Antoninus Pius
(TITUS ÆLIUS HADRIANUS ANTONINUS PIUS).
Roman Emperor (138-161), born 18 September, A.D. 86 at Lanuvium, a short distance from Rome; died at Lorium, 7 March, 161.
Antoninus Pius
Most of his youth was spent at Lorium, which was only twelve miles from Rome. Later on he built a villa there, to which he would frequently retreat from the cares of the empire, and in which he died, in his seventy-fifth year. His early career was that usually followed by the sons of senatorial families. He entered public life while quite young and after exercising the office of prætor, became consul in 120, at the age of thirty-four. Shortly after the expiration of his consulate he was selected by Hadrian as one of the four men of consular rank whom he placed over the four judicial districts into which Italy was then divided. The duration of this office and its character cannot be decided with accuracy. Antoninus was afterwards proconsul in Asia, where his remarkable administrative qualities attracted the attention of the Emperor, who admitted him to the “Consilium Principis” on his return to Rome. After the death of Lucius Ælius Commodus Verus, Hadrian adopted Antoninus as his successor, on condition that he, in turn, would adopt as his sons and successors, M. Annius Verus (Marcus Aurelius) and Ælius Lucius Verus. On his adoption (25 February, 138) Antoninus changed his name to Titus Ælius Hadrianus Antoninus. He shared the imperial power with Hadrian until the death of the latter, 10 July, 138, when he became sole ruler.
Antoninus Pius
Historians generally speaking are unanimous in their praise of the character of Antoninus and of the success and blessings of his reign (for a rather unfavourable estimate, see Schiller, Geschichte der röm. Kaiserzeit, II, 138). His conception of the duties of his office was high and noble, and his exercise of the almost unlimited power placed in his hands marked him as a man thoroughly devoted to the interests of humanity. In his private life and in the management of his court he followed true Stoic simplicity, entirely removed from excess or extravagance. His reign was unquestionably the most peaceful and the most prosperous in the history of Rome. No wars were undertaken, except those necessary to guard the frontiers of the Empire against invasion or to suppress insurrections. The conflicts with the Berbers in Africa and some of the German and Tauro-Scythinan tribes on the Danube were merely punitive expeditions to prevent further encroachments on Roman soil. The short-lived insurrection in Egypt and that of the Jews in Armenia and Palestine were quickly suppressed. For years the Pax Romana prevailed over the entire Empire, and brought blessings and happiness to probably 150,000,000 people, whose interests and whose safety were safeguarded by an army of 350,000 soldiers. The only extension of the Roman territory in the reign of Antoninus was in Britain, where a new wall was built at the foot of the Caledonian mountains between the Forth and the Clyde, considerably farther north than the wall of Hadrian.
