia was followed by an Imperial salutation, that is, by Antoninus formally taking for the second (and last) time the title ofImperatorin 142.The fact that around the same time coins were struck announcing a victory in Britain points to Antoninus' need to publicize his achievements.The oratorFrontowas later to say that, although Antoninus bestowed the direction of the British campaign to others, he should be regarded as the helmsman who directed the voyage, whose glory, therefore, belonged to him. That this quest for some military achievement responded to an actual need is proved by the fact that, although generally peaceful, Antoninus' reign was not free from attempts at usurpation:Historia Augustamentions two, made by the senators Cornelius Priscianus ("for disturbing the peace of Spain";Priscianus had also been Lollius Urbicus' successor as governor of Britain) and Atilius Rufius Titianus (possibly a troublemaker already exiled under Hadrian). Both attempts are confirmed by theFasti Ostiensesas well as by the erasing of Priscianus' name from an inscription.In both cases, Antoninus was not in formal charge of the ensuing repression: Priscianus committed suicide and Titianus was found guilty by the Senate, with Antoninus abstaining from sequestering their families' properties. There were also some troubles inDacia Inferiorwhich required the granting of additional powers to theprocuratorgovernor and the dispatch of additional soldiers to the province.On the northernBlack Seacoast, the Greek city ofOlbiawas held against theScythians.Also during his reign the governor ofUpper Germany, probably Caius Popillius Carus Pedo, built new fortifications in theAgri Decumates, advancing theLimes Germanicusfifteen miles forward in his province and neighboringRaetia.In the East, Roman suzerainty overArmeniawas retained by the choice in AD 140 ofArsacidscionSohaemusas client king. Nevertheless, Antoninus was virtually unique among emperors in that he dealt with these crises without leaving Italy once during his reign,but instead dealt with provincial matters of war and peace through their governors or through imperial letters to the cities such as Ephesus (of which some were publicly displayed). This style of government was highly praised by his contemporaries and by later generations. Antoninus was the last Roman Emperor recognised by the Indian Kingdoms, especially theKushan Empire.Raoul McLaughlin quotes Aurelius Victor as saying "The Indians, the Bactrians, and the Hyrcanians all sent ambassadors to Antoninus. They had all heard about the spirit of justice held by this great emperor, justice that was heightened by his handsome and grave countenance, and his slim and vigorous figure." Due to the outbreak of the Antonine epidemic and wars against northern Germanic tribes, the reign of Marcus Aurelius was forced to alter the focus of foreign policies, and matters relating to the Far East were increasingly abandoned in favour of those directly concerning the Empire's survival. Antoninus was regarded as a skilled administrator and as a builder. In spite of an extensive building directivethe free access of the people of Rome to drinking water was expanded with the construction of aqueducts, not only in Rome but throughout the Empire, as well as bridges and roadsthe emperor still managed to leave behind a sizable public treasury of around 2.7 billionsesterces. Rome would not witness another Emperor leaving his successor with a surplus for a long time, but this treasury was depleted almost immediately after Antoninus's reign due to theAntonine Plaguebrought back by soldiers after the Parthian victory. The Emperor also famously suspended the collection of taxes from cities affected by natural disasters, such as when fires struck Rome and Narbona, and earthquakes affectedRhodesand theProvince of Asia. He offered hefty financial grants for rebuilding and recovery of various Greek cities after two serious earthquakes: the first,circa140, which affected mostly Rhodes and other islands; the second, in 152, which hitCyzicus(where the huge and newly built Temple to Hadrian was destroyed),Ephesus, andSmyrna. Antoninus' financial help earned him praise by Greek writers such asAelius Aristidesand Pausanias.These cities received from Antoninus the usual honorific accolades, such as when he commanded that all governors of Asia should enter the province, when taking office, by way of Ephesus.Ephesus was specially favoured by Antoninus, who confirmed and upheld its distinction of having two temples for the imperial cult (neocorate), therefore having first place in the list of imperial honor titles, surpassing both Smyrna andPergamon. In his dealings with Greek-speaking cities, Antoninus followed the policy adopted by Hadrian of ingratiating himself with local elites, especially with local intellectuals: philosophers, teachers of literature, rhetoricians and physicians were explicitly exempted from any duties involving private spending for civic purposes, a privilege granted by Hadrian that Antoninus confirmed by means of an edict preserved in theDigest(27.1.6.8).Antoninus also created a chair for the teaching of rhetoric inAthens. Antoninus was known as an avid observer of rites of religion and of formal celebrations, both Roman and foreign. He is known for having increasingly formalized the official cult offered to theGreat Mother, which from his reign onwards included a bull sacrifice, ataurobolium, formerly only a private ritual, now being also performed for the sake of the Emperor's welfare.Antoninus also offered patronage to the worship ofMithras, to whom he erected a temple inOstia.In 148, he presided over the celebrations of the 900th anniversary of the founding of Rome. Antoninus tried to portray himself as a magistrate of theres publica, no matter how extended and ill-defined his competencies were. He is credited