[BITList] A wall, after Hadrian

[John Feltham]

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Antoninus Pius  [Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius]  (AD 86-161), Roman emperor, was born Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus at Lanuvium, near Rome, on 19 September AD 86, the only known child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus and Arria Fadilla. He was educated at home and about 110 married Annia Galeria Faustina (d. 140), daughter of Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina. There were two sons of the marriage, who both died young, and two daughters; the younger married the emperor Marcus Aurelius. After his wife's death he took one of her freedwomen, Galeria Lysistrate, as a concubine. Antoninus was brought up at Lorium, near Rome. He served as quaestor, praetor, consul (120), and proconsul of Asia (probably in 134-5); he was also one of the four consulars appointed by Hadrian to administer justice in Italy.

Antoninus was chosen by Hadrian as his successor on 24 January 138, following the death of Ceionius Commodus, the first choice. He was adopted by Hadrian on 25 February, becoming (Imperator) Titus Aelius Aurelius (Caesar) Antoninus, and in turn he adopted Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Commodus, son of Ceionius. Antoninus succeeded on 10 July 138, becoming (Imperator Caesar) Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus (Augustus) Pius.

Antoninus was an amiable and wealthy man, and probably distantly related to Hadrian by marriage. Most significantly he was the uncle-in-law of Marcus Aurelius (d. 180), generally believed to be Hadrian's choice for the succession but, as yet, too young. Antoninus was probably chosen by Hadrian from among the possible candidates partly because he was a man of peace, having no military experience, and was therefore likely to follow Hadrian's policy of consolidating rather than expanding the frontiers of the empire.

In fact, Antoninus almost immediately reversed Hadrian's policy, ordering an advance in Britain which led to the abandonment of Hadrian's Wall, the reoccupation of southern Scotland, and the construction of a new wall, known as the Antonine Wall. This is recorded by his biographer: 'he conquered the Britons through the governor Lollius Urbicus and after driving back the barbarians built a new wall of turf'  (Magie, v.4). A passage in Pausanias may hint at the pretext for the invasion: 'Antoninus never willingly made war, but ... he deprived the Brigantes in Britain of most of their territory because they too had taken up arms and invaded the Genunian district, the people of which are subject to Rome'  (Pausanias, 8.43.3-4).

An inscription from Corbridge, Northumberland  (Collingwood and Wright, RIB 1147), records building there in 139, suggesting that the decision to move north came within months of Antoninus's accession. At the successful conclusion of the campaign Antoninus took the title (in its strictly military sense) of imperator, the only time he was to take it during his reign in spite of advancing the frontier in Germany, fighting a serious war in Africa, and dealing with a disturbance in Dacia. This suggests that the advance in Britain had a special significance for the emperor. Fronto records that 'although he committed the conduct of the campaign to others while remaining in the palace in Rome, yet like the helmsman at the tiller of a warship, the glory of the whole navigation and voyage belongs to him'  ('Panegyric to Constantius', 14, 1).

Not all had welcomed Antoninus's accession and others felt that they had a better claim to the succession. The reoccupation of southern Scotland may have been undertaken in order to provide Antoninus with a military triumph to secure his position on the throne. The Antonine Wall, 40 Roman miles long, was constructed across central Scotland, utilizing the Forth-Clyde isthmus. It consisted of a rampart of turf or clay, some 10-13 feet high, placed on a stone base about 14 feet wide and probably topped by a timber breastwork. In front lay a wide and deep ditch. The material from the ditch was tipped out onto the north side to form an outer mound. The original plan appears to have been for six forts 6-8 miles apart, connected by a road, with fortlets at mile intervals in between. This was modified during building work and at least ten more forts were added.

A lost inscription from Hadrian's Wall dating to 158  (Collingwood and Wright, RIB 1389) suggests a return to that frontier, and this may be supported by a break in occupation of the Antonine Wall and rebuilding at other forts  (Collingwood and Wright, RIB 2110, 283). This episode is not clearly understood but appears to be short-lived for the Antonine Wall continued in occupation until after the death of Antoninus.

Antoninus reversed his predecessor's poor relations with the senate. His government was characterized by the long tenures of its members, a prudent fiscal policy, and improvements in the law. The forward movement in Britain in the early years of his reign was followed by the advance of the frontier in Germany some time during the second half of the reign. Raiding in north Africa grew into general revolt in the late 140s, and was succeeded by further revolts in Upper Egypt and Dacia (on the lower Danube), and disturbances among the tribes on the eastern frontier, while relations with Parthia deteriorated towards the end of the reign. Antoninus dealt energetically with all these problems, but left a difficult legacy to his successors on the eastern frontier.

Antoninus Pius was the longest-reigning emperor since Augustus. He died on 7 March 161 at Lorium. He was presumably cremated on the Campus Martius in Rome, where a column was subsequently erected to his memory by his two successors. His ashes were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome (now Castel Sant'Angelo). He was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Commodus (renamed Lucius Verus), as joint and equal emperors.

David J. Breeze 

Sources  A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: a biography (1987) + D. Magie, ed. and trans., 'Antoninus Pius', Scriptores historiae Augustae, 1 (1921) + Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. and trans. W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod, 5 vols. (1918-35) + 'Panegyric to Constantius', In praise of later Roman emperors: the Panegyrici Latini, introduction, translation, and historical commentary, with the Latin text of R. A. B. Mynors, ed. and trans. C. E. V. Nixon, B. S. Rodgers, and R. A. B. Mynors (1994), 104-44 + R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, eds., The Roman inscriptions of Britain, 2 vols. (1965), RIB 283, 1147, 1389, 2110
Likenesses  bust, BM [see illus.] · portrait, repro. in K. Fittschen and P. Zanker, Katalog der romischen Portrats in den capitolinischen Museen und der anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom (Mainz, 1985), 63-7, Taf. 67-9 · portrait, repro. in H. Mattingley and E. A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage, 3 (1930)




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