Antoninus Pius

1. Biography

His family originated from the city of Nemausus (Nimes) of south Gaul and was one of the most prominent families in Rome. His father, Titus Aurelius Fulvius, had served as consul once, in 89 AD, while his grandfather (Aurelius Fulvus) had held the consulship twice. He inherited the ancestral patrimony and became one of the richest men in Rome. He married Annia Galeria Faustina and had two sons and two daughters with her. It was said that he was extremely devoted to her; following her death, in 141 AD, he erected a temple in her memory, and minted coins bearing her portrait. At the age of fifty one (at that point only one of his offspring was still in life, his daughter Faustina the Younger, whom he later married to Marcus Aurelius) Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian, on February 25th 138 AD, in a ceremony that was held after the 62nd birthday of the ailing emperor. During that same ceremony the emperor forced him to adopt, in turn, the seventeen-year-old Marcus Annius Verus (Marcus Aurelius), the emperor’s nephew, and the seven-year-old Lucius Ceionius Commodus (Lucius Aelius Verus), son of the deceased Lucius Ceionius Commodus (Lucius Aelius Caesar), Hadrian's first choice as successor. Antoninus succeeded Hadrian following the emperor’s death (July 10th 138 AD), and lived to be seventy four: his reign was longer than that of Trajan and Hadrian and nearly as long as that of Augustus. Having designated Marcus Aurelius as his heir, he died in his sleep following a short illness. He was especially popular, and the senate deified him. He was buried in Hadrian's mausoleum, next to his wife and sons.

2. Political life

Antoninus followed the customary career of a senator: Becoming a quaestor and a praetor, he was elected consul in 120 AD, during Hadrian's reign. The latter appointed him judge, one of the four whose jurisdiction included Italy. He later became proconsul in the province of Asia (135-136 AD). In this post he acquired extraordinary fame and perhaps this explains why upon his return to Rome Hadrian made him a member of the imperial council (consilium principis). As an emperor Antoninus was lucky enough to see his name identified with a period when Roman possessions were administered in conditions of unprecedented calm, not interrupted by any shuttering event. The empire was enjoying a period of peace. No serious war outside the borders of the empire and no rebellion within it disturbed the serenity of his reign. Scholars of this period often describe it as ‘uneventful’. The emperor himself was apparently of a peaceful nature; according to the sources he was the embodiment of every Roman virtue: he was beautiful, dignified, nice, calm, polite, modest, honest, hard-working, fair and pious. Contrary to his predecessor, Hadrian, he did not travel outside Rome, and preferred to live in his country villas, of which he loved most the one in Lorium. Upon ascension to the throne of the Roman Empire, he managed to cancel the damnatio memoriae the senate had decided for Hadrian, and despite the senate's unwillingness, he secured his deification. According to some, this act earned him the title Pius; others believe it was his fidelity to the traditions of Rome that justified ind this epithet.1 He avoided any clash with the senate: by choosing not to implement the decisions of his predecessors to have some of the senate members executed, and by financially supporting some senatorial families he managed to maintain excellent relations with them.

3. Military activity

Until his ascension to the imperial throne, Antoninus had not had the opportunity to gain military experience. He had not participated in any campaigns and had not been forced to exhibit his strategic prowess, contrary to most of his predecessors. He did, however, demonstrate his skills during the two campaigns he launched. In Scotia he extended Roman territory by approximately 75 miles to the north and constructed a wall, the so-called Antonine Wall between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. In southwest Germania he shortened the line of defence (limes) by extending it to the north. Generally speaking he followed the policy of Hadrian, focusing on maintaining the existing borders.

