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Hadrian and Lucius VerusAuthor(s): T. D. BarnesSource: The
Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 57, No. 1/2 (1967), pp.
65-79Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman StudiesStable
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS By T. D. BARNES*
At the age of sixty the emperor Hadrian cast about for a
successor. His first choice was L. Ceionius Commodus, his second T.
Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus. Both being adopted in
turn by the ailing emperor, the former died before Hadrian while
the latter survived to succeed him. Modern scholarship has indulged
in long speculations about the motives of Hadrian and the political
intrigues of his final years.1 This paper will not attempt to add
to such speculations but will examine the precise details of the
dynastic settlements of 136 and 138 upon which they are based. For
due weight has not been given to certain relevant and important
statements in the Historia Augusta, and as a result the facts have
been misrepresented. Moreover, since some of these statements occur
in the Vita Veri, the excellent worth of which has too often been
denigrated, an analysis of that will be necessary. The partial
interdependence of the historical and the literary problems
dictates the separate yet combined treatment adopted here. The
first part of this paper will discuss the biography of Lucius Verus
in the Historia Augusta, the second the dynastic plans of Hadrian.
The evidence and arguments employed in each part will, it is hoped,
both confirm and be confirmed by the thesis advanced in the
other.
I. THE VITA VERI Is the Vita Veri a valuable historical source ?
The modern verdict has tended to be
very unfavourable.2 Mommsen drew a sharp distinction among the
vitae down to the Diadumenus between the nine lives of recognized
emperors (i.e. of Hadrian, Pius, Marcus, Commodus, Pertinax, Didius
Julianus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Macrinus) and the seven
lives of joint emperors (i.e. Verus, Geta), Caesars (i.e. Aelius
Caesar, Diadumenus) and usurpers (i.e. Avidius Cassius, Pescennius
Niger, Clodius Albinus). The former, Mommsen declared, are ' echte
allerdings vielfach zerriittete ,Geschichtsquellen ', the latter '
enthalten wenig oder gar kein eigenes wirklich geschichtliches
Material und sind wesentlich entweder aus jenen der ersten
zusammengestoppelt oder gefllscht '. Schulz, asserting that the
Vita Veri was not one of the notorious secondary lives (or
Nebenviten), argued that it derived ultimately from a biography of
the early third century whose author was' ein Historiker, der an
Scharfblick und Einsicht den vielgeriihmten Dio weit iibertrifft '.
Indeed he was even able to print the original text of this author.5
Schulz's work, however, does not inspire confidence: his criteria
were purely formal 6 and led him to believe in 'eine primaire
Heliusvita '.7 Weber attacked both the methods and the conclusions
of Schulz. The vita, he maintained, was the work of a compiler who
used an annalistic source to compose biographies: since there was
little in it, if anything, which need come from a reliable
monograph on Lucius, therefore there was no monograph.8 But Weber's
method too raises serious doubts. It is only by starting from the
assumption that a biographer cannot have described the adoptions of
138 in the lives of all the emperors concerned in
* I am grateful to Professor Syme and Dr. F. G. B. Millar for
their help and criticisms throughout and to Professor Bowersock for
reading the first part of this paper. The following abbreviations
will be used: Birley A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius (i966);
Lecrivain= Ch. Lecrivain, Jitudes sur l'Histoire Auguste (1904);
Lessing = K. Lessing, Scriptorum Historiae Augustae Lexicon
(I9oI-6); Schwende- mann = J. Schwendemann, Der historische Wert
der Vita Marci bei den Scriptores Historiae Augustae (I923); BMC
(simp.) = H. Mattingly, BMC Roman Empire IV (I940).
1 To cite only two fairly recent articles, J. Carco- pino,
'L'h6redit6 dynastique chez les Antonins ', R1TA LI (I949), z6z
ff., esp. 285-32I = Passion et politique chez les C6sars (1958),
143 ff., esp. 173-222; and H.-G. Pflaum, 'Le Reglement successoral
d'Hadrien', Historia-Augusta-Colloquium Bonn 1963 (I964), 95
ff.
2 And still is: e.g. Birley 3I2 'the so-called
" minor lives "-those of " Helius Verus ", L. Verus ... are
virtually worthless as independent sources'.
3 Th. Mommsen, Hermes xxv (I890), 246 = Ges. Schr. VII, 319.
4 0. Th. Schulz, Das Kaiserhaus der Antonine und der letzte
Historiker Roms (1907), 3 (the passage quoted), 56 ff. (on the Vita
Veri).
6 Op. cit. ZI5 ff. 6 This, the standard objection to Schulz, was
first
formulated by K. Honn, Deutsche Literaturzeitung I908, I002 ff.
and by W. Weber, Gott. Gel. Anz. 170. Jhrg. (I908), 945 ff.
7 op. cit. 57, 224; Leben des Kaisers Hadrian (1904), I25 ff.,
142. That one did not exist is a certain deduction from Aelius 2, 9
f. and the Historia Augusta's ignorance of Aelius' birthday (known
to Philocalus (CIL I2, p. 255) and perhaps appearing in the Feriale
Duranum (col. i, i i/iz) * see The Excava- tions at Dura-Europuls,
Final Report v. i, The Parch- ments and Papyri (i959), 205 f.).
8 Weber, op. cit. 957 ff., esp. 971.
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66 T. D. BARNES them that he reaches the conclusion that the
Historia Augusta employed an annalistic source which narrated the
settlement of that year once only.9 Lambrechts, writing more than
twenty years later, accepted the opinion then prevailing that for
the second century the Historia Augusta had both a biographical
source, which was to be identified as Marius Maximus, and an
annalistic source, from which derived almost all that was of
historical value.10 Since Marius did not write a life of Lucius,"1
and the annalistic source cannot have described the reign of Lucius
separately from that of Marcus, the Vita Veri must come entirely
from the pen of its author. Hence it is, in essence, ' un
developpement de certaines phrases de la Vita Marci qui ont servi
de substrat 'a une vaste amplification o "u l'imagination de
l'auteur avait libre jeu '.12 Lambrechts pronounced the life to be
of exiguous historical value and dismissed the last seven chapters
with an exclamation mark.13 But whence on this view come such
valuable and authentic details as the title Medicus (7, 2) and the
names of Martius Verus (7, i) and Apolaustus (8, iO) or the sneer
at Panthea (7, IO) ? Moreover, Marius Maximus is not the principal
source of those sections of the early part of the Historia Augusta
which are admitted by all to be biographical. Although many still
continue to ignore his conclusions,14 Barbieri has shown that
Marius is never the main source for any vita: wherever he is cited
it is to confirm or to supplement.15 It is consequently necessary
to discard the assumption of an annalistic and a biographical
source which provided respectively political narrative and
personalia.16
Let us postulate instead one main source-an unknown biographer,
writing perhaps in the reign of Severus Alexander and composing
sober, factual lives of the legitimate emperors, among whom will be
classed Lucius Verus.17 This hypothesis (it is no more than that)
can be tested by an analysis of the Vita Veri which not only
employs formal and stylistic criteria but also examines its
historical accuracy. As there is extant no other ancient account of
the life and reign of Lucius with which the vita can be compared as
a whole, the evidence and arguments relevant to each section must
be set out for the most part sentence by sentence.18 A full
discussion will be given only where it seems unavoidable: otherwise
the annotation is as brief as possible.
1,1-5 Introduction 1,1/2 Perhaps the polemic is directed at the
main source; for Eutropius (VIII, io), Aurelius
Victor (i6, 3-9) and the Epitome (i6, 5 f.) narrate Lucius' life
within rather than before their accounts of Marcus.
9 Ibid. 959 ff. 10 P. Lambrechts, ' L'Empereur Lucius Verus:
Essai de rehabilitation', Ant. Cl. III (I934), I73 ff. The
theory of an annalistic source, held by Weber, loc. cit., by E.
Hohl, Bursians Jahresber. CLXXI (I915), ioi f. and by N. H. Baynes,
The Historia Augusta; its date and purpose (I926), 67 ff., was
propounded at length by J. M. Heer, 'Der historische Wert der Vita
Commodi in der Sammlung der Scriptores Historiae Augustae', Philol.
Suppl. ix (I90I), i f., and by Schwendemann, and seemed to acquire
implicit confirmation from the purely historical investigation of
J. Hasebroek, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Kaisers Septimius
Severus (i92I). The critique of G. Barbieri, Ann. della R. Sc.
Norm. Sup. di Pisa2 III (I934), 525 ff. fails to distinguish this
theory from the view that the main source for the second century
was biographical (as postulated here and argued by L6crivain I03
ff., esp. I9I f.).
" Marius certainly wrote a life of Elagabalus (Elagabalus i i,
6), but not a life of Alexander: Alexander 5, 4; ZI, 4; 30, 6; 65,
4 all refer to Marius on earlier emperors, while from 48, 6 f. it
follows that the author of the Historia Augusta knew of no
biography of Alexander by him. It is tempting to suppose that he
wrote precisely of those twelve Caesars listed by Ausonius,
Caesares xiii-xxiv (compare also Quadrigae Tyrannorum I, 2). If so,
he wrote no life of Verus.
12 Lambrechts, loc. cit. I78. 13 Ibid. i8o: 'Mais la vita Veri
est un ceuvre de
maigre valeur historique. Elle ne present quelque interet
documentaire que jusqu'en 4, 4, et encore ! '.
