Antoninus Pius - Dull or Hero ?

[Chance1234]

Ahh shouldn't of read wikipedia, but could only find one reference to him in my books.

What is going through my mind at the moment is. Was Antoninus a inactive emperor who preferred the comfort of rome and didn't really give a dam about what went on outside the borders of Italy.

Or was he a acute man who realized that the key to peace layed within the walls of the senate and leaving the foreign affairs in the men whom were better suited for such tasks.

Im tending to think the first, but thats is only because of the wikipedia article.

[Jona Lendering]

I prefer a third option. He was chosen from the Senate, and believed that this body was what really mattered. Hadrian had had an unpleasant relation with the Senate, and it was time to give it the honors it was entitled to. If Antoninus never left Italy, it was because he always remained a senator.

[Robert Vermaat]

We want a poll!

[Theodosius the Great]

I prefer Jona's explanation, too. (Maybe because I recently tested to be an Emperor of his calibre, see the quiz results in OT )

Actually, I approve of his staying in Rome for his entire reign. It helped maintain the City's status as both the theoretical AND functioning capital of the empire. Whereas Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius had greatly undermined its preeminence by their distant rule away Rome.

~Theo

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

He actually spent a lot refurbishing Italys infrastructure, and also gave aple reign to his govenors and generals.....
He celebrated the Empire as a whole, prefering not to spend the money on traveling that could be used in the provinces for their own needs......
Also promoted the religious aspect of the empire, it seems.......
Am still reading, so can only wait to form a better understanding of him and his line