Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius ruled Rome for twenty-three years and almost nothing happened. Born near Rome in AD 86 into a wealthy Gallic senatorial family, he held the standard offices, governed Asia with a reputation for probity, and was one of four consulars appointed by Hadrian to administer Italy. Hadrian adopted him in AD 138, months before dying, on condition that he in turn adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus — which secured a further generation of competent succession. His epithet Pius was granted either for persuading a hostile Senate to deify Hadrian, who was detested, or for supporting his aged father-in-law in the chamber. He is the only emperor of the period who never left Italy during his reign, governing entirely through correspondence with provincial officials — some of which survives in the legal codes. The frontiers were quiet. His forces advanced in Britain and built the Antonine Wall across the Forth-Clyde isthmus in the AD 140s, which was garrisoned for about twenty years and then abandoned in favour of Hadrian's line. There were minor actions in Mauretania, Dacia and Germany, and no major war. He administered carefully and economically, leaving an enormous surplus in the treasury that his successors spent on the Marcomannic wars. He funded famine relief, subsidised education, and extended the alimenta scheme for poor children, adding a fund in his wife Faustina's memory. His jurists improved the legal position of slaves, establishing that a master who killed one without cause was liable. He died in AD 161 of illness after eating cheese, giving the watchword aequanimitas.
- Lived: 86 CE – 161 CE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: head_of_state