14 See A. D. E. Cameron, Hermes XCII (I964), 373 ('clearly his
(sc. Marius') work formed the basis of the Historia Augusta up to
Elagabalus and perhaps Alexander '), A. R. Birley, Historia xv
(I966), 249 (' I must confess to a predilection for the view that
the major source for the lives of the emperors from Hadrian to
Elagabalus was L. Marius Maximus '), H.-G. Pflaum, Bonner
Historia-Augusta-Colloquium 1964/1965 (I966), I52 (' La source (sc.
of the Pius), sans doute Marius Maximus '), and W. Seston, ibid.
2i8 ('Rien ne nous garantit formellement qu'elle (sc. the main
source of the Pertinax) soit la Vita Pertinacis qu'6crivit Marius
Maximus; mais rien ne s'y oppose '). Cf. also E. Hohl, Miscellanea
Academica Berolinensia (I950), 287 ff.; 'Kaiser Commodus und
Herodian', SDAW, Klf.Ges., I954, I, 3 f.
1" G. Barbieri, RFIC xxxii (I954), 36 ff., 262 ff.; the point
had already been made by Lecrivain I93 ff.
16 It was already admitted by Hohl, loc. cit., Lambrechts, op.
cit. I77, and Baynes, loc. cit., that the two strands could no
longer be disentangled.
17 Cf. R. Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta
(forthcoming).
18 The style of treatment adopted here differs from that of W.
H. Fisher in his analysis of the Vita Aureliani (JRS xix (1929),
125 ff.). This is partly for the reason stated in the text, partly
because there is a comparative wealth of widely scattered evidence
which bears upon the Vita Veri.
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 67
1,3a Born L. Ceionius Commodus and presumably becoming L. Aelius
Commodus in I36 (see below), Lucius was from 138 L. Aelius Aurelius
Commodus and from i6i Imp. Caes. L. Aurelius Verus Augustus (PIR2C
6o6). He never bore the name Antoninus, which also appears at
Eutropius VIII, 9/IO; HA, Pius 10, 3; Diadumenus 6, 6.
1,3b/4a The categorization of emperors as boni or mali is a
constant theme of the author, and constat almost invariably
introduces an assertion of his own (see Lessing, s.v. princeps,
constat).
1,4b/5 The difference between the divi fratres is expressed
accurately and concisely: secta and adumbrare are found here only
in the Historia Augusta.
Whatever the intention of the author (cf. Marcus 29, 6) I, 5
ought to apply to Marcus, of whom Dio (LXXII (LXXI), 34, 5) says
orrsco cbs &X-qec5s ayace6S ayvrlp i`v Kai oUEV TrpOO7rOI1TOV
EIXE. What Marcus says of Lucius in his Meditations is revealing:
he does not thank the gods for giving him a good brother (i, I7,
i), but for giving him a brother whose character made him mindful
of himself and who honoured and loved him (i, 17, 4: 8UVa ?VOU p?v
Si& iTOou& ?reyelpaf "? ip6s ?rrw?Asiav ?aU, &ala 8?
Kai TU11 Kai cTOppy1 Ev'ppaivovros PE). Does the ambiguous
compliment mask disapproval ?
1,6-4,3 Lucius' family, upbringing and life until 162 With the
exception of two short passages and two textual difficulties (2,
6-8; 3, 6/7; and
3, I ; 4, 3) all is in order. In particular, genuine names are
given. 1,6 Though the words may be the author's own (note statio:
cf. Lewis and Short, s.v.), the
facts are correct (PIR2C 605), except that Aelius was hardly the
first Caesar (cf. PIR2F 399) and he was never called Verus.
1,7 The grandfathers are L. Ceionius Commodus (ord. io6) and C.
Avidius Nigrinus (suff. iiO). The great-grandfathers are L.
Ceionius Commodus (ord. 78) and Avidius Nigrinus (PIR2A 1407; E.
Groag, Die romischen Reichsbeamten von Achaia (1939), 42: there is
no other evidence that he became consul), together with a Fabius
and a Plautius (inferred from the names of Lucius' sisters, Ceionia
Fabia and Ceionia Plautia (PIR2C 6I2, 614)). Eligible consular
Fabii and Plautii can be found, and hence consular maiores plurimi
including the illustrious Plautii of Tibur (R. Syme, Athenaeum xxxv
(3957),306 ff., Pflaum, op. cit. (n. i), 99 ff.).
1,8 The place of Lucius' birth follows from his being born in
his father's praetorship: the year of his birth is given by the
Historia Augusta as 130 (2, IO; Pius 4, 6), while for the
praetorship, though it gives an unusually long gap between
praetorship and consulate for a patrician, 130 is not impossible
(cf. J. Morris, Listy Filologicke 87 (I964), 3 i6 ff.). The day of
Lucius' birth is confirmed by inscriptions (W. F. Snyder, YCS VII
(1940), 252 f.).
The words ' qui rerum potitus est' are a scholiastic addition by
the author which perhaps also embraces the words ' quo et Nero ' :
Nero's birthday was to be found at Suetonius, Nero 6, I.
1,9 For the truth of this see Syme, loc. cit. 315. 2,1-3 See the
second part of this paper. 2,4a This seems to be out of its correct
place and reappears at 7, 7: perhaps the source
mentioned the marriage twice. 2,4b Antoninus and his family when
in Rome lived in the domus Tiberiana: HA, Pius IO, 4,
Marcus 6, 3 ; Dio LXXII (LXXI), 35, 4. 2,5 All the teachers of
Lucius except two are well documented: Telephus (P-W V A, 369),
Hephaestio (PIR2H 84), Harpocratio (PIR2H i9), Caninius Celer
(PIR2C 388), Herodes Atticus (PIR2C 802), Cornelius Fronto (PIR2C
1364), Apollonius the philosopher (PIR2A 929) and Sextus (P-W IIA,
2057). Scaurinus (PIR1T 70) and Apollonius the rhetor present some
difficulty. Scaurinus' father is well attested (P-W V A, 672), but
this is the sole mention of the son, apart perhaps from HA,
Alexander 3, 3, which produces a fictitious ' Scaurinus, Scaurini
filius, doctor celeberrimus'. The invention of a second Scaurinus
counts for the genuineness of the first rather than against it but
proof is impossible. There are several possible identifications of
Apollonius:
(i) PIR2A 93Ia (= ii, p. xiv) is too late and a grammaticus. (2)
Aurelius Apollonius, procurator Augusti in Asia and procurator
Augustorum of Thrace
(PIR2A 1454): the procuratorships seem to be of the wrong type
for a rhetor (cf. H.-G. Pflaum, Les procurateurs equestres (I950),
i8i).
(3) the son of the philosopher Apollonius (PIR2A 930: known only
from Fronto, Ad M. Caes. V, 5I 8I Hout) .
(4) Flavius Apollonius, a pinacothecis before 153 (PIR2F 211).
(5) Aelius Apollonius, a procurator in Crete about i68 (PIR2A 143):
surely too humble a post
for the tutor of an emperor. (6) the assumed father and (7) the
assumed grandfather of P. Aelius Apollonius, the Athenian
sophist of the age of Severus (PIR2A I42). The most likely of
the suggested identifications is with (v), but Apollonius can be
historical without being otherwise known.
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68 T. D. BARNES
2,6-8 Apart from a, 7 ' amavit autem in pueritia versus facere,
post orationes ' (compare Epitome i6, 6 'carminum, maxime
tragicorum, studiosus '), this section arouses grave suspicions.
First on formal grounds: 2, 9a belongs with the list of Lucius'
teachers in 2, 5. Next on stylistic grounds: amare unice occurs in
the Historia Augusta in six other passages, five of which are
fiction (see Lessing, s.v. unice). Thirdly, the content. The aim is
to disparage the emperor's achievements and to emphasize his
respect for scholars: his talents are belittled (2, 6 ' nec tamen
ingeniosus ad litteras') and what merit there is in his writings is
ascribed to the diserti et eruditi with whom he surrounded himself
(2, 8). Now, if there is a Tendenz in the Historia Augusta (and
many have been imagined), it is surely the value, and the parody,
of scholarship.
2,9a Chance has preserved an acephalous inscription which
perfectly fits Nicomedes: '[... qui et] Ceionius et Aelius
vocitatus est, L. Caesaris fuit a cubiculo et divi Veri imp.
nutr[itor]' (ILS 1740, cf. H.-G. Pflaum, Carrieres procuratoriennes
(I96o-I), no. I63).
2,9b This seems in character (cf. I, 4b; 3, 6; 6, 9; 8, 7 ff.;
I0, 8/9), but ' iocis decenter' is suspect (cf. 7, 4; Lessing, s.v.
iocus). The initial ' fuit' does not condemn the sentence (as held
by Lambrechts, op. cit. I79): cf. io, 6, Lessing, s.v.
2,10a Compare Marcus 5, 5; the phrase 'in (familiam) Aureliam '
puts Antoninus' adoption of Lucius and Marcus before his own
adoption by Hadrian.
2,10b Cf. 2, gb 2,11 Lucius lived in the emperor's house (2, 4b)
and was conspicuously deprived by Pius of
any share in the glory of the imperial family (PIR2 II, p. I39:
the coins of Alexandria, on which Lucius does not appear until
i6o/i (J. Vogt, Die Alexandrinischen Miinzen (I924), I, III ; 2, 62
ff.), are typical).
