Antoninus Pius (real name Antoninus Titus Aurelius Fulvus) was a Roman emperor. He was born in 86 at Lavinium, near Rome and died in 161. In 120 he became consul, and he was one of the four persons of consular rank among whom Hadrian divided the supreme administration of Italy. He then went as proconsul to Asia, and after his return to Rome became more and more the object of Hadrian's confidence. In 138 he was selected by that emperor as his successor, and the same year he ascended the throne. The persecutions of the Christians he speedily abolished. He carried on but a few wars. In Britain he extended the Roman dominion, and by raising a new wall - Wall of Antonius - put a stop to the invasions of the Picts and Scots. The senate gave him the surname Pius, that is, dutiful or showing filial affection, because to keep alive the memory of Hadrian he had built a temple in his honour. He was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, his adopted son. Research Antoninus Pius
Appian was a Roman historian of the second century. He was a native of Alexandria, was governor and manager of the imperial revenues under Hadrian, Trajan, and Antoninus Pius, in Rome. He compiled in Greek a Roman history, from the earliest times to those of Augustus, in twenty-four books, of which only eleven have come down to us. Research Appian
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus often called simply Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor and philosopher. He was born in 121 AD and died in 180 AD. He was the son-in-law, adopted son, and successor of Antoninus Pius. He succeeded to the throne in 161. His name originally was Marcus Annius Verus. He voluntarily shared the government with Lucius Verus, whom Antoninus Pius had also adopted. Brought up and instructed by Plutarch's nephew, Sextus, the orator Herodes Atticus, and Volusius Mecianus, the jurist, he had become acquainted with learned men, and formed a particular love for the Stoic philosophy. A war with Parthia broke out in the year of his accession, and did not terminate until 166.
A confederacy of the northern tribes now threatened Italy, while a frightful pestilence, brought from the East with the army, raged in Rome itself. Both emperors set out in person against the rebellious tribes. In 169 Verus died, and the sole command of the war devolved on Marcus Aurelius, who prosecuted it with the utmost rigour, and nearly exterminated the Marcomanni. His victory over the Quadi in 174 is connected with a famous legend. Dion Cassius tells us that the twelfthlegion of the Roman army was shut up in a defile, and reduced to great straits for want of water, when a body of Christians enrolled in the legion prayed for relief. Not only was rain sent, which enabled the Romans to quench their thirst, but a fierce storm of hail beat upon the enemy, accompanied by thunder and lightning, which so terrified them that a complete victory was obtained, and the legion was ever after called 'The Thundering Legion'. After this victory the Marcomanni, the Quadi, as well as the rest of the barbarians, sued for peace. The sedition of the Syrian governor Avidius Cassius, with whom Faustina, the empress, was in treasonable communication, called off the emperor from his conquests, but before he reached Asia the rebel was assassinated. Aurelius returned to Rome, after visiting Egypt and Greece, but soon new incursions of the Marcomanni compelled him once more to take the field. He defeated the enemy several times, but was taken sick at Sirmium, and died at Vindobona (Vienna) in 180.
His only extant work is the Meditations, written in Greek, and which has been translated into most modern languages. This may be regarded as a manual of practical morality, in which wisdom, gentleness, and benevolence are combined in the most fascinating manner. Many believe it to have been intended for the instruction of his son Commodus. Aurelius was one of the best emperors ever Rome saw, although his philosophy and the magnanimity of his character did not restrain him from the persecution of the Christians, whose religious doctrines he was led to believe - perhaps with good reason - were subversive of good government. Research Aurelius Antoninus
The Wall of Antoninus or Graham's Dyke was a barrier erected by the Romans across the isthmus between the Forth and the Clyde, in the reign of Antoninus Pius. Its western extremity was at or near Dunglass Castle, its eastern at Carriden, and the whole length of it exceeded 27 miles. It was constructed in 140 by Lollius Urbicus, the imperial legate, and consisted of a ditch 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep, and a rampart of stone and earth on the south side 24 feet thick and 20 feet in height. It was strengthened at each end and along its course by a series of forts and watch-towers. It may still be traced at various points. Research Wall of Antonius
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