Denarius, struck 140 AD with portrait of Antoninus Pius (obverse) and his adoptive sonMarcus Aurelius (reverse). Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P. P., TR. P., CO[N]S. III / AVRELIVS CAES. AVG. PII F. CO[N]S.
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 thecognomenPius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled theSenate todeify his adoptive father,[5] or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.[6] 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 insouthern 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 AD 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sonsMarcus Aurelius andLucius Verus as co-emperors.
Antoninus Pius was born Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus in 86, nearLanuvium (modern-dayLanuvio) inItaly toTitus Aurelius Fulvus,consul in 89, and wifeArria Fadilla.[7][4][8] The Aurelii Fulvi were anAurelian family settled inNemausus (modernNîmes).[9] Titus Aurelius Fulvus was the son of a senator of the same name, who, as legate ofLegio III Gallica, had supportedVespasian in his bid to the Imperial office and been rewarded with a suffect consulship, plus an ordinary one underDomitian in 85. The Aurelii Fulvi were therefore a relatively new senatorial family fromGallia Narbonensis whose rise to prominence was supported by theFlavians.[10] The link between Antoninus's family and their home province explains the increasing importance of the post ofproconsul of Gallia Narbonensis during the late second century.[11]
Antoninus's father had no other children and died shortly after his 89 ordinary consulship. Antoninus was raised by his maternal grandfatherGnaeus Arrius Antoninus,[4] reputed by contemporaries to be a man of integrity and culture and a friend ofPliny the Younger.[12] The Arrii Antonini were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential duringNerva's reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus's mother, married afterwardsPublius Julius Lupus, suffect consul in 98; from that marriage came two daughters, Arria Lupula and Julia Fadilla.[13]
Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia GaleriaFaustina the Elder.[14] They are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consulMarcus Annius Verus (II)[4] andRupilia Faustina (often thought to be a step-sister to the EmpressVibia Sabina[15] or more likely a granddaughter of the emperorVitellius.[16]) Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply.[17]
Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters.[18] They were:
Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at theMausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.[19][20][21]
Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.[19][22][21] 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.[23][24]
When Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed.[25] In honour of her memory, he asked theSenate to deify her as a goddess, and authorised the construction of a temple to be built in theRoman Forum in her name, with priestesses serving in her temple.[26] 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 Faustinianae orGirls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girls[14] of good family.[27] Finally, Antoninus created a newalimenta, a Roman welfare programme, as part ofCura Annonae.
The emperor never remarried. Instead, he lived withGaleria Lysistrate,[28] Faustina's freedwoman.Concubinage was 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 fiancée Ceionia Fabia, Lucius Verus's sister, on the grounds of protecting his children from a stepmother, and took a concubine instead.)[29][30][31]
Marble bust of Antoninus Pius (138–161); British Museum, London
Having filled the offices ofquaestor andpraetor with more than usual success,[32] he obtained theconsulship in 120[14] having as his colleagueLucius Catilius Severus.[33] He was next appointed by the EmperorHadrian as one of the fourproconsuls to administerItalia,[34] his district includingEtruria, where he had estates.[35] He then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as proconsul ofAsia, probably during 134–135.[34]
He acquired much favor with Hadrian, who adopted him as his son and successor on 25 February 138,[36] after the death of his first adopted sonLucius Aelius,[37] 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 Aurelius andLucius Verus.[14] He also adopted (briefly) the name Imperator Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus, in preparation for his rule.[38] There seems to have been some opposition to Antoninus's 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.[39]
The Roman Empire during the reign of Antoninus Pius
On his accession, Antoninus's name and style becameImperatorCaesar Titus AeliusHadrianus AntoninusAugustus. One of his first acts as emperor was to persuade theSenate to grant divine honours to Hadrian, which they had at first refused;[40] his efforts to persuade the Senate to grant these honours is the most likely reason given for his title ofPius (dutiful in affection; comparepietas).[41] 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.[9]
Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus's betrothal to Ceionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to Faustina, Antoninus's daughter instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brotherLucius Commodus, Marcus's future co-emperor, would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Antoninus's proposal.[42][43]
Antoninus built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers ofrhetoric andphilosophy.[14] Antoninus made few initial changes when he became emperor, leaving the arrangements instituted by Hadrian as undisturbed as possible.[40]Epigraphical andprosopographical research has revealed that Antoninus's 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's ruling team allows us to grasp the deeply conservative character of the ruling senatorialcaste.[44]