3,1/2 ' Qua die togam virilem Verus accepit, Antoninus Pius ea
occasione, qua patris templum dedicabat, populo liberalis fuit,
mediusque inter Pium et Marcum idem se resedit, cum quaestor populo
munus daret.'
The passage is confused, with difficulties both linguistic and
historical. ' Qua die' is a relative without an antecedent, since '
ea occasione ' is qualified by ' qua patris templum dedicabat'. The
clause ' mediusque . .. idem se resedit ' carries the implication
that the preceding clause has the same subject; but in the
transmitted text it is different. The coherence of the whole
sentence is historically impossible. Lucius probably assumed the
toga virilis in 146 (cf. J. Marquardt-A. Mau, Das Privatleben der
Romer 2 (i886), 127 ff.). But whatever its date Antoninus could
never have celebrated Lucius' arrival at man's estate as a public
festival (cf. 2, II; 3, 4): and in fact the occasion can be
assigned no liberalitas Augusti (BMC XLVI, cf. FO xxvii).19 There
was a distribution to the populace of Rome (Pius' third) about 142
(BMC XLVI, LVII, 33), one in I45 to celebrate the marriage of
Faustina to Marcus (BMC XLVI, 78 f., cf. LXIV f.; FO xxvii; HA,
Pius I0, 2), another in 148 to commemorate the nine-hundredth
anniversary of Rome and Antoninus' decennalia (BMC XLVI, 78, 90,
cf. FO xxviii) and one in 151 (BMC I05, 309 f., 313 ff., FO xxix)
which could mark the dedication of the temple of Hadrian (BMC XLIV,
LXIX). Hence it becomes necessary to conjecture careless
abridgement of a fuller source (note the very late usage se
resedit: E. L6fstedt, Philologischer Kommentar zur Peregrinatio
Aetheriae (I9iI), I41 f.), and that the source originally ran
(i) when Lucius assumed the toga virilis there was no
liberalitas; (2) at the distribution of largesse to celebrate the
dedication of the temple of Hadrian Lucius
appeared with Antoninus and Marcus; (3) when giving games as
quaestor Lucius sat between his father and brother. Of these (3)
alone is reproduced undistorted in the Historia Augusta. 3,3
Lucius' quaestorship and immediate consulship appear also at Pius
IO, 3, cf. 6, io. His
colleague holding the fasces was T. Sextius Lateranus (PIR1S
468). The manuscript reading ' Sextilio ' perhaps preserves a
mistake of the author himself (cf., e.g., Pius I, 7; 8, 8; A. R.
Birley, Historia xv (I966), 249). CIL XVI, I04 makes a contrary
mistake, having Statio for Statilio. Lucius' second consulate, and
Marcus' third, fall in i6i.
3,4 Compare 2, I I: if both come from the main source, then that
was concerned to emphasize that all Lucius' honours before the
death of Pius had been catalogued.
3,5 While Pius was alive, Lucius was officially neither Augustus
nor Caesar (PIR2 II, p. 139); the rest is unverifiable but bears
the stamp of verisimilitude.
3,6/7 Lucius' love of the circus and of gladiatorial displays is
genuine enough (cf. 4, 8; i0, 9), and the last sentence of 3, 6
rings true. Yet the hand of the author too is easily discernible.
The clause ' quod eum pater ita in adoptionem Pii transire iusserat
ut nepotem appellaret' is nonsense.
19 D. van Berchem, Les Distributions de bld et d'argent ai la
plebe romaine sous l'Empire (I939), I54 does, it is true, assign
Pius' liberalitas III to the tirocinium of Lucius, citing the
passage under discussion and RIC III (I930), 2I, 35, I09. But
he
assumes that the date can be I44: against which there are purely
numismatic arguments, viz. that the coins of liberalitas III ought
to belong to 142 (BMC xlvi).
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 69 Lucius' simplicitas ingenii seems to
derive from a misunderstanding of the source of I, 5 ; and if he
were simple and pure, why (or how) should he be exhorted to imitate
his brother ? 20
3,8/4,1 If the words 'participatu etiam imperatoriae potestatis'
be excepted (the phrase belongs to the author: H. Dessau, Hermes
xxiv (I889), 389), there is no repetition. The facts which can be
checked are all correct (Schwendemann iz8 ff.).
4,2 Something similar is recorded by Marcus himself (Meditations
I, I7, 4: TOIl a8?XoL. -rii" Kad o'ropyfi E*ypaivoVTos I-E).
'Vel praeses imperatori' spoils an apt simile and is the
author's infelicitous addition to bring it up to date.
4,3 U. Obrecht, Historiae Augustae Scriptores Sex (I677), Notae
z8 f., plausibly argued that there was a lacuna in the text:
comparison with Marcus 7, 9 suggested some such supplement as ' et
pro consensu imperii < vicena milia nummum singulis promisit.
Lucius principio > graviter se et ad Marci mores egit '. But, as
in 3, I/2, the trouble may lie rather in hasty and careless
composition by the author himself. For the donative see further BMC
CXVI, 387 ff.
4,4-6,6 The profligacies of Lucius The whole section is an
insertion into the main source which breaks up the narrative:
compare
4, 4 ' ubi vero in Syriam profectus est ' with 6, 7 ' profectum
eum ad Parthicum bellum '. It is almost entirely the author's own
composition: note, for example, the illogicality of describing
Lucius' debaucheries at Rome (4, 5 ff.) in this context, the high
rhetorical style at 5, 2-4 (' donatos . . . donatos ... donata ...
donatos . . . data . . . data ... data . .': cf. the examples
discussed by H. L. Zernial, Uber den Satzschluss in der Historia
Augusta (I956)) and the pseudo-scholarly aetiology at 6, 5.
Nonetheless, the style and content of some sentences look genuine
(viz. 4, 8; 4, IO; and perhaps 5, 7). The germinal ideas were
provided by the sober biographical source: 4, 8 'amavit et aurigas
prasino favens' and io, 9 'Volucrem ex equi nomine quem dilexit'
lie behind 6, z-6, while io, 8 'vitae semper luxuriosae atque in
pluribus Nero praeter crudelitatem et ludibria ' provided both the
comparison to other 'bad emperors' at 4, 6 and the impetus to
employ Suetonius. The use which is made of this author can best be
seen in tabular form.
Suet., Cal. i : ganeas atque adulteria capil- Verus 4, 6: in
tantum vitiorum Gaianorum... lamento celatus et veste longa
noctibus obiret fuisse aemulum ut vagaretur nocte per tabernas
ac lupanaria obtecto capite cucullione vulgari viatorio
Cal. 55, 3: Incitato equo . . . praeter equile Verus 6, 3 f.:
nam et Volucri equo prasino marmoreum et praesepe eburneum
praeterque aureum simulacrum fecerat, quod secum purpurea tegumenta
ac monilia e gemmis portabat; cui quidem passas uvas et nucleos in
domum etiam et familiam et supellectilem dedit vicem hordei in
praesepe 21 ponebat, quem
consulatum quoque traditur destinasse sagis fuco tinctis
coopertum in Tiberianam ad se adduci iubebat, cui mortuo sepulchrum
in Vaticano fecit
Nero z6, I: post crepusculum statim adrepto Verus 4, 6: in
tantum vitiorum . . . Neroni- pilleo vel galero popinas inibat
circumque vicos anorum .. fuisse aemulum, ut vagaretur nocte
vagabatur ludibundus nec sine pernicie tamen, per tabernas ac
lupanaria obtecto capite cucul- siquidem redeuntis a cena verberare
ac repug- lione vulgari viatorio et comisaretur cum nantes
vulnerare cloacisque demergere assuerat, triconibus, committeret
rixas, dissimulans quis tabernas etiam effringere et expilare; . .
. ac esset, saepeque efflictum livida facie redisse et saepe in
eius modi rixis oculorum et vitae peri- in tabernis agnitum, cum
sese absconderet culum adiit, a quodam laticlavio ... prope ad
necem caesus Nero 27, 2: epulas a medio die ad mediam Verus 4, 9:
trahens cenas in noctem noctem protrahebat Nero 30, 3: numquam
minus mille carrucis Verus 5, 4: data et vehicula cum mulabus et
fecisse iter traditur, soleis mularum argenteis, mulionibus cum
iuncturis argenteis canusinatis mulionibus Vit. 13: nec cuiquam
minus singuli apparatus Verus 5, 5: omne autem convivium aestimatum
quadringenis milibus nummum constiterunt dicitur sexagies centenis
milibus sestertiorum
Of the pairs of parallel passages only one shows indubitable
imitation by the Historia Augusta: at 5, 4 mulionibus is meant to
mean 'male mules' (which is impossible) through an easy
misunder-
20 Lecrivain 24i branded the passage as ' pleine de
contradictions '.
21 Praesepe occurs elsewhere in the Historia
Augusta only at Elagabalus 21, 2 ' misit et uvas Apamenas in
praesepia equis suis ', which is mod- elled on Verus 6, 4.
