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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 4846838, member: 75937&quot;]Many think of Antoninus Pius as boring. In some ways, he is -- his reign was free of scandal and his personal life was devoid of the sort of salacious behavior for which Caligula or Elagabalus is renowned.</p><p><br /></p><p>He ruled through statesmanship and not through military might. He repaired the strained relationship between the senate and the imperial throne that had developed during the reign of his predecessor, Hadrian. He ruled over Rome at its pinnacle of peace and prosperity.</p><p><br /></p><p>He was a homebody, the exact opposite of Hadrian, whose wanderlust is celebrated on the famed &quot;travel series&quot; of coins. He was devoted to his wife, Faustina I, who died just two years into his reign, and he issued hundreds of coins in her honor. He kept his promise to Hadrian to adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. He was devoted to his daughter, Faustina II, and to his many grandchildren.</p><p><br /></p><p>There were no purges, no paranoia, no thuggishness. He bore the epithet of &quot;Pius,&quot; perhaps best translated as &quot;devoted.&quot; Pius to the empire, Pius to his family, Pius to principles. This coin perhaps embodies his piety more than any others:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/antoninus-pius-pietati-avg-cos-iiii-fecunditas-denarius-jpg.1162927/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161.</p><p>Roman AR denarius, 3.15 g, 18.1 mm, 11 h.</p><p>Rome, December, AD 160- March, AD 161.</p><p>Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIIII, laureate head, right.</p><p>Rev: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Faustina II (as Pietas) standing left, holding a child on each arm; at each side of her, a child standing looking towards her and raising hand.</p><p>Refs: RIC <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.313C" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.313C" rel="nofollow">313c</a>; BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1894-1105-18" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1894-1105-18" rel="nofollow">1013</a>-14; Cohen 631; Strack 384; RCV 4098.</p><p><br /></p><p>Next: Your favorite ruler (any era in antiquity, any gender).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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