There are no records of his involvement in military acts during his tenure, with J. J. Wilkes noting that he likely never saw or commanded a Roman army and was never within five hundred miles of a legion throughout his twenty-three-year reign.[46]
His reign was the most peaceful in the entire history of thePrincipate,[47] even though there were several military disturbances in the Empire in his time. Such disturbances happened inMauretania, where a senator was named as governor ofMauretania Tingitana in place of the usual equestrian procurator[48] and cavalry reinforcements fromPannonia were brought in,[49] towns such asSala andTipasa being fortified.[50] Similar disturbances took place inJudea, and amongst theBrigantes inBritannia; however, these were considered less serious than prior (and later) revolts among both.[47] 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,[40] a native ofNumidia and previously governor ofGermania Inferior[51] as well as anew man.[52]
Under instructions from the emperor, Lollius undertook an invasion of southernScotland, winning some significant victories and constructing theAntonine Wall[53] from theFirth of Forth to theFirth of Clyde. However, the wall was soon gradually decommissioned during the mid-150s and eventually abandoned late during the reign (early 160s) for reasons that are still unclear.[54][55] Antonine's Wall is mentioned in just one literary source, Antoninus's biography in theHistoria Augusta.Pausanias makes a brief and confused mention of a war in Britain. In one inscription honouring 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.[56]
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.[57] This meant that supply lines to the wall were strained enough such that the costs of maintaining the additional territory outweighed the benefits of doing so.[58] Also, in the absence of urban development and the ensuing Romanization process, the rear of the wall could not be lastingly pacified.[59]
It has been 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. An Imperial salutation followed the campaign in Britannia—that is, Antoninus formally took for the second (and last) time the title ofImperator in 142.[60] The fact that around the same time coins were struck announcing a victory in Britain points to Antoninus's need to publicise his achievements.[61] The oratorFronto was 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.[62]
That this quest for some military achievement responded to an actual need is proved by the fact that, although generally peaceful, Antoninus's reign was not free from attempts at usurpation:Historia Augusta mentions two, made by the senators Cornelius Priscianus ("for disturbing the peace of Spain";[63] Priscianus had also been Lollius Urbicus's successor as governor of Britain) and Atilius Rufius Titianus (possibly a troublemaker already exiled under Hadrian[64]). Both attempts are confirmed by theFasti Ostienses and by the erasing of Priscianus' name from an inscription.[65] 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.[66]
A coin of Antoninus Pius showing a subduedParthia (PAR-TH-IA on the reverse) handing the crown to him, an empty claim that Parthia was still subject to Rome after the events surroundingParthamaspates[67]
There were also some troubles inDacia Inferior, which required the granting of additional powers to theprocurator governor and the dispatch of additional soldiers to the province.[54] On the northernBlack Sea coast, the Greek city ofOlbia was held against theScythians.[68] Also during his reign the governor ofUpper Germany, probably Gaius Popillius Carus Pedo, built new fortifications in theAgri Decumates, advancing theLimes Germanicus fifteen miles forward in his province and neighboringRaetia.[69] In the East, Roman suzerainty overArmenia was retained by the choice in AD 140 ofArsacid scionSohaemus as client king.[70]
Nevertheless, Antoninus was virtually unique among emperors in that he dealt with these crises without leaving Italy once during his reign,[71] 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). His contemporaries and later generations highly praised this style of government.[72]
Antoninus was the last Roman Emperor recognised by the Indian Kingdoms, especially theKushan Empire.[73] 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.[73]
Antoninus was regarded as a skilled administrator and builder. Despite an extensive building directive—under Antoninus' reign many bridges, roads and aqueducts have been continued or repaired—the 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 the treasury was depleted almost immediately after Antoninus's reign due to theAntonine Plague brought back by soldiers after the Parthian victory.[74]
The Emperor also famously suspended the collection of taxes from multiple cities affected by natural disasters, such as when fires struck Rome and Narbona, and earthquakes affectedRhodes and theProvince of Asia. He offered hefty financial grants for rebuilding and recovery of various Greek cities after two serious earthquakes: the first,c. 140, which mainly affected Rhodes and other islands; the second, in 152, which hitCyzicus (where the huge and newly built Temple to Hadrian was destroyed[75]),Ephesus, andSmyrna. Antoninus's financial help earned him praise from Greek writers such asAelius Aristides and Pausanias.[76] These cities received the usual honorific accolades from Antoninus, such as when he commanded that all governors of Asia should enter the province when taking office through Ephesus.[77] Ephesus was especially 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.[78]
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).[79] Antoninus also created a chair for the teaching of rhetoric inAthens.[80]
Antoninus was known as an avid observer of rites of religion and 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.[81] Antoninus also offered patronage to the worship ofMithras, to whom he erected a temple inOstia.[82] In 148, he presided over the celebrations of the 900th anniversary of the founding of Rome.