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70 T. D. BARNES
standing of Suetonius, Nero 30, 3.22 In all the other cases
Suetonius seems to have furnished not the words, but an idea to be
copied or a story to be outdone. A complex example of the author's
method can be discovered or conjectured. io, 9 calicem crystallinum
provided the calices . . . crystallinos of 5, 3, while Marcus I7, 4
(from Eutropius VIII, I3, 2 or his source) gave the combination
myrrinos et crystallinos and the epithet Alexandrinos might come
from Suetonius, Aug. 7I 'cum et Alexandria capta nihil sibi praeter
unum myrrinum calicem ex instrumento regio retinuerit et mox vasa
aurea assiduissimi usus conflaverit omnia' (cf. Verus 5, 3 ' data
et vasa aurea').
4,8 Perhaps implicit criticism of Lucius is to be found on the
first page of Marcus' Meditations (I, 5: frap6c TOil TpOqEkos TO
[JTjTE FTpaacavXos [J1Q'TE BEVETiaV0& IXflTE TTa?1o'a'pio5 F
EKovTappos yevEcaeal). Though the vices were common enough, Lucius
was notoriously addicted to them: cf. Fronto, Principia Historiae
i8 I99 Hout: ' Ipsa haec cum prioris vitae non nullis
detrectationibus lacessunt. Ex summa civilis scientiae ratione
sumpta videntur, ne histrionum quidem ceterorumque scaenae aut
circi aut harenae artificum indiligentem principem fuisse, ut qui
sciret populum Romanum duabus praecipue rebus, annona et
spectaculis, teneri.' Lucius' support of the Greens appears also in
a confused form at Malalas 28z Bonn: 6 8'E acCors M&pKoS
'Av-rcovivos Pacl?E>Ov gXahpE T- lTpaalvco pep?t.
4,10 This is the sole occurrence of permodicus in the Historia
Augusta. 5,1 Perhaps proverbial (A. Otto, Die SprichaOrter und
sprichwortliche Redensarten der Rlimer
(I890), 9I); but possibly intended explicitly to cap Ausonius,
Ephemeris 5, 5 f.: quinque advocavi; sex enim convivium cum rege
iustum; si super convicium est.
Varro had permitted any number from three to nine (Aulus Gellius
xiii, II).23 6,4 Suetonius, Claud. 2I, 2 recorded horse-races on
the Vatican, but something different may
have been in the author's mind. Can it be ridicule of the
Christians' holy basilica ? Compare Tyranni Trzginta 29: ' novo
iniuriae genere imago in crucem sublata persultante vulgo, quasi
patibulo ipse Celsus videretur adfixus '. Is this an over-subtle
allusion to the Christological wrangles of the fourth century ? If
there is an anti-Christian strand in the Historia Augusta, it
consists in such parody and in fictions like Hadrian's letter to
Servianus (Quadrigae Tyrannorum 7/8) and Alexander's private chapel
(Alexander 29, z) rather than in Geschichtsapologetik (as J.
Straub, Heidnische Geschichtsapologetik in der christlichen
Spatantike (I963)). But the idea of the horse's grave probably
comes from Hadrian 20, 12 ' equos et canes sic amavit, ut eis
sepulchra constitueret ': cf. also Elagabalus 23, i ' elefantorum
quattuor quadrigas in Vaticano agitasse, dirutis sepulchris quae
obsistebant '.
6,5 Brabium appears to be an almost exclusively Christian word,
at least outside the glosso- graphers (TLL II, 2I53). 6,7-8,5
Lucius in the East
6,7-7,10 The relationship of this passage to Marcus 8, IO-9, 6
deserves at least a very short discussion. This contains facts not
in Marcus 8, Io-9, 6: therefore not merely a development of it (as
Lambrechts, op. cit. 179 ff.). Marcus 8, Io/II contains facts not
in Verus 6, 7: hence that is not merely an expansion of this. Now
Marcus 8, I2 et Verus quidem begins with almost the same words as
8, IO et Verum quidem; 8, 12 has the inaccurate apud Antiochiam et
Daphnen (cf. Verus 7, 3) and the perhaps improbable ' armisque se
gladiatoriis exercuit'; 8, 14 asserts implausibly Marcus' complete
control of the war and produces a very late usage, Romae positus
meaning ' residing at Rome ' (cf. A. Souter, A Glossary of Later
Latin (I949), 3 iO). Hence both Marcus 8, io/i i; 9, i-6 and Verus
6, 7 if. come from the main source: Marcus 8, I2-I4 is the author's
own and based on the Verus.
6,7 Coins of i62 advertise Lucius' profectio (BMC CXVIII, 4II
f.) and give prominence to Salus Augustorum (BMC 409 if.). (Fronto,
Ad Verum Imp. Ii, 6 2 I26 Hout does not belong in i62 but after
Lucius' return in I66, as Mommsen saw (Hermes VIII (I873-4), 2I5 f.
Ges. Schr. IV, 485 f.).)
22 Elsewhere the Historia Augusta uses mulio in its correct
sense five times (Lessing, s.v.).
23 There are other possible echoes of Ausonius in the Historia
Augusta. The story at Hadrian zo, 8 is patently modelled on
Ausonius, Epigrammata xxxvii (xvTI)-unless both are translating
indepen- dently from a lost Greek original. For the ioca and the
anecdote interrupt the description of Hadrian's feats of memory
(2o, 6/7; 20, 9-12), while ' patri negavi iam tuo ' said by Lais
has far more point than 'iam hoc patri tuo negavi' in the mouth of
Hadrian. Macrinus ii, 6 ('gabalus iste fuit') may be inspired by
the lost second distich of Caesares
xxiv (if Fragmenta Poetaram Latinorum (ed. W. Morel), Incerti
fr. 58 really is from Ausonius), and Macrinus 14, 2 by the first
pentameter of the same poem: for Macrinus 7, 7 ('versus extant
cuiusdam poetae, quibus ostenditur Antonini nomen coepisse a Pio et
paulatim per Antoninos usque ad sordes ultimas pervenisse ') seems
to be an explicit allusion to Ausonius' Caesares. It is also
possible that Hadrian z5, 9 imitates Parentalia xxvii, though both
may derive separately from Septimius Serenus. I have made only a
very cursory search: others may well be able to add far more
convincing examples than those collected here.
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 7I
It is probably no more than coincidence that the only two
surviving inscriptions which can certainly be referred to L.
(Aelius) Aurelius Apolaustus (see on 8, io) were erected at Capua
and Canusium (ILS 5188/9), or that Herodes Atticus 'colonized'
Canusium and attended to its water- supply (Philostratus, VS, p.
55I). (The twin inscriptions from Hydruntum (ILS 359) need imply
neither that both the emperors were close at hand (which is implied
to be false here and at Marcus 8, iO) nor that Lucius set sail from
that town instead of Brundisium.)
Lucius' journey. That Lucius travelled the whole way by sea is
confirmed by Pausanias viii, 29, 3: 'OV99EV 6 Pco paicov pcataES
avT?Adat vavaUiv K'E OaXaaaTS 'ES 'Av'AvTt6XEtaV TrO6xtv EAUTpOV
OiJV
VUV i'JOVCA TE Kca 8ca(aVT Ep1 V 6p ?VOS ?TrtfTr8ETOV 'S TOV
aV6XOUV ?E'TpEpV EV TOUTO TOV ToTaiov.24 No record remains of his
stay in Corinth, but his visit to Athens was marked by the
appearance
of a shooting star which is duly recorded by pious chroniclers
(Eusebius, Chronicon, GCS 20, 222; 47, 204; Cassiodorus, Chronicon,
PL 69, 1233 = MGH Auct. Ant. XI, I43; Syncellus, 664 Bonn: always
under the year i62). When Herodes Atticus was accused before Marcus
at Sirmium he retorted angrily 'rTaurca pot P AouKov tEVica Ov aCi
pot ErrEpyas ' (Philostratus, VS, p. 56I). Lucius, presumably on
account of his illness, arrived too late for the mysteries at
Eleusis: they were repeated so that he could be initiated (Sylloge3
869, ef. 872). Direct proof of the stately progress 25 along the
Asian coast exists for Ephesus alone. There P. Vedius Antoninus was
honoured by ot ?1Ti T0 yEiu,a TrpayCCTrEVuoPEVOt (cf. Forsch. in
Ephesos ii (i9I2), I83, no. 76: Iuvepyac ispou y2CriucTos)
especially for 'yuvpvatapX1laavTa 8? Kic ?V -raTS 'rt8iTdcatS -roT
PEYTUOU acv-roipa&opos AovKioU ACvpTIAiou OnIpou cVEV8ECS
TrraatS adS hTrE8?IT)aEV jpcatS TToAAXoS Kca PEy&AotS 'pyOtS
KEKOUrPT
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72 T. D. BARNES
7, IO 'unde in eum a Syris multa sunt dicta', and has the two
motifs of ioca and works still extant so dear to the writer of the
Historia Augusta (see Lessing, s.v. iocus, exsta(n)t).
7,6 A statue of Lucius erected at Dura-Europus by AopiAXtos
'HXAo'8pos o E'rrio-r&r-s (SEG II, 8I7) is not proof of an
imperial visit, nor is Lucius' crowning of Sohaemus proof of his
presence in Armenia (as Birley I75, n. 2, sees). But Eutropius
(viii, I0, 2) says that Lucius was 'Antiochiae et circa Armeniam
agens '.
