Antoninus Pius: Emperor of Rome

He had the second longest reign of all of Rome’s emperors, most of those years being entirely peaceful

Antoninus Pius was Emperor of Rome from 138 CE to 161 CE. However, despite this long reign (second only to that of Augustus out of all the emperors) he is one of the lesser-known Roman emperors. This is due to the fact that during those 23 years hardly anything happened!

His early years

Antoninus was born into an aristocratic family on 19th September 86 CE at Lanuvium, which is about 20 miles from Rome. He rose smoothly up the ranks of the Roman governmental system and included a spell as governor of Asia from 130 to 135.

He made a very good marriage in around the year 112 (the exact date is unknown). This was to Annia Galeria Faustina, who was the aunt of Marcus Annius Verus, a young man who was highly favoured by Emperor Hadrian.

Hadrian had no natural sons of his own, and, when his initial choice of successor died unexpectedly, he adopted Antoninus as next in line.

Various conditions were attached to the adoption, including that Antoninus must agree to adopt, in his turn, the young son and the intended son-in-law (i.e. Marcus Annius Verus) of Hadrian’s original choice as successor. Given that…