Copy inscribed in marble of a letter from Antoninus to the Ephesians, from theBouleuterion at Ephesus, 140–144 AD, explaining how the emperor resolved a dispute between the Roman cities ofEphesus andSmyrna. British Museum, London.
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 splitting 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,[83] regardless of their previous membership in the imperial family.[84] Secondly, theres privata, the "private" properties tied to the personal maintenance of the emperor and his family,[85] something like aPrivy Purse. An anecdote in theHistoria Augusta biography, 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's actual concerns at the creation of theres privata.[86] While still a private citizen, Antoninus had increased his personal fortune significantly using various legacies, the consequence of his caring scrupulously for his relatives.[87] 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".[88]
Theres privata lands could be sold and/or given away, while thepatrimonium properties were regarded as public.[89] It was a way of pretending that the Imperial function—and most properties attached to it—was a public one, formally subject to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people.[90] That the distinction played no part in subsequent political history—that thepersonal power of theprinceps absorbed his role as office-holder—proves that the autocratic logic of the imperial order had already subsumed the old republican institutions.[91]
Of the public transactions of this period, there is only the scantiest of information. However, to judge by what is extant, those twenty-two years were not remarkably eventful compared to those before and after the reign.[12] However, Antoninus did take a great interest in the revision and practice of the law throughout the empire.[92] One of his chief concerns was to having local communities conform their legal procedures to existing Roman norms: in a case concerning the repression of banditry by local police officers ("irenarchs", Greek for "peacekeepers") 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.[93] 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 law many important new principles based upon this notion.[92]
In this, the emperor was assisted by five chief lawyers:Lucius Fulvius Aburnius Valens, an author of legal treatises;[94]Lucius Ulpius Marcellus, a prolific writer; and three others.[92] Of these three, the most prominent wasLucius Volusius Maecianus, a former military officer turned by Antoninus into a civil procurator, and who, given his subsequent career (discovered on the basis of epigraphical and prosopographic research), was the emperor's most important legal adviser.[95] Maecianus would eventually be chosen to occupy various prefectures (see below) as well as to conduct the legal studies of Marcus Aurelius. He also authored an extensive work onFidei commissa (Testamentary Trusts). As a hallmark of the increased connection between jurists and the imperial government,[96] Antoninus's reign also saw the appearance of theInstitutes ofGaius, an elementary legal textbook for beginners.[92]
Goldaureus of Antoninus, 153 AD. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P XVII
Antoninus passed measures to facilitate theenfranchisement ofslaves.[97] Mostly, he favoured the principle offavor libertatis, giving the putative freedman the benefit of the doubt when the claim to freedom was not clear-cut.[98] Also, he punished the killing of a slave by their master without previous trial[99] and determined that slaves could be forcibly sold to another master by aproconsul in cases of consistent mistreatment.[100] Antoninus upheld the enforcement of contracts for selling of female slaves forbidding their further employment in prostitution.[101] In criminal law, Antoninus introduced the important principle of thepresumption of innocence—namely, that accused persons are not to be treated as guilty before trial,[97] as in the case of the irenarchs (see above). 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 oftorture in examining slaves by certain limitations. Thus, he prohibited the application of torture to children under fourteen years, though this rule had exceptions.[97] However, it must be stressed that Antoninusextended, using 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.[102] 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.[103]
One highlight during his reign occurred in 148, with the 900th anniversary of the foundation ofRome being celebrated by hosting magnificent games in the city.[104] It lasted many days, and a host of exotic animals were killed, includingelephants,giraffes,tigers,rhinoceroses,crocodiles andhippopotamuses. 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 2.88 grams to 2.68 grams.[54][105]
Antoninus is a likely candidate for the Antoninus named multiple times in theTalmud as a friend ofRabbiJudah Ha-Nasi.[106][107] In the Talmudic tractateAvodah Zarah 10a–b, Rabbi Judah—exceptionally wealthy and highly revered in Rome—shared a close friendship with a man named Antoninus (possibly Antoninus Pius), who frequently sought his counsel on spiritual (in this context,Jewish), philosophical, and governance matters.[108]
The first group of people claiming to be an ambassadorial mission of Romans to China was recorded in 166 AD by theHou Hanshu.[109] Harper (2017)[110] 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 Huan ofHan China and claimed to be an embassy from "Andun" (Chinese:安敦āndūn; forAnton-inus), "king ofDaqin" (Rome).[111] 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".[112][113][114] The Roman mission came from the south (therefore probably bysea), entering China by the frontier province ofJiaozhi atRinan orTonkin (present-day northernVietnam). It brought presents ofrhinoceroshorns,ivory, andtortoiseshell, probably acquired inSouth Asia.[109][115] The text states explicitly that it was the first time there had been direct contact between the two countries.[109][116]
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.[121] 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's most trusted advisers,Marcus Gavius Maximus.