7,7 Lucius' return to Ephesus appears to be attested by the
inscription quoted above (on 6, 9) in I63 (the title Armeniacus
appears about September (Dodd, loc. cit.)). The date is normally
assumed to be I64 (H.-G. Pflaum, J. des Savants I961, 32; Birley
i74). But the only explicit evidence (Vita Abercii 44 ff.) seems to
point to i66, since Lucilla was born in I49 (cf. FO xxviii).
Nothing forbids assigning the marriage to I63, even if Lucilla was
born in I49 or I50 (M. K. Hopkins, Population Studies XVIII (I965),
309 if.). Medio belli tempore at Marcus 9, 4 cannot be pressed to
mean i 64 precisely.
7,8 Sohaemus was left as king of Armenia (P-W IIIA, 798 f.),
Avidius Cassius as governor of Syria (PIR 2A I402) and Martius
Verus as governor of Cappadocia (P-W XIV, 2024 ff.).
7,10 No statue shows Lucius beardless as emperor, but that does
not necessarily disprove the story. Yet even if it is only rumour,
it may be contemporary: for the vulgaris amica is real enough. She
was Panthea of Smyrna, whose beauty Lucian suggested surpassed that
of the goddesses (Imagines, esp. io, Pro Imaginibus; cf. Scholia in
Lucianum (ed. H. Rabe), 207). Her devotion to Lucius outlasted his
death (Marcus, Meditations VIII, 37). The tone of vulgaris amica
may be a clue to the attitude of the postulated third-century
biographer. Lucius had the reputation of being KixTayv'va1o0 5ro2X
according to Malalas (282 Bonn).
8,1-4 For the plague see J. F. Gilliam, AJP LXXXII (I96I), 225
ff., whose salutary attack on exaggerations of the importance of
this epidemic perhaps goes too far. The legions from the Danube
(P-W XII, I296 ff.) returned overland through Asia Minor (cf. OGIS
5 II (Aezani), JOAI xv (I9I2), Beiblatt, I64 f. (Ephesus)).
8,3 The sack of Seleucia by Avidius Cassius (Dio LXXI, 2, 3)
occurred very soon after December I65 (R. H. McDowell, Coin,s from
Seleucia on the Tigris (I935), 85 ff., 234). The temple of Apollo
appeared also in the narrative of Ammianus Marcellinus (cf. xxiii,
6, 24).
8,4 Asinius Quadratus (PIR2A I245; FGH 97) lived in the middle
of the third century. His XlurT-Ip{s ought to end in 247: perhaps
he never finished it (cf. FGH 97 T I). His flapewa& did not
deal just with the war of I6i to i66 (cf. F 28), but will have
included at least Severus Alexander's Persian expedition. (For the
development of a different view see F. Millar, A Study of Cassius
Dio (I964), 6I f., 192.)
8,5 For the imperial titles see Dodd, loc. cit. The triumph was
celebrated on the twelfth day of October I66 (HA, Marcus 12, 8;
Commodus II, 13). The Misenum fleet (or at least part of it) was
still at Seleucia Pieria at the end of May (FIRA2 III, 132). Lucius
seems to have returned to Rome by late August (ILS 366).
8,6-9,11 Lucius after his return to Italy in I66. The necessary
evidence is now lacking to confirm much of this section, which will
in consequence
be left unannotated. There is, however, something which may be
held to corroborate its general accuracy. Even the panegyrist
Fronto was unable to ignore Lucius' fondness for actors: ' illud
etiam opprobrio ductum bello < incipiente > histriones ex
urbe in Suriam accisse ' (Principia Historiae I8 - I99 Hout). His
reply to the accusation is not convincing: ' sed profecto sicut
arborum altissimas vehementius ventis quati videmus, ita virtutes
maximas invidia criminosius in< sect > atur'.
8,7 Paris seems to appear on a mutilated inscription from
Nemausus (ILS 5203: 'd. [m.] Afrodis ... symmele . . . grex Ga[ll.]
Memphi et Paridis, P.M. et Sextis administrantibus '). But, since
actors' names are few and often repeated, this Memphius and Paris
need have nothing to do with Lucius.
8,8/9 The first clause of 8, 8 is plain in style and content:
the rest of 8, 8/9 is suspect-it is too long and fluent for the
postulated source.
8,10 Two Apolausti are to be distinguished (they are conflated
in PIR2A 148). The one, L. (Aelius) Aurelius Apolaustus, was in
Rome before the Parthian war (Fronto, Ad Verum Imp. I, I= -III
Hout; for the date see Th. Mommsen, Hermes VIII (I873-4), 213 f.
Ges. Schr. iv, 483 f.): he was a libertus of Lucius (ILS 5I88) and
is, perhaps significantly (cf. 6, 7), honoured at Capua and
Canusium (ILS 5188/9). The other, L. Aurelius Apolaustus Memphius
(ILS 5i87, 5190/I), iS the pantomimus brought back from Syria; who
was therefore named after Lucius' former favourite.
8,11 The words et Alexandria are the author's addition: he has
forgotten to change the
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 73 singular pascitur. He has a
prejudice against Egyptians: see especially Tyranni Triginta 22,
Quadrigae Tyrannorum 7/8.
9,2 Libo's mission is not elsewhere recorded (PIR2A 668), but is
without doubt historical. Cn. Calpurnius Piso in 17 (PIR2C 287) is
a close and unfortunate precedent; and M. Vettulenus Civica
Barbarus (PIR2C 602, with AE 1958, I5 SEG XVI, 257) was also sent
as ovvcTrorios Owo O4pou ?i napetdlcKp v a-TpaEiVa, perhaps to
replace him (cf. Marcus 9, 4).
9,3-6 Of the freedmen of Lucius, Geminus (PIR2G i62) appears
only here and at Marcus 15, 2 (derived from this passage ?),
Agaclytus (PIR2A 452) in the same two passages and at Verus Ic, 5,
and Coedes only here (A. Stein, PIR2C I236 considers the name
corrupt), while Eclectus is compara- tively well attested (PIR2E
3).
There is no other evidence for Agaclytus' marriage to Libo's
widow, but his son married Vibia Aurelia Sabina (G. Barbieri, NdS
I953, 157; Pflaum, loc. cit. 39 f.).
9,7-9,11 The chronology of the northern expedition of the
divifratres and the barbarian attack on Aquileia is much disputed:
see now J. Fitz, Historia xv (I966), 336 if. The salient facts
which confirm the accuracy of this passage are as follows. Trouble
had begun before Lucius' return from the east (HA, Marcus I2, I3)
and the emperors' departure was delayed by the plague (ibid. I2, I4
ff.). On a diploma dated 5th May I67 (CIL xvi, 123) the emperors
are accorded a fifth imperatorial salutation which first appears on
the coins of the second issue of I68 (BMC cxxii, 448 ff.). Some
time after May I67 there were incursions into Roman territory on
the Danube (cf. CIL III, pp. 921 ff. (Verespatak, Dacia)). Marcus
and Lucius were still in Rome in January i68 (Fragmentum Vaticanum
195), and set out later in the same year (BMC ibid.). They crossed
the Julian Alps and conducted an expedition into Pannonia or beyond
(ILS I098; IIOO, which calls it a bellum Germanicum), returning to
Aquileia for the winter of i68/9 (Galen xiv, 649 f.; xIx, 17 f.
Kuhn). Before the end of I68 (if reliance be placed on an
inscription of a proc. Aug. (sic) in I68: R. Egger,
Friihchristliche Kirchenbauten im siidlichen Noricum (I9I6), 98,
quoted by Fitz, loc. cit. 340) the emperors set off for Rome
(implied by Galen xix, i8 Kuhn) and Lucius died of a stroke 28 at
Altinum. (The whole Latin chronographical tradition mentions
Altinum, usually in the phrase inter Concordiam et Altinum; the
Chronographer of 354 (MGH Auct. Ant. IX, I47) and Aurelius Victor
(i6, 9) give Altinum as the exact place of Lucius' death).
9,9 Cf. Marcus 14: the words are the author's own (cf. Lessing,
s.v. disputare). That, however, is no proof that the source failed
to describe the war here as well as in its account of Marcus.
10/11 Appendix: personalia and rumours 10,1-5 Speculation on the
source or sources used for this section is probably not
profitable;
but for iO, 2 see note 88. The stories had at least some
contemporary basis. Marcus suspected Herodes Atticus of being a
guilty accomplice of Lucius, but Philostratus does not specify any
details (VS, p. 560). And Dio reported a plot by Lucius which was
forestalled by his being poisoned (LXXI, 3, I': ?EEyETaU yap vETra
TcaTa Kic TI -rrvevrpa MapKp ?lErp3ovXExKCbs, fpiw tI Kac spaata,
(appIxKp Sta(peapivat). Perhaps the temporary disfavour of P.
Helvius Pertinax (HA, Pertinax 2, 4) is also relevant.
10,1 Julian records Faustina's infidelity to Marcus as an
accepted fact (Caesares 3I2B, o*SE iKoapiav o6i5aav), as does
Ausonius (Caesares xvii).
10,6 The author (and possibly his source) put fuit as first word
in the sentence for preference, whereas Suetonius had favoured the
second place: compare the physical descriptions at Aug. 79, Tib.