with the splitting of the imperial treasury, thefiscus. This splitting had to do with the division of imperial properties into two parts. Firstly, the fiscus itself, orpatrimonium, meaning the properties of the "Crown", the hereditary properties of each succeeding person that sat on the throne, transmitted to his successors in office,regardless of their previous membership in the imperial family.Secondly, theres privata, the "private" properties tied to the personal maintenance of the Emperor and his family,something like aPrivy Purse. An anecdote in theHistoria Augustabiography, where Antoninus replies to Faustina (who complained about his stinginess) that "we have gained an empire [and] lost even what we had before" possibly relates to Antoninus' actual concerns at the creation of theres privata.While still a private citizen, Antoninus had increased his personal fortune greatly by mean of various legacies, the consequence of his caring scrupulously for his relatives.Also, Antoninus left behind him a reputation for stinginess and was probably determined not to leave his personal property to be "swallowed up by the demands of the imperial throne". Theres privatalands could be sold and/or given away, while thepatrimoniumproperties were regarded as public.It was a way of pretending that the Imperial functionand most properties attached to itwas a public one, formally subject to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people.That the distinction played no part in subsequent political historythat thepersonalpower of theprincepsabsorbed his role as office-holderproves that the autocratic logic of the imperial order had already subsumed the old republican institutions. Of the public transactions of this period there is only the scantiest of information, but, to judge by what is extant, those twenty-two years were not remarkably eventful in comparison to those before and after the reign.However, Antoninus did take a great interest in the revision and practice of the law throughout the empire.One of his chief concerns was to having local communities conform their legal procedures to existing Roman norms: in a case concerning repression of banditry by local police officers ("irenarchs", Greek for "peace keepers") in Asia Minor, Antoninus ordered that these officers should not treat suspects as already condemned, and also keep a detailed copy of their interrogations, to be used in the possibility of an appeal to the Roman governor.Also, although Antoninus was not an innovator, he would not always follow the absolute letter of the law; rather he was driven by concerns over humanity and equality, and introduced intoRoman lawmany important new principles based upon this notion. In this, the emperor was assisted by five chief lawyers:Lucius Fulvius Aburnius Valens, an author of legal treatises;Lucius Ulpius Marcellus, a prolific writer; and three others.Of these three, the most prominent wasLucius Volusius Maecianus, a former military officer turned by Antoninus into a civil procurator, and who, in view of his subsequent career (discovered on the basis of epigraphical and prosopographical research), was the Emperor's most important legal adviser.Maecianus would eventually be chosen to occupy various prefectures (see below) as well as to conduct the legal studies of Marcus Aurelius. He was also the author of a large work onFidei commissa(Testamentary Trusts). As a hallmark of the increased connection between jurists and the imperial government,Antoninus' reign also saw the appearance of theInstitutesofGaius, an elementary legal textbook for beginners. Antoninus passed measures to facilitate theenfranchisementofslaves.Mostly, he favoured the principle offavor libertatis, giving the putative freedman the benefit of the doubt when the claim to freedom was not clearcut.Also, he punished the killing of a slave by his/her master without previous trialand determined that slaves could be forcibly sold to another master by aproconsulin cases of consistent mistreatment.Antoninus upheld the enforcement of contracts for selling of female slaves forbidding their further employment in prostitution.In criminal law, Antoninus introduced the important principle that accused persons arenot to be treated as guilty before trial,as in the case of the irenarchs (see above). It was to Antoninus that theChristian apologistJustin Martyraddressed his defense of theChristian faith, reminding him of his father's (Emperor Hadrian's) rule that accusations againstChristiansrequired proof.Antoninus also asserted the principle that the trial was to be held, and the punishment inflicted, in the place where the crime had been committed. He mitigated the use oftorturein examining slaves by certain limitations. Thus he prohibited the application of torture to children under fourteen years, though this rule had exceptions.However, it must be stressed that Antoninusextended, by means of arescript, the use of torture as a means of obtaining evidence to pecuniary cases, when it had been applied up until then only in criminal cases.Also, already at the time torture of free men of low status (humiliores) had become legal, as proved by the fact that Antoninus exempted town councillors expressly from it, and also free men of high rank (honestiores) in general. One highlight during his reign occurred in 148, with the nine-hundredth anniversary of the foundation ofRomebeing celebrated by the hosting of magnificent games in Rome.It lasted a number of days, and a host of exotic animals were killed, includingelephants,giraffes,tigers,rhinoceroses,crocodilesandhippopotamuses. While this increased Antoninus's popularity, the frugal emperor had to debase theRoman currency. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 89% to 83.5, the actual silver weight dropping from 2.88grams to 2.68grams. Scholars name Antoninus Pius as the leading candidate for an individual identified as a friend of RabbiJudah the Prince. According to theTalmud(Avodah Zarah 10ab), Rabbi Judah was very wealthy and greatly revered in Rome. He had a close friendship with "Antoninus", possibly Antoninus Pius,who would consult Rabbi Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters. The first group of people claiming to be an ambassadorial mission of Romans to China was recorded in 166 AD by theHou Hanshu.Harper (2017)states that the embassy was likely to be a group of merchants, as many Roman merchants traveled to India and some might have gone beyond, while there are no records of official ambassadors of Rome travelling as far east. The group came toEmperor HuanofHan Chinaand claimed to be an embassy from "Andun" (Chinese:ndn; forAnton-inus), "king ofDaqin" (Rome).As Antoninus Pius died in 161, leaving the empire to his adoptive sonMarcus Aurelius (Antoninus), and the envoy arrived in 166, confusion remains about who sent the mission, given that both Emperors were named "Antoninus".The Roman mission came from the south (therefore probably bysea), entering China by the frontier province ofJiaozhiatRinanorTonkin(present-day northernVietnam). It brought presents ofrhinoceroshorns,ivory, andtortoiseshell, probably acquired inSouth Asia.The text specifically states that it was the first time there had been direct contact between the two countries. Furthermore, a piece ofRepublican-eraRoman glasswarehas been found at aWestern Hantomb inGuangzhoualong theSouth China Sea, dated to the early 1st century BC.Roman golden medallions made during the reign of Antoninus Pius and perhaps even Marcus Aurelius have been found atc Eoin southern Vietnam, then part of theKingdom of Funannear the Chinese province ofJiaozhi.This may have been the port city ofKattigara, described byPtolemy(c. 150) as being visited by a Greek sailor named Alexander and lying beyond theGolden Chersonese(i.e.,Malay Peninsula).Roman coins from the reigns ofTiberiustoAurelianhave been discovered inXi'an, China (site of the Han capitalChang'an), although the significantly greater amount ofRoman coins unearthed in Indiasuggest the Roman maritime trade forpurchasing Chinese silkwas centered there, not in China or even the overlandSilk Roadrunning through ancient Iran. In 156, Antoninus Pius turned 70. He found it difficult to keep himself upright withoutstays. He started nibbling on dry bread to give him the strength to stay awake through his morning receptions. Marcus Aurelius had already been created consul with Antoninus in 140, receiving the title ofCaesar, i.e., heir apparent.As Antoninus aged, Marcus took on more administrative duties. Marcus's administrative duties increased again after the death, in 156 or 157, of one of Antoninus' most trusted advisers,Marcus Gavius Maximus. For twenty years, Gavius Maximus had beenpraetorian prefect, an office that was as much secretarial as military.Gavius Maximus had been awarded with the consular insignia and the honors due a senator.He had a reputation as a most strict disciplinarian (vir severissimus, according toHistoria Augusta) and some fellow equestrian procurators held lasting grudges against him. A procurator named Gaius Censorius Niger died while Gavius Maximus was alive. In his will, Censorius Niger vilified Maximus, creating serious embarrassment for one of the heirs, the oratorFronto. Gavius Maximus' death initiated a change in the ruling team. It has been speculated that it was the legal adviserLucius Volusius Maecianuswho assumed the role ofgrey eminence. Maecianus was briefly Praefect of Egypt, and subsequentlyPraefectus annonaein Rome. If it was Maecianus who rose to prominence, he may have risen precisely in order to prepare the incoming and unprecedented joint succession.In 160, Marcus and Lucius were designated joint consuls for the following year. Perhaps Antoninus was already ill; in any case, he died before the year was out, probably on 7 March. Two days before his death, the biographer reports, Antoninus was at his ancestral estate atLorium, inEtruria,about twelve miles (19km) from Rome.He ate AlpineGruyerecheese at dinner quite greedily. In the night he vomited; he had a fever the next day. The day after that, he summoned the imperial council, and passed the state and his daughter to Marcus. The emperor gave the keynote to his life in the last word that he uttered: when thetribuneof the night-watch came to ask the password, he responded, "aequanimitas" (equanimity).He then turned over, as if going to sleep, and died.His death closed out the longest reign sinceAugustus(surpassingTiberiusby a couple of months).His record for the second-longest reign would be unbeaten for 168 years, until 329 when it was surpassed byConstantine the Great. Antoninus Pius' funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, "elaborate".If his funeral followed the pattern of past funerals, his body would have been incinerated on a pyre at theCampus Martius, while his spirit would rise to the gods' home in the heavens. However, it seems that this was not the case: according to hisHistoria Augustabiography (which seems to reproduce an earlier, detailed report) Antoninus' body (and not his ashes) was buried inHadrian's mausoleum. After a seven-day interval (justitium), Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification.In contrast to their behavior during Antoninus' campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes. Aflamen, or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Antoninus, nowDivus Antoninus. Acolumnwas dedicated to Antoninus on the Campus Martius,and thetemplehe had built in the Forum in 141 to his deified wife Faustina was rededicated to the deified Faustina and the deified Antoninus.It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda

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