For twenty years, Gavius Maximus had beenpraetorian prefect, an office that was as much secretarial as military.[122][123] Gavius Maximus had been awarded with the consular insignia and the honours due a senator.[124] 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.[125]
Gavius Maximus's death initiated a change in the ruling team. It has been speculated that it was the legal adviserLucius Volusius Maecianus who assumed the role ofgrey eminence. Maecianus was briefly Praefect of Egypt, and subsequentlyPraefectus annonae in Rome. If it was Maecianus who rose to prominence, he may have risen precisely in order to prepare the incoming—and unprecedented—joint succession.[126] 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.[133]
Two days before his death, the biographer reports, Antoninus was at his ancestral estate atLorium, inEtruria,[134][135] about twelve miles (19 km) from Rome.[135] He ateAlpine cheese 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 thetribune of the night-watch came to ask the password, he responded, "aequanimitas" (equanimity).[136] He then turned over, as if going to sleep, and died.[137][138] His death closed out the longest reign sinceAugustus (surpassingTiberius by a couple of months).[134] 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".[139] 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 Augusta biography (which seems to reproduce an earlier, detailed report) Antoninus's body (and not his ashes) was buried inHadrian's mausoleum. After a seven-day interval (justitium), Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification.[140] In contrast to their behaviour during Antoninus's 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.
Acolumn was dedicated to Antoninus on the Campus Martius,[14] and thetemple he had built in the Forum in 141 to his deified wife Faustina was rededicated to the deified Faustina and the deified Antoninus.[136] It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda.[141]
The only intact account of his life handed down to us is that of theAugustan History, an unreliable and mostly fabricated work. Nevertheless, it still contains information that is considered reasonably sound; for instance, it is the only source that mentions the erection of the Antonine Wall in Britain.[142]
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 asEdward Gibbon[143] or the author of the article on Antoninus Pius in theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.[12]
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 turned the very conspiracies that were formed against him into opportunities for demonstrating his clemency. Instead of stirring uppersecution 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.[12]
Some historians have a less positive view of his reign. According to the historianJ. B. Bury,
however estimable the man, Antoninus was hardly a great statesman. The rest which the Empire enjoyed under his auspices had been rendered possible through Hadrian's activity, and was not due to his own exertions; on the other hand, he carried the policy of peace at any price too far, and so entailed calamities on the state after his death. He not only had no originality or power of initiative, but he had not even the insight or boldness to work further on the new lines marked out by Hadrian.[144]
German historianErnst Kornemann notes in hisRömische Geschichte [2 vols., ed. by H. Bengtson, Stuttgart 1954] that the reign of Antoninus comprised "a succession of grossly wasted opportunities", given the upheavals that were to come. There is more to this argument, given that the Parthians in the East were themselves soon to make no small amount of mischief after Antoninus's death. Kornemann's brief is that Antoninus might have waged preventive wars to head off these outsiders.Michael Grant agrees that it is possible that had Antoninus acted decisively sooner (it appears that, on his death bed, he was preparing a large-scale action against the Parthians), the Parthians might have been unable to choose their own time, but current evidence is not conclusive. Grant opines that Antoninus and his officers did act in a resolute manner dealing with frontier disturbances of his time, although conditions for long-lasting peace were not created. On the whole, according to Grant, Marcus Aurelius's eulogistic picture of Antoninus seems deserved, and Antoninus appears to have been a conservative and nationalistic (although he respected and followed Hadrian's example of Philhellenism moderately) emperor who was not tainted by the blood of either citizen or foe, combined and maintained Numa Pompilius's good fortune, pacific dutifulness and religious scrupulousness, and whose laws removed anomalies and softened harshnesses.[145]