68, Cal. 50, Nero 5I, Galba 2I, Vesp. 20, Dom. i8. The known
statues and busts of Lucius tally with the description here, even
down to the details of the almost frowning brow and the ' barba
prope barbarice demissa' (see M. Wegner, Das romische Herrscherbild
II, 4: Die Herrscherbildnisse in antoninischer Zeit (I939), Tfln.
39-46). Lucius' dislike of close cropping of hair is mentioned by
the contemporary Galen (xvii, 2, I50 Kuhn).
10,7 Golden hair is a divine attribute (cf. A. Alfoldi, Rom.
Mitt. L (I935), I42 f.): Caligula had often appeared with a golden
beard, holding a thunderbolt or a trident or a caduceus, all
symbols of divinity (Suetonius, Cal. 52).
10,8/9 The evidence cited above on 4, 8; 8, 6 ff. suggests that
'vitae semper luxuriosae' is not far from the truth, and 'in
pluribus Nero praeter crudelitatem et ludibria' is merely an apt
and pointed form of the statement which appears in the Epitome as
'ingenii aspern atque lascivi' (i6, 6), and in Eutropius as
'ingenii parum civilis' (viii, i0, 8).
11,1 This necrological notice is correct on Lucius' place of
burial (ILS 369) and on his father's (ILS 329). The length of his
life and his reign are both wrong: he lived almost exactly
thirty-eight years and was emperor less than nine (see PIR2 II, p.
I4I). A very similar mistake about his reign
28 For an earlier illness of the same type see Fronto, Ad Verum
Imp. iI, 6 -I26 Hout and for
its date see above on 6, 7.
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74 T. D. BARNES is made by Eutropius (VIII, 10, 4) and the
Epitome (i6, 5), both having his death ' undecimo imperii anno'.
The length of Lucius' life could have been deduced from the
reign-length and 2, io/Ii.
11,2-5 ii, 2 seems to be the result of the author's own hasty
revision (compare io, 2); the bogus address to Diocletian was
therefore an afterthought.
From this investigation of the Vita Veri, incomplete though it
is, three important results emerge. First, the value of the vita
itself: not one of the inferior lives in the Historia Augusta, the
Verus will stand comparison with any of the lives of legitimate
emperors from Hadrian to Caracalla. If there is undue concentration
on Lucius' delinquencies, that is surely because the emperor really
was something of a playboy. Secondly, the analysis is powerful
support for the theory that the main source for the second century
was a bio- grapher. An annalist and Marius Maximus have already
been excluded as the principal source. But, if those parts of the
life of Lucius which have been shown by independent evidence to be
sound-viz. i, 6-4, 3 (except 2, 6-8; 3, 6/7); 6, 7-9, ii (except 7,
4/5; 8, 4 (since though sound it is the author's addition); 8, 8/9;
9, 9) and io, 6-I, I-are selected and placed together, they will
form a sober biography which, although it has few pretensions to
gracefulness of style, is recognizably on the Suetonian model.29
The theory is strengthened by an examination of other vitae.30 The
Pius,31 the Pertinax 32 and the Didius Julianus 33 are as simple in
structure as the Verus, while the lives of Marcus,34 of Commodus,35
of Septimius Severus 36 and of Caracalla 37 are only slightly more
complex, and even in the more complicated Hadrian 38 the same
biographer can be discerned. In all these cases the assumption that
the Historia Augusta has largely drawn on a series of rather humble
and factual imperial biographies 39 will readily explain the facts:
can the same be said of any other theory ?
Finally, the analysis will justify the reliance placed upon the
Historia Augusta in the second part of this paper. For it has shown
that the context in which Lucius' part in the dynastic settlements
of 136 and 138 is described is a reliable one. Although the two
halves of the argument are interdependent, the whole is not thereby
rendered circular: an escape from circularity has been provided by
the citation of additional evidence to establish the value of the
Vita Veri as a historical source.
II. HADRIAN AND THE CEIONII IN 136 AND 138 That the main purpose
of Hadrian, when he made the dynastic settlements of 136 and
138, was to ensure the ultimate succession of M. Annius Verus,
the future emperor Marcus
29 Cf. F. Leo, Die griechisch-romische Biographie (190I), 272
if.
30 For all the vitae mentioned see the extremely brief analyses
by Lecrivain 103 ff.
31 Cf. H.-G. Pflaum, Bonner Historia-Augusta- Colloquium
1964/1965 (I966), 143 ff.
32 Cf. R. Werner, 'Der historische Wert der Pertinaxvita in den
Scriptores Historiae Augustae ', Klio xxvi (1933), 283 ff.; H.
Kolbe, Bonn. Jhrb. CLXII (I962), 407 if.
33 Cf. PIR2D 77; 0. Th. Schulz, Beitrdge zur Kritik unserer
litterarischen Uberlieferung fiur die Zeit von Commodus' Sturze bis
auf den Tod des M. Aurelius Antoninus (1903), 26 ff.
34 Schwendemann obfuscates a simple matter by his assumption
about the sources (n. io): I-14, 20, Ib-27,9(?) with some
subtractions form a Suetonian biography.
3"Heer, op. cit., had produced the same obfusca- tion as
Schwendemann: there is no reason why one main (biographical) source
should not be the basis of 1-17.
36 Cf. Hasebroek, op. cit. ; T. D. Bames, Historia XvI (i967),
87 ff. The greater part of 1-17, 4 and I9, i-5 is factually
accurate.
37 Cf. W. Reusch, 'Der historische Wert der Caracallavita in den
Scriptores Historiae Augustae' Klio, Beiheft xxiv (I 93 I). 38
Especially in I-14.
39 Where did the series end ? None will question that it
included Caracalla (cf. Reusch, op. cit.; E. Hohl, Miscellanea
Academica Berolinensia (i950), 287 ff.). L6crivain I8z ff. thought
that it included a life of Macrinus. But that is explicitly denied
by the preface to the ]M'Iacrinus (I, I): ' vitae illorun * . .qui
non diu imperarunt in obscuro latent . . .: nos tamen ex diversis
historicis eruta in lucem proferemus'. The problem concentrates,
therefore, on the Geta. The only possible trace of the postu- lated
biographer is at 3, I (for the rest see Schulz, op. cit. I14 ff.;
L6crivain z26o f.). The consular date has recently been argued to
be correct, except that Vitellio is a perversion of Vettuleno (A.
R. Birley, Historia xv (I966), 251 if.) ; but the day and the place
of Geta's birth both seem to be wrong (cf. Passio Perpetuae 7; HA,
Severus 4, 2; and the examples of variatio of facts in the Historia
Augusta collected by LUcrivain 396). A. von Domaszewski, ' Die
Personennamen bei den Scriptores Historiae Augustae ', Heidelberger
SB, Phil.-hist. Ki., I9I8, I 3, 6z pointed out a possible
resemblance to Suetonius, Cal. 8, I ' C. Caesar natus est patre suo
et C. Fonteio Capitone coss. ubi natus sit incertum diversitas
tradentium facit '-and a page later a letter contains the date ' xv
Kal. lun ' (ibid. 8, 4). See further R. Symne, Ammianus and the
Historia Augusta, ch. xxi.
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 75 Aurelius, is both asserted by
ancient authors 40 and believed by many modern scholars.4' But is
this view of Hadrian's intentions, which are not open to direct
scrutiny, justified by the facts, which are ?
Late in 136 Hadrian adopted L. Ceionius Commodus, a consul
ordinarius of that year,42 to whose daughter Ceionia Fabia Marcus
had already been betrothed in accordance with his wishes. 43
Ceionius became L. Aelius Caesar and received tribuniciapotestas
and imperium proconsulare, and almost at once entered upon a second
ordinary consulate. He had a son of his own, and he was not
compelled by Hadrian to adopt another. Prima facie therefore the
line of succession is Ceionius, followed by his son, with Marcus in
third place only. The position of Marcus is made clear by an
analogous case. Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix married Antonia, a
daughter of the emperor Claudius: 5 but that had given him little
claim to the succession in 54.46
Perhaps, however, the adoption of Ceionius was no more than a
stratagem. Hadrian (it has been alleged) would have adopted Marcus,
had he been old enough: Ceionius was merely intended to hold his
position until the youth was of a suitable age.47 In support of
this view two arguments are invoked: that Ceionius' children were
expressly excluded from the succession, and that Hadrian adopted
Ceionius in the firm belief that he would soon perish.48 If both
arguments are valid, it follows that Hadrian had in mind some
successor other than Ceionius, who must be Marcus. Conversely, if
they are unfounded, Ceionius himself was the destined heir.
The precise legal details of the adoption of Ceionius Commodus
are nowhere fully on record. A priori, the children ought to follow
the paterfamilias into his new gens.49 It had been thus in A.D. 4.
