Featured How Good Was Antoninus Pius?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by kevin McGonigal, May 25, 2020.

  1. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    A few weeks ago I posted a thread on how bad was Nero. After thinking a bit about that one, I decided it was only fair to post a thread on his possible opposite, Antoninus Pius. From the previous posting we discovered that Nero may not have been quite as bad as he has been portrayed to have been, except for the matricide part, which is pretty hard to overlook. As we all know Antoninus Pius has the reputation of being squeaky clean, ultra virtuous, without blemish and well, very "pious". But was he all that upright a person? Does he deserve that reputation? Let's take a look.

    First of all the primary sources. What do they have to say? Interestingly, not very much. For Nero, and other not very nice emperors, we have far more abundant sources. Since Suetonius and Tacitus liked slumming it, vicariously, with the more murderous and scandalous emperors of the First Century AD, we have a good deal of information ranging from the anecdotal and incidental to the hand rubbing and scandalous sort of material, guaranteed to get read (and apparently copied and preserved). We have a bit from Dio Cassius, early Third century, not an especially gifted historian and one whose works are frequently only in a garbled state of preservation when it comes to Antoninus (Epitome, Book Seven). Our main primary source is a Julius Capitolinus, one of the supposed authors of the Historia Augusta (Scriptores Historiae Augustae) put together much after the reign of Antoninus. If anyone wishes to consider Edward Gibbon ( Decline and Fall...) a primary source, he has a bit on Pius and it's all good.

    At this point, I'll be honest. I really hoped that I would find some material that, if not actually salacious, would be more earthy. What I have found out is that I am like a Devil's Advocate trying to find information to delay the canonization of Michael the Archangel. I can't find anything even naughty let alone evil about the guy. Just about the whole of humanity, then and now, that if he were reincarnated and returned to earth, thinks he would be a good candidate for emperor of the planet earth. Reading his bios is like reading from the Angelic Book of Life of the Blessed. I would start listing his achievements but there's not enough bandwith on this site to encapsulate it. if a Roman Emperor could do good, he did it. Look, I knew if I delved deep enough I might find something, but as evil, it's pathetic. Among the "evils" I found in the secondary sources is that he spent too much money celebrating the nine hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome, so much so that he had to debase the denarius by five percent ( I hope Gallienus is not reading this. He debased it TO five percent with room to spare). By the way, Harl thinks that debasement may actually have had to do with getting the denarius of Antoninus down to the silver level of earlier well worn coinage. The Oxford Reference claims it was only a temporary debasement, anyway. In any event he left 675 million of these slightly debased denarii for his heir and successor, the slightly less saintly Marcus Aurelius, to do something with. Two secondary modern sources (and the German Schiller's earlier history of the empire) say that Antoninus Pius deserves to be censured for his lack of foresight in not recognizing that the growing power of the Marcomanni was going to be trouble down the line. I am surprised no one criticized his Caledonian wall for using inferior sod. The gods' honest truth is that the guy really was competent and decent and the kind pf person one wishes would move in next door to you.

    Well, perhaps I failed to lift up the right rocks and some may find something human that I or the sources missed and can post what it is you find. Below I have some coins of Antoninus Pius and if readers have some that they would like to post, please do so.

    The coins are from first to second row, top to bottom, are top left a sestertius (I find these among the most attractive coins of all the Roman coinage) of Antoninus Pius with a naked mars advancing, Sear 4219. Next is a denarius of Pius with Vesta on the reverse. It weighs 2.9 grams and is Sear 1234. The coin at the right of the row is another sestertius of Pius with Salus on the reverse. it is Sear 4216. Bottom row is a sestertius of his successor as his adopted son and heir, the Caesar Marcus Aurelius with Hilaritas on the reverse. It is Sear 4802. The next coin is a denarius of his devoted wife, Faustina, after her too early death early in his reign. On the reverse is Pietas and it weighs 3.0 grams. It is Sear 4598. And lastly on the bottom right is a sestertius of his daughter, Faustina the Younger, the wife of Marcus Aurelius. Queen Juno is on the reverse and it is Sear 5278. I hope readers will post some of their own coins of his reign and family.

    IMG_1371[5401]Ant. Pius Obv..jpg IMG_1372[5399]Ant Pius Rev..jpg
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2020
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  3. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Antoninus Pius. (Indeed he was Pious!)

    Here is the coin, Antoninus Pius, Laodicaea ad Mare
    Obverse: Portrait of AP right
    Reverse: Portrait of Tyche left, with city represented on her head

    ap1.jpg

    ap2.jpg
     
  4. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Great Mars sestertius. I'm a huge fan of those Mars reverses. With how popular they were, I figure there would be some extant statues, but alas, I don't think there are...
     
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  5. Magnus Maximus

    Magnus Maximus Dulce et Decorum est....

    He ran a competent administration and left the empire in capable hands, so he probably deserves high marks. I feel that a lot of the difficulties the Romans would face in the 3rd century were pretty much inevitable regardless of who was the Emperor (the Cyprian plague, climate change, large confederations of German tribes). Though Septimius Severus’s massive increase of legionary pay and severe debasement in 194 didn’t do the Romans any favors in the 3rd century.

    Just my two bits :)
     
  6. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Is that a counterstamp on the obverse at 7 o'clock?
     
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  7. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I am not surprised that naked statues of Mars, advancing or not, would not survive too long into the Christian Middle Ages. If I recall correctly an equestrian statue of one of the emperors ( Marcus Aurelius, I think) survived into later times only because it was mistakenly thought to be that of the first Christian emperor, Constantine.
     