Krzysztof Ulanowski argues that the claims of military inability are exaggerated, considering that although the sources praise Antoninus's love for peace and his efforts "rather to defend, than enlarge the provinces", he could hardly be considered a pacifist, as shown by the conquest of the Lowlands, the building of theAntonine Wall and the expansion of Germania Superior. Ulanowski also praises Antoninus for being successful in deterrence by diplomatic means.[146]
Although only one of his four children survived to adulthood, Antoninus came to be ancestor to four generations of prominent Romans, including the EmperorCommodus.Hans-Georg Pflaum has identified five direct descendants of Antoninus and Faustina who were consuls in the first half of the third century.[147]
Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138), died young without issue
Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138), died young without issue
^The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed inHA"Marcus Aurelius" 24.
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Lambert, Royston (1984).Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking.ISBN0-670-15708-2.
^Settipani, Christian (2000).Continuité gentilice et continuité familiale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale: mythe et réalité. Prosopographica et genealogica (in Italian). Vol. 2 (illustrated ed.). Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, University of Oxford. pp. 278–279,297–300.ISBN9781900934022.
^H.-G. Pflaum, "Les prêtres du culte impérial sous le règne d'Antonin le Pieux". In:Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 111e année, N. 2, 1967. pp. 194–209. Available at[1]Archived 2 June 2018 at theWayback Machine. Accessed 27 January 2016
^Michel Christol, "L'armée des provinces pannoniennes et la pacification des révoltes maures sous Antonin le Pieux". In:Antiquités africaines, 17, 1981. pp. 133–141.
^Michael Grant,The Antonines: The Roman Empire in Transition. Abingdon: Routledge, 1996,ISBN0-415-13814-0, p. 17; Rebuffat "Enceintes urbaines"
^Salway,A History of Roman Britain. Oxford University Press: 2001,ISBN0-19-280138-4, p. 149
^Birley, Anthony (2005),The Roman Government of Britain. Oxford U.P.,ISBN978-0-19-925237-4, p. 137
^David Colin Arthur Shotter,Roman Britain, Abingdon: Routledge, 2004,ISBN0-415-31943-9, p. 49
^Jean-Louis Voisin, "Les Romains, chasseurs de têtes". In:Du châtiment dans la cité. Supplices corporels et peine de mort dans le monde antique. Table ronde de Rome (9–11 novembre 1982) Rome: École Française de Rome, 1984. pp. 241–293. Available at[3]Archived 2 March 2017 at theWayback Machine. Accessed 14 January 2016
^W. E. Boyd (1984),"Environmental change and Iron Age land management in the area of the Antonine Wall, central Scotland: a summary".Glasgow Archaeological Journal, Volume 11 Issue 1, pp. 75–81
^Peter Spring,Great Walls and Linear Barriers. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2015,ISBN978-1-84884-377-6, p. 75
^Edward Luttwak,The grand Strategy of the Roman Empire. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979,ISBN0-8018-2158-4, p. 88
^David J. Breeze,Roman Frontiers in Britain. London: Bloomsbury, 2013,ISBN978-1-8539-9698-6, p. 53
^Herbert W. Benario (1980),A Commentary on the Vita Hadriani in the Historia Augusta. Scholars Press,ISBN978-0-891-30391-6, p. 103
^Albino Garzetti,From Tiberius to the Antonines: A History of the Roman Empire AD 14–192. London: Routledge, 2014,ISBN978-1-138-01920-1, p. 447;Paul Veyne,L'Empire Gréco-Romain, Paris: Seuil, 2005,ISBN2-02-057798-4, p. 28, footnote 61; Salway, 149
^Marta García Morcillo,Las ventas por subasta en el mundo romano: la esfera privada. Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 2005,ISBN84-475-3017-5, p. 301
^Barbara Burrell.Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors. Leiden: Brill, 2004,ISBN90-04-12578-7, p. 87
^E.E. Bryant,The Reign of Antoninus Pius. Cambridge University Press: 1895, pp. 45–46, 68.