Ti. Claudius Nero had a son of his blood, Nero Claudius Drusus, and
was forced to adopt his nephew, who was probably called Nero
Claudius Drusus Germanicus.50 Tiberius was then adopted by
Augustus, becoming Ti. Julius Augusti filius Caesar; 51 and, no
further legal act being performed or needed, both his sons passed
automatically into the family of Augustus. Drusus Caesar and
Germanicus henceforward bore the names Drusus Julius Ti. f. Augusti
nepos Caesar 52 and Germanicus Julius Ti. f. Augusti nepos
Caesar.53 In 136 Ceionius' young son ought similarly to follow his
father. But a form of adoption could undoubtedly be discovered or
invented which would prevent this. Neither Trajan in 97 54 nor
Hadrian in I17 55 had been adopted according to the due form of
law. All that was necessary was to know the wishes of a childless
princeps: if it was expedient, they could be given the force of
law.56
40 Eutropius viii, ii; HA, Marcus i6, 6 f. 41 For example, A.
Stein, P-W iII (I898), I833 f.;
A. von Domaszewski, Geschichte der romischen Kaiser iI (I909),
2II ; H. Saekel, Klio xii (I9I2), I23 ff.; W. Hiuttl, Antoninus
Pius I(I936), 41 f.; W. Weber, CAH XI (1936), 322 f.; E. Homo, Le
Haut-Empire (I93I), 530 f.; A. Solari, L'Impero Romano iII (I945),
155; A. S. L. Farquharson, Marcus Aurelius (I95I), 24 ff.; A.
Piganiol, Histoire de Rome5 (I962), 293; Pflaum, op. cit. (n. i);
Birley 45 ff. There has also been explicit dissent: e.g. B. W.
Henderson, The Life and Principate of the Emperor Hadrian (I923),
26I ; A. Garzetti, L'Impero da Tiberio agli Antonini (I960),
689.
42 In general see PIR2C 605. 43 HA, Marcus 4, 5. 44 The evidence
is collected at PIR2C 60o. 45 PIR2C I464, A 886. 46 Sulla is not
mentioned by Tacitus in his narra-
tive of the year 54. In 55, however, it was plausible to accuse
Pallas and Burrus of plotting to elevate him to be emperor, and it
was Nero's fear which led to his exile in 58 and death in 62
(Tacitus, Ann. Xiii, 23, 47; XIV, 57).
47 So most of the scholars cited in note 41. 48 The case is put
most clearly and effectively by
Pflaum, op. cit. (n. I), 103 ff. 49 Cf. M. Kaser, Das r6mische
Privatrecht i (I955)
290 ff. 50 For the order of events see H. U. Instinsky,
Hermes xciv (I966), 324 ff. The original name of
Germanicus must be inferred from that of his father (see PIR21
zzl) it is nowhere on epigraphic record.
51 ILS 107 ; PIR2C 94I- 52 ILS 107, I66 etc.; PIR'I 2I9. 53 ILS
107, 173 etc.; PIRI 22I. 54 Trajan was 'absens et ignarus' (Pliny,
Pan.
9, 3): Nerva's calling of a ' contio hominum deorurmque ' (ibid.
8, 3) is a dubious appeal to a 'higher legality' (cf. Kaser, op.
cit. 292 f.).
55 S. Brassloff, Hermes XLIX (1914), 590 ff. argued that
Hadrian's adoption was testamentary. M.-H. Pr6vost, ' Les Adoptions
politiques 'a Rome', Publications de l'Institut de Droit Romain de
1'Univer- site' de Paris v (I949), 5I f., develops this theory by
claiming that the adoption derived its validity from that of
Trajan's will, which was itself valid as being a ' testament
militaire que Trajan lui-m8me, precise- ment, avait rdglement6 '.
But Hadrian received litterae adoptionis on the ninth day of August
I 7 and ordered that day to be celebrated as the natalis adoptionis
(HA, Hadrian 4, 6), while his natalis imrperii was the eleventh, on
which he heard of Trajan's death (ibid. 4, 7; W. F. Snyder, YCS vii
(I 940), 243 f .) .
"I The principle 'quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem '
(Ulpian, Digest I, 4, ; cf. Gaius, Inst. I, 5) is no harsh
imposition from above: the initiative to enhance the emperor's
powers almost invariably comes from below (cf. A. Alfoldi, Rom.
Mitt. XLIX (I934), I ff. ; L (1935), 1 flf.)
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76 T. D. BARNES
What cannot be decided on a priori grounds can, however, be
decided on the evidence. The Historia Augusta asserts three times
that the young Lucius entered the family of Hadrian.57 Although two
of the passages concerned may easily be set aside, there is one
which occurs in a reliable context, and the statement must
therefore be accepted unless controverted by other evidence.
Apparent contrary evidence has been produced, namely a stamp on
some tiles, dated by the consuls of I38, which reads ' ex
pr(aediis) L. Ceio(nii) Com(modi) C(aesaris) f(ili) .58 Is this not
proof that Lucius' name, and therefore his legal position, remained
unaltered in I36 ? 59 But the relevance and cogency of an argument
based on a tile-stamp are highly dubious. The stamp may belong
after Lucius' adoption by Antoninus, or even after the death of
Hadrian.60 More important, tile-stamps are no evidence for precise
nomenclature. If a man's name has changed, there is no guarantee
that the change will appear there. Legal niceties are not observed,
indeed they are often trans- gressed. In I48 Lucius is styled' L.
Ael(ii) Caes(aris) 61 and about the same year some tiles bear the
stamp ' L. Aeli Caes(aris) Com(modi) f(ili) 62 yet no-one would
conclude from these either that Lucius could legitimately be called
Caesar before i6I 63 or that his father never became L. Aelius
Caesar. Again, many fragments of wine-jars from the Monte Testaccio
carry the names of the ordinary consuls of I54: while on the great
majority they appear as ' Commodo et Laterano ', twice it is as '
Commodi filio et Laterano '.64 At least as late as I54, therefore,
L. Aelius Caesar was commonly called Commodus. Hence the
persistence of his son's old name after I36 is neither surprising
nor relevant to deter- mining what name he was legally entitled to
bear.
Nevertheless, even if Ceionius Commodus' son became a member of
the imperial family in I36, might not the father still have been
adopted precisely because he was mortally ill ? On general grounds
it seems unlikely. Hadrian himself was gravely sick at the time,65
and so could feel no certainty of outliving even one who was
declining fast. And if both he and his adoptive son were to die
together-or if the Caesar died and Hadrian were unable to make a
fresh disposition before his own death-his legacy would be an
infant heir and civil war. The mission to Pannonia was not a subtle
device to hasten the end of a man with a lung disease.66 The Quadi
were giving trouble and some show of force was necessary to cow
them.67 Ceionius, so far from being familiar to the troops on whom
his power was to depend, had probably never seen an army in his
life.68 The future emperor ought therefore, at whatever cost, to
show himself an imperator and win cheap glory.
The sources too lend little support to the view that Hadrian
expected his Caesar to die. Dio related that it was because he had
despaired of his own life that Hadrian adopted Ceionius although he
was vomiting blood.69 A year later, according to Dio, Ceionius was
suddenly carried off by a severe haemorrhage: 70 by implication,
therefore, he had recovered fully from his earlier illness. Dio
also put into Hadrian's mouth, when he declared his intention to
adopt Arrius Antoninus, a conventional speech entirely of his own
composition which implies that Ceionius was sound of mind and body:
71 and Dio is not the historian
57Aelius 7, 2; Verus I, 3 ; 2, I. On the last two see above: the
Aelius consists entirely of fiction and of material drawn from
other parts of the Historia Augusta (E. Hohl, ' Ober die
Glaubwurdigkeit der Historia Augusta', SDAW, Ki. f. Ges., 1953, 2,
23 ff.).
58 CIL xv, 732. 5 The argument was first stated by Th. Momm-
sen, Ramisches Staatsrecht II3 (I889), 1I39, Anm. I : 'iubrigens
muss er (sc. Lucius) vor der Adoption des Vaters emancipirt worden
sein, da er auf einem vor seiner Adoption durch Pius geschriebenen
Ziegel sich L. Ceio(nius) Com(modus) C(aesaris) f(ilius) nennt
'.
60 Hadrian died on the tenth day of July 138 (HA, Hadrian 25,
6).
6' CIL xv, 733. 62 CIL xv, 734. Note also CIL xv, 735 : 'L.
Aeli
Aug(usti) Pii f(ili) '. H. Dressel, ad loc., punctuates after
'Aeli'. But it is easier to take 'Augusti' with what precedes. If
so, that gives another example of an error.
63 See above, on Verus 2, I i ff.
64 CIL xv, 3695 ff. passim, esp. 4294-4338. Dis- counting those
where the form of Lucius' name is not certain, two (4302, 4308)
unmistakably have ' Commodi filio', four (3807, 4294, 4330, 4337)
'Commodo Augusti filio', the rest plain 'Com- modo'.
65 Dio LXIX, 17, I ; HA, Hadrian 23, 7. 66 So Pflaum, op. cit.
104. Cf. MAMA VI, 3
(Laodicea in Phrygia): 1TpEapv-w
-
HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 77 deliberately to introduce a speech
at variance with the facts.72 The Historia Augusta has two accounts
of the adoption in I36. The more sober, in the Vita Hadriani,
implies that Hadrian came to know of his son's illness after the
adoption, not before.73 It also relates that Hadrian was accustomed
to say ' I have leant upon a collapsing wall': if true, does that
not entail that at the time Hadrian thought the wall was sound ? It
is only in the Vita Aelii that Ceionius' illness assumes an
important role.74 Hadrian (it is alleged) changed his mind at once
and could have removed Aelius from the imperial family had he
lived. For careful writers told how Hadrian knew his horoscope, and
some even spoke of a secret compact. It was, moreover, common
knowledge that the emperor often applied to his son certain verses
originally used by Virgil of Marcellus. Yet even here, where so
many of the details must be the author's invention,75 there is no
hint that Hadrian expected Ceionius' death at the time of his
adoption.