4. Asia Minor during Antoninus’ reign

Antoninus appears to have been extremely popular among the cities of Asia Minor, even before becoming an emperor. Obviously the year he had spent in the region as proconsul of the province was enough to earn him the esteem of its inhabitants. However, the only measure he is known to have taken during that period pertained to the officials who were responsible for the protection of the citizens. It provided them the right to interrogate the persons arrested, in order to extract information on their collaborators and their hideouts, and the officials were obliged to pass on any information to their superiors.2 When Antoninus succeeded Hadrian, the city of Ephesus expressed its joy by celebrating the new emperor’s birthday. The festivities lasted for five days and included all kinds of spectacles, while the Ephesians drew money from the public fund in order to perform sacrifices in honour of the new emperor. An inscription from Ephesus testifies to the positive disposition of the population towards the emperor for the services he provided as governor of Asia, as well as to their willingness to continue celebrating his birthday in the future.3 As an emperor he continued his predecessor’s tactic and scrutinized civic finances thoroughly, in an attempt to thwart unnecessary expenses.4 He often reduced taxation, while he did not hesitate to cancel citizen debts and offer money, especially in emergencies, like after destructive earthquakes, fires or floods. He offered significant pecuniary help when a strong earthquake devastated cities of Caria and Lycia and the islands of Rhodes and Cos in c.139 AD. To Stratonicea of Caria he offered 250,000 drachmas towards the rebuilding of the city.5 His generosity in Cyanea of Lycia is attested by a statue of his dedicated by the citizens as an expression of their gratitude.6 Antoninus also undertook action when Ephesus required his help in a similar situation. In another occasion he agreed to pay the amount needed for the construction of public buildings in the city: this resulted in the brand-new Gymnasium, dedicated to the emperor himself, as well as the odeum, which featured an inscription bearing his letter to the boule and the demos of Ephesus, were erected. The city honoured him by setting up a series of statues depicting him and by declaring him its ‘founder’.7

5. Cult of Antoninus in Asia Minor

The cult of Antoninus was especially widespread in Asia Minor. The imperial couple was worshipped at Lydia, at the Temple of Artemis in Sardis together with the goddess (in the mid-2nd c. AD a pair of colossal statues of Antoninus and Faustina were set up).8 At Caria, in shrines at Nyssa, statues of his family have been unearthed, while at Hyllarima there was a temple –its construction funded by a private individual – dedicated to the emperor, Zeus Helios and the motherland.9At Cilicia, in a temple at Cestrus, the base of a statue of his has been found, while in Sagalassos of Pisidia there was a temple dedicated to Antoninus, the oikos (=house) and probably the ancestral gods.10 Antoninus was also honoured in other cities of Asia Minor –at Prousa of Bithynia, at Cyzicus of Mysia, at Teos and Miletus of Ionia, at cities of Phrygia a.e.– either through statues dedicated to him or through inscriptions set up in the cities, inscriptions which bore the emperor's letters to their inhabitants.11



1. Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), p. 630.

2. Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), p. 630.

3. OGIS 493· Price, S.R.F., Rituals and Power (Cambridge 1987), p. 57, 106, 112; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), pp. 630, and II, p. 1491, note 2.

4. Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), pp. 633-634, and ΙΙ, p. 1494, note 12.

5. Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), pp. 631-632, and II, pp. 1491-1492, note 6.

6. Vermeule, C.C., Roman Imperial Art in Greece and Asia Minor (Cambridge Mass. 1968), pp. 273.

7. Vermeule, C.C., Roman Imperial Art in Greece and Asia Minor (Cambridge Mass. 1968), p. 271; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), pp. 632-633, and ΙΙ, p. 1493, note 9.

8. Price, S.R.F., Rituals and Power (Cambridge 1987), pp. 151-152, 187 and 259-260, no. 56; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), p. 633.

9. Price, S.R.F., Rituals and Power (Cambridge 1987), p. 262, no. 71, and p. 261, no. 67; Vermeule, C.C., Roman Imperial Art in Greece and Asia Minor (Cambridge Mass. 1968), p. 271; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), p. 633.

10. Price, S.R.F., Rituals and Power (Cambridge 1987), p. 273, no. 147, and p. 270, no. 129; Vermeule, C.C., Roman Imperial Art in Greece and Asia Minor (Cambridge Mass. 1968), p. 273.

11. Vermeule, C.C., Roman Imperial Art in Greece and Asia Minor (Cambridge Mass. 1968), pp. 292-297; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor I (Princeton 1950), pp. 633.