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Antoninus Pius (Latin: Titus Fulvius Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius; born 19 September, 86 AD – died 7 March, 161 AD), also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He acquired the name Pius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father Hadrian, or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years. He was named as the fourth of the "Five Good Emperors" by 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon.
Antoninus Pius in "Death in Vesunna"
In AD 147, during the reign of Antoninus Pius a curious murder occurred in the town of Vesunna in Aquitaine. Clodius Eprius, a resident of the town, entertained two itinerant booksellers named Lucius and Marcus at his villa, and who killed him for his copy of Sophokles' Aleadai.[1] During the subsequent investigation, a leather purse filled with fresh-minted gold aurei coins was found on the premises. Some had the likeness of Antoninus which would be expected but others had that of his predecessor Hadrian who had died nine years earlier and that of Trajan who had died 30 years earlier. The unworn appearance of those coins was inexplicable but only a small part of the mystery of the crime.[2]
References
- ↑ Departures, pgs. 29-33, pb.
- ↑ Ibid, pgs. 39-40.
Royal offices (OTL) | ||
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Preceded by Hadrian |
Roman Emperor 117–138 |
Succeeded by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus |
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