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  8. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Which is funny because bearded Marcus Aurelius looks NOTHIING like clean-shaved Constantine...
     
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  9. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I am not sure that Antoninus could have done much to reduce the power of the Marcomanni and even if he had done that, there was always another tribe right behind them. I can think of no emperor who could have done much differently than what later emperors actually did.
     
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  10. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ...i LOVE that coin/Reverse!..(..see ya at Christmas?!?:D)
     
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  11. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Yes, not sure what it means though.
     
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  12. Spaniard

    Spaniard Well-Known Member

    @kevin McGonigal.....Lovely coins....He was just a nice man!
    I have a little collection....
    APIUS SET-ccfopt.jpg
     
  13. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    One of the main issues with attempting to judge him to the other emperors is the complete lack of reliable sources. I believe Gibbon stated something to this affect.
    Though we can tell Rome did wonderfully under his rule. Making it easy to assume Antoninus Pius to be a good, just and most righteous dude!
    I however refute all of this and believe Pius to be a psychopath.
    Who doesn't have enemies as leader of the known world for two decades?
    Stone cold killers who off any and all who may cause issues. That's who.
    What is it they put on Sulla's grave? "Never a better friend nor worse enemy. "
    That's Pius. Probably killed prostitutes and beat up old ladies for kicks.
    I kid, I kid. But seriously, the sources are awful thin and silent when it comes to his rule.
    I keep meaning to upgrade mine but have a hard time as I like the spooky look of mine just enough to stay my hand:
    20190327_111743_BA2405B2-D704-4362-B819-B60AD274EF5D-469-000000458743BCAA.png

    Antoninus Pius (138-161
    AD). AR Denarius (18 mm,
    3.39 g), Roma (Rome), 153-
    154 AD.
    Obv. ANTONINVS AVG
    PIVS P P TR P XVII,
    laureate head right.
    Rev. COS IIII, Vesta
    standing holding simpulum
    and Palladium.
    RIC III, 229b.
    Nicely toned

    And a semi ironic provincial. As one thing we do know is that most believe that he NEVER left Rome (maniac):
    20190326_112649_E88214C7-F5D4-4270-97D0-7EEBFA5D9328-406-0000008A6CA79D18.png
    Antoninus Pius
    Lycaonia, Iconium. A.D. 138-161. AE 17 (16.8 mm, 4.75 g, 7 h). [ANTO]NINVS AVG PIVS, laureate head right / [CO]L ICO, helmeted head of Athena right. SNG von Aulock 8648; von Aulock, Lycaoniens, 308; RPC IV online 7259; SNG France -. VF. Scarce.
     
  14. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I think, in terms of the coin fabric and composition and the availability of the coins, the members of his extended family minted during his reign, his is the most worthwhile and rewarding of coins to collect.
     
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  15. Cachecoins

    Cachecoins Historia Moneta

    I believe he was just a smart capable administrator with a rather stable disposition who even after taking power still chose to continue living his life as he did before. He was not a spend thrift, was not seeking glory in war and conquest, he was not cruel, he was not a deviant etc...that is boring history but certainly, imo, a good leader. When he comes up I always say that he is one emperor who, if alive today, would still be seen as a good leader even in a modern sense of what many look for in a leader. Certain one of the better emperors if what little we know can be believed
     
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  16. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Well put.
     
  17. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    The Antonine period was a time of prosperity and stability and coins circulated for decades. Antonine bronzes are typically well-worn, reflecting their service. Here are some typical Antonine sestertii:

    [​IMG]
    Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161.
    Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.11 g, 29.4 mm, 12 h.
    Rome, AD 142.
    Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right.
    Rev: ANNONA AVG S C, Annona standing right, between modius and prow, holding corn ears and out-turned cornucopiae.
    Refs: RIC 597; BMCRE 1228; Cohen 37; RCV 4147; UCR 502.

    [​IMG]
    Faustina I, AD 138-140.
    Roman orichalcum sestertius, 26.91 g, 32.3 mm, 7 h.
    Rome, AD 140.
    Obv: DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA •, veiled and draped bust, right.
    Rev: AETERNITAS S C, Providentia standing front, head left, holding globe and scepter.
    Refs: RIC 1108b; BMCRE 1421; Cohen --; Strack 1230; RCV --.
     
  18. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

  19. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Thank you for a pleasant read, @kevin McGonigal . Sometimes folks get so enraptured in the bad. Human nature, I reckon. I would rather hear about good for a change. Too many rotten Emperors, letting power, money, and depravity define them.

    Also, wonderful coins! I was enjoying your post, that I ALMOST overlooked your coins! Almost.

    I only have him in Silver.

    PIUS
    [​IMG]
    RI Antoninus Pius 138-161 BCE AR Denarius Issue 6 as Augustus IMP T AEL CAES HADR ANTONINVS - AVG PIVS P M TR P COS DES II


    [​IMG]
    RI Antoninus Pius 138-161 CE BI Tet Alexandria Egypt Dikaiosyne Scale
     
  20. Cachecoins

    Cachecoins Historia Moneta

    His name became very popular lest we forget Caracalla was given the name Antoninus to connect him to a man who he almost certainly did not share any qualities with.
     
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  21. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Although I don't have too much to add to this conversation, I'd like to share my tiny, 14mm $0.73 provincial with Artemis reverse.

    Despite the considerable wear, it's got a nice appearance and a reasonably detailed reverse.

    Antoninus Pius Moushmov 5086.JPG
     
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