^Conrad Gempf, ed.,The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994,ISBN0-85364-564-7, p. 305
^Emmanuelle Collas-Heddeland, "Le culte impérial dans la compétition des titres sous le Haut-Empire. Une lettre d'Antonin aux Éphésiens". In:Revue des Études Grecques, tome 108, Juillet-décembre 1995. pp. 410–429. Available at[4]Archived 3 June 2018 at theWayback Machine. Retrieved 22 January 2016; Edmund Thomas,(2007):Monumentality and the Roman Empire: Architecture in the Antonine Age. Oxford U. Press,ISBN978-0-19-928863-2, p. 133
^Philip A. Harland, ed.,Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, translations and commentaries. II: North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2014,ISBN978-3-11-034014-3, p. 381
^Paul Graindor, "Antonin le Pieux et Athènes".Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 6, fasc. 3–4, 1927. pp. 753–756. Available at[5]Archived 3 June 2018 at theWayback Machine. Retrieved 22 January 2016
^Gary Forsythe,Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History. London: Routledge, 2012,ISBN978-0-415-52217-5, p. 92
^Samuel Dill,Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius. Library of Alexandria, s.d.g.
^After the death ofNero, the personal properties of theJulio-Claudian dynasty had been appropriated by theFlavians, and therefore turned into public properties: Carrié & Roussele, 586
^The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 11: The High Empire, AD 70–192. Cambridge U.P., 2009,ISBN9780521263351, p. 150
^Edward Champlin,Final Judgments: Duty and Emotion in Roman Wills, 200 B.C. – A.D. 250. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991,ISBN0-520-07103-4, p. 98
^David S. Potter,The Roman Empire at Bay. London: Routledge, 2014,ISBN978-0-415-84054-5, p. 49
^Heinz Bellen, "Die 'Verstaatlichung' des Privatvermögens der römische Kaiser". Hildegard Temporini, ed.,Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1974,ISBN3-11-004571-0, p. 112
^Aloys Winterling,Politics and Society in Imperial Rome. Malden, MA: John Wiley & sons, 2009,ISBN978-1-4051-7969-0, pp. 73–75
^Keith Bradley,Slavery and Society at Rome. Cambridge University Press: 1994,ISBN9780521263351, p. 162
^Aubert, Jean-Jacques. "L'esclave en droit romain ou l'impossible réification de l'homme". Esclavage et travail forcé,Cahiers de la Recherche sur les droits fondamentaux (CRDF). Vol. 10. 2012.
^Anastasia Serghidou, ed.Fear of slaves, fear of enslavement in the ancient Mediterranean. Presses Univ. Franche-Comté, 2007ISBN978-2-84867-169-7, p. 159
^Jean-Michel Carrié & Aline Rousselle,L'Empire Romain en Mutation, des Sévères à Constantin, 192–337. Paris: Seuil 1999,ISBN2-02-025819-6, p. 290
^Digest, 48.18.9, as quoted by Edward Peters,Torture, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996,ISBN0-8122-1599-0, p. 29
^Naiweld, Ron (2014). "There Is Only One Other: The Fabrication of Antoninus in a Multilayered Talmudic Dialogue".Jewish Quarterly Review.104 (1):81–104.doi:10.1353/jqr.2014.0000.ISSN1553-0604.
^A. Mischcon, Abodah Zara, p.10a Soncino, 1988. Mischcon cites various sources, "SJ Rappaport... is of opinion that our Antoninus is Antoninus Pius." Other opinions cited suggest "Antoninus" wasCaracalla,Lucius Verus, orAlexander Severus.
^Harper, Kyle (2017).The Fate of Rome. Princeton, New Jersey, United States: Princeton University Press.
