Hadrian’s adopted son presided over 23 years of peace
History has judged Antoninus Pius to be a benevolent leader |
As well as being notable for peace and stability, his reign was one of well-run administration, support for education and public works projects including expanded free access to drinking water in all parts of the empire.
He was seen as a wise and benevolent ruler who made the well-being of his subjects a priority, an example being the attention he gave to ensuring freed slaves were given the full rights of citizenship.
Antoninus instigated legal reforms, built temples and theatres, was an active promoter of the arts and sciences, and rewarded the teachers of rhetoric and philosophy in particular with honours and financial incentives.
Despite a number of disturbances in different parts of the empire during his time, he was reluctant to commit to any aggressive military action. Revolts in Mauretania, Germany, Dacia and Egypt were successfully contained by his armies with no recourse to escalation.
Only in response to an uprising of the Brigantes, who controlled large parts of northern Britain, did Antoninus take a more aggressive approach.
He appointed a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus, who had previously governed Germania Inferior. Antoninus ordered Lollius to invade southern Scotland, driving the Brigantes back and constructing a new wall, the Antonine Wall across the Scottish territory 100 miles (62km) north of Hadrian’s Wall, from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde.
The map of the Roman Empire as it looked during the 23-year reign of Antoninus Pius |
Antoninus Pius was born Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus near Lanuvium, on the site of modern-day Lanuvio, about 38km (24 miles) south of Rome. His father, Titus Aurelius Fulvus, was a consul, whose father had been a senator of the same name.
Titus Aurelius Fulvus died when Antoninus was a child and he was raised instead by his maternal grandfather, Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus, who was a friend of Pliny the Younger and had a reputation as a man of integrity.
Antoninus held a number of official roles during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, including consul and proconsul, impressing Hadrian with his performance in these roles in Etruria and Asia. He married Hadrian's niece, Faustina, and following the death of Hadrian's first adopted son, Lucius Aelius Caesar, was adopted as Hadrian’s son and successor.
His own adoption by Hadrian was conditional on adopting future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his own successors.
On taking over from Hadrian, Antoninus persuaded the senate to convey divine honours on his predecessor. They in turn gave Antoninus the surname Pius.
A coin from the reign of Antoninus Pius. The head on the reverse is that of his son, Marcus Aurelius |
Much of Antoninus’s popularity stemmed from his skill as an administrator and his generosity.
Free access for Roman citizens to drinking water was expanded with the construction of aqueducts, not only in Rome but throughout the Empire. He also built bridges and roads, yet still managed to reach the end of his reign with a substantial treasury surplus.
He suspended the collection of taxes from multiple cities affected by natural disasters such as the fires and floods and offered large financial grants for rebuilding and recovery of Greek cities after two serious earthquakes.
The health of Antoninus declined as he approached 70 years of age. He found it difficult to stand and often fell asleep during official meetings. Anticipating his death after contracting a fever at his ancestral estate at Lorium, about 19 km (12 miles) west of Rome, he summoned the imperial council and passed the state to Marcus Aurelius.
Antoninus's body was buried in Hadrian's mausoleum. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification, a request granted readily by the senate. A column dedicated to Antoninus on the Campus Martius and the temple he had built in the Forum in 141 to his deified wife Faustina was rededicated to Faustina and Antoninus.
The term Good Emperors was coined by the political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, who noted that while most emperors to succeed to the throne by birth were “bad” in his view, there was a run of five - Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, all of whom succeeded by adoption - who enjoyed the reputation as benevolent dictators, governing by earning the good will of their subjects.
The Torre Medievale was built in the ninth century to protect Lanuvio against Saracen attacks |
The ancient Lanuvium, over which the present day town of Lanuvio is built, was a prosperous town under the Roman Empire but was destroyed by the Barbarians. Rebuilt in the 11th century, it was enriched by noble families such as the Cesarini and the Colonna. Situated in the Castelli Romani area south of Rome, Lanuvio has among its main visitor attractions the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which has a rich history dating back to the 13th century and contains the Colonna family tombs. Lanuvio’s civic museum contains more than 2,000 artefacts from prehistoric, pre-Roman, Roman, and Mediaeval periods. Look out also for the Torre Medievale, a cylindrical tower in two graduated sections with an encircling walkway, thought to have been erected in the ninth century to protect against Saracen attacks. Today the tower is home to the Consortium Vini Colli Lanuvini, with a tasting room and information on the vintages. Lanuvio is host to an annual Festa della Musica every June, and the Festa del Vino in September.
The Pantheon is the most notable survivor of the buildings that covered the Campus Martius |
Campus Martius in Roman times was a floodplain of the Tiber river, covering the land to the east of the curve in the river that begins south of Piazza del Popolo and loops round to the Isola Tiberina. It was the site of the altar of Mars and the temple of Apollo in the 5th century BC, later being drained and used as a military exercise. From the first century BC, it became covered with large public buildings, including baths, an amphitheatre, theatres, a gymnasium, crematorium and many temples, of which The Pantheon is the most notable surviving structure. The district of Rome called Campo Marzio covers part of the area. Like many of the structures of ancient Rome, the Column of Antoninus Pius ultimately collapsed and became buried. The remains were discovered in 1703, when some buildings were demolished in the area of Montecitorio. The marble base was restored between 1706 and 1708 and erected in the centre of Piazza di Montecitorio in 1741, before being taken to the Vatican Museums in 1787. Today it occupies a space in the courtyard outside the entrance to the Vatican Pinacoteca.
Also on this day:
1576: The murder of noblewoman Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo
1593: The death of artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1934: The birth of fashion designer Giorgio Armani