^"... 其王常欲通使于汉，而安息欲以汉缯彩与之交市，故遮阂不得自达。至桓帝延熹九年，大秦王安敦遣使自日南徼外献象牙、犀角、瑇瑁，始乃一通焉。其所表贡，并无珍异，疑传者过焉。" 《后汉书·西域传》 Translation: "... The king of this state always wanted to enter into diplomatic relations with the Han. But Anxi wanted to trade with them in Han silk and so put obstacles in their way, so that they could never have direct relations [with Han]. This continued until the ninth year of the Yanxi (延熹) reign period of Emperor Huan (桓) (A.D. 166), when Andun 安敦, king of Da Qin, sent an envoy from beyond the frontier ofRinan (日南) who offered elephant tusk, rhinoceros horn, and tortoise shell. It was only then that for the first time communication was established [between the two states]." "Xiyu Zhuan" of theHou Hanshu (ch. 88) inYU, Taishan (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) (2013). "China and the Ancient Mediterranean World: A Survey of Ancient Chinese Sources".Sino-Platonic Papers.242:25–26.CiteSeerX10.1.1.698.1744.. Chinese original:"Chinese Text Project Dictionary".ctext.org.
^Yü, Ying-shih (1986). "Han Foreign Relations". In Twitchett, Denis; Loewe, Michael (eds.).The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-24327-8.
^de Crespigny, Rafe (2007).A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. p. 600.ISBN978-90-04-15605-0.
^Pulleyblank, Edwin G.; Leslie, D. D.; Gardiner, K. H. J. (1999). "The Roman Empire as Known to Han China".Journal of the American Oriental Society.119 (1):71–79.doi:10.2307/605541.JSTOR605541.
^An, Jiayao (2002). "When Glass Was Treasured in China". In Juliano, Annette L.; Lerner, Judith A. (eds.).Silk Road Studies VII: Nomads, Traders, and Holy Men Along China's Silk Road. Turnhout: Brepols. p. 83.ISBN2503521789.
^abYoung, Gary K. (2001).Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC – AD 305. London & New York: Routledge. pp. 29–30.ISBN0-415-24219-3.
^abFor further information onOc Eo, seeOsborne, Milton (2006) [first published 2000].The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future (revised ed.). Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. pp. 24–25.ISBN1-74114-893-6.
^Michel Christol, "Préfecture du prétoire et haute administration équestre à la fin du règne d'Antonin le Pieux et au début du règne de Marc Aurèle". In:Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, 18, 2007. pp. 115–140. Available at[6]Archived 2 June 2018 at theWayback Machine. Accessed 27 January 2016
^IGRR I, 1509. The date is found in an inscription by Titus Flavius Xenion.[127] TheFeriale Duranum1.21., written half a century later, states that his successors took power the day before: "Prid(ie) Non[is Ma]r[tis". However, most historians who cite the passage indicate that it occurred on 7 March (nones martis).[128][129][130] More recent modern scholars cite the date as 6 March.[131][132] Either way, 7 March is the universally accepted date.[12]
^HA Marcus 7.10, tr. David Magie, cited inBirley 2000, pp. 118, 278 n.6.
^Robert Turcan, "Origines et sens de l'inhumation à l'époque impériale". In:Revue des Études Anciennes. Tome 60, 1958, n°3–4. pp. 323–347. Available at[7]Archived 3 June 2018 at theWayback Machine. Accessed 14 January 2016
Hill, John E. (2009).Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. BookSurge.ISBN978-1-4392-2134-1.
Hüttl, W. (1936) [1933].Antoninus Pius. Vol. I & II, Prag.
Kienast, Dietmar,Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie, Darmstadt, 1990.
Hund, Ragnar (2017).Studien zur Außenpolitik der Kaiser Antoninus Pius und Marc Aurel im Schatten der Markomannenkriege [Studies on the foreign policy of the emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius in the shadow of the Marcomannic Wars]. Pharos, vol. 40. Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf,ISBN978-3-86757-268-2.
Michels, Christoph (2018).Antoninus Pius und die Rollenbilder des römischen Princeps. Herrscherliches Handeln und seine Repräsentation in der Hohen Kaiserzeit [Antoninus Pius and the role models of the Roman Princeps. Imperial activity and its representation in the High Imperial Age]. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter,ISBN978-3-11-057235-3.
Rémy, Bernard (2005).Antonine le Pieux, 138–161. Le siècle d’or de Rome [Antoninus Pius, 138–161. The Golden Age of Rome]. Paris: Fayard,ISBN2-213-62317-1.
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