In 136, therefore, Hadrian adopted L. Ceionius Commodus in the
hope that he would be his successor, and by that adoption Commodus'
son became the emperor's grandson. M. Annius Verus was no more than
Commodus' destined son-in-law.
On the Kalends of January 138 Aelius Caesar died. On the
twenty-fifth day of February Hadrian adopted Arrius Antoninus, who,
as a condition of his own adoption, adopted Lucius, the young son
of Aelius Caesar, and Annius Verus, the nephew of his own wife. 76
In addition, Antoninus' daughter Annia Galeria Faustina was
betrothed to Lucius, while Marcus' engagement to Ceionia Fabia
stood unaltered.
Two aspects of this second settlement deserve emphasis. First,
Lucius seems in some vague and undefinable way to be given
precedence over Marcus. The epitome of Dio is quite explicit:
'Hadrian made Antoninus adopt Commodus' son Commodus and also in
addition M. Annius Verus '.77 The same fact is perhaps reflected in
a confused sentence in the Historia Augusta: Hadrian adopted
Antoninus on the condition that he should adopt as his sons Annius
Verus and M. Antoninus.78 By the latter Marcus must be meant: hence
' Annius Verus ' means Lucius.79 Secondly, Lucius had the better of
the proposed dynastic matches. The Vita Marci and the Vita Veri,
both in reliable contexts,80 record respectively the breaking off
of Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia after Hadrian's death and the
engagement of Lucius to Faustina.81 It appears, therefore, that the
youth whom Hadrian had determined should eventually succeed to the
throne of the Caesars was not Marcus: it was Lucius.
The intentions of Hadrian can not only be inferred from what he
did: they were portrayed in stone by an artist at Ephesus. A relief
discovered in I903 near the library of Ephesus,82 and long supposed
to depict the imperial family of the i6o's,83 is now generally
recognized to depict the imperial family in I38, between the
adoption of Antoninus and
72 Millar, op. cit. 78 if. On the other side it may be urged
that Dio did not always harmonize his speeches with their
context.
13 Hadrian 23, I0 ff., partly developed at Aelius 6, I ff. with
a typical variatio of the amount of the donative (compare Hadrian
Zx, 4 with Aelius 5, 4 f.; Maximini I2, I, with I2, 6).
74 Aelius 3, 7 if- " The bogus 'careful writers' and the use
of
Aeneid vi are both stigmata of the author (as was pointed out by
H. Dessau, Hermes XXIV (I889), 382 if.; Hermes xxvII (I892), 582
if.).
76 Marcus' name is wrongly given prior place at Aelius 6, 9;
Pius 4, 5. The error is natural: cf. J. Linderski, Historia xiv
(i965), 423 ff., for a similar distortion of the order of the
consuls of 59 B.c. The inversion is reproduced by the scholars
cited in note 41, and by H. Schiller, Geschichte der ro'mischen
Kaiserzeit (I883), 628; P. von Rohden, P-W I (i894), 2283 ; P-W ii
(I896), 2497; H. M. D. Parker, A History of the Roman World,
I38-337 (I935), 4 ; E. Albertini, L'Empire Romain (I938), 194; B.
Orgeval, L'Empereur Hadrien (1950), 33. Not however by R. Sy ne,
Tacitus (1958), 6oI.
7I Dio LXIX, 21, I : ET?i 8& E nV -rrals &pptvcov
rTai8cov,
T v T? Kopp68ov u vi K6ojobov keno r ?ijav a0~ Kxal 9ri p'
TO,fTlc M&pKov 'Avviov OvQijpov.
78 Hadrian 24, I. 79 Eutropius VIII, 9, i calls him Lucius
Annius
Antoninus Verus; the Epitome I6, 5, L. Annius Verus; at HA, Pius
6, Io he is Annius Verus, while his brother is M. Antoninus in 6,
9.
80 See respectively Schwendemann II8 ff., and above, pp.
67-9.
81 Marcus 6, 2; Verus Z, 3. (Aelius 6, 9 clearly depends upon
one or both of these passages: cf. note I9.) Marcus 6, z is now
disfigured by a lacuna: almost certainly there originally stood
there a refer- ence to Lucius' betrothal to Faustina (cf. Verus 2,
3).
82 First published by R. Heberdey, YOAI vii (I904), Beiblatt, 49
ff. (with photographs). Reproduc- tions are to be found also at
Rom. Mitt. XLVIII (1933), Tfl. 5o; J. M. C. Toynbee, Art of the
Romans (I965), pl. 4z; R. Brilliant, Gesture and Rank in Roman Art
(I963), fig. 3.83.
83 E.g. by E. Strong, Roman Sculpture (1907), 295; La Scultura
Romana ii (I926), Z58. That interpretation is impossible: with
Lucius Verus still alive, Commodus and Annius Caesar must appear in
the family group either together or not at all (cf. PIR2A 698).
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78 T. D. BARNES the death of Hadrian.84 The relief shows the
young Lucius standing between Anltoninus and Hadrian. Antoninus is
flanked by Marcus on the left, and on the right a girl's head (it
must be Faustina the younger) peeps over Hadrian's shoulder. The
emperor's hand rests, palm upwards, upon the boy's shoulder, by
which Antoninus is clasping him to his side. In the middle and
above Lucius' head there appears a sceptre, symbol of imperial
majesty.85 The purport of the relief is manifest: the throne is
destined to pass to Lucius, who, however, needs a guardian-and the
guardian is to be Antoninus assisted by Marcus.
The favours shown by Hadrian to Marcus are often adduced as
proof that the youth was especially dear to the emperor, and hence
that he was picked out as future emperor.86 Another view is
possible. Perhaps what favours there were given had to be forced on
Hadrian by Marcus' social standing and relatives. For it is far
from improbable that the influential nobles to whom Marcus was
linked by ties of blood had renounced their own conflicting claims
to the empire in order to put their hope in such a high-born and
well- connected young man.87
Eutropius states outright that Hadrian had had plans to leave
Marcus his successor had he been old enough; and Eutropius, or else
his source, is copied by the Historia Augusta.88 But in both
authors this assertion appears as an inference from the fact that
Hadrian had chosen Marcus as Antoninus' son-in-law. Since the
premise is false, the conclusion has no value as evidence.
Xiphilinus' epitome of Dio speaks of Hadrian's favouring Marcus.
Hadrian (he writes) kept urging Antoninus to adopt Lucius and
Marcus, but preferred the latter because of his kinship and his
age, and because he was already displaying great strength of
character. Accordingly he punningly called him 'Verissimus '.89 But
in this passage has Xiphilinus perhaps abbreviated too carelessly ?
There is no other evidence that Marcus was related to Hadrian; and,
though some distant link may be deduced from the existence of a L.
Dasumius Hadrianus,90 and from Marcus' mythical ancestor
Dasummus,91 the degree of kinship seems too remote to count for
very much. Antoninus on the other hand was Marcus' uncle and later
conspicuously favoured his nephew above Lucius.92 Moreover, the
logic of the passage requires that it should be Antoninus who is
said to favour Marcus. If both Antoninus and Hadrian favour Marcus,
there is no need of long exhortations: but if Hadrian favoured
Lucius (as has already been argued), the reluctance of Antoninus is
understandable.93 The hypothesis seems inevitable that Dio in the
original recorded that Antoninus (not Hadrian) favoured Marcus. And
that would be consonant with a statement Dio makes when delivering
his final verdict on Marcus: he was adopted by Hadrian because of
his numerous, wealthy and influential relatives.94
It was surely Marcus' relatives who secured for him two marks of
distinction at a very early age. When he was six he was granted the
equus publicus, an exceptional but not unparalleled honour for one
so young.95 At the age of seven Hadrian made him a salius
84 The correct date was first perceived by F. von Lorentz, Ram.
Mitt. XLVIII (1933), 308 ff. For a select bibliography see J. Inan
and E. Rosenbaum, Roman and Early Byzantine Portrait Sculpture in
Asia Minor (I966), 71. Inan and Rosenbaum follow F. Eichler,
Bericht uiber den VI. Internationalen Kongress fur Archdologie,
Berlin 21.-26. August 1939 (1940), 488 if., in assigning the series
of reliefs to which this belongs to a monument commemorating the
Parthian War of i62-6, though they do not deny that the relief's '
dramatic date ' is 138. But is there really anything which compels
the late dating ? Toynbee, op. cit. 65 f., evidently does not think
so.
85 Cf. A. Alf6ldi, Rom. Mitt. L (I935), 124 f.; Lewis and Short,
s.v. sceptrum.
86 See the works cited in note 41. 87 Cf. Hadrian 24, 6 f. For
Marcus' relatives see
the sterrimata facing PIR2 I, p. II8; Pflaum, op. cit. 122; and
Birley 3I8 ff.
88 Eutropius viii, ii ; HA, Marcus i6, 7. The Historia Augusta
refines the reasoning behind Eutropiias' statement, which perhaps
indicates the use of him as a source (H. Dessau, Hermes xxiv
(1889), 367 ff.). But Marcus 15, 5 contains a story not in
Eutropius, but found in Aurelius Victor (I 6, 7). Use of a common
source is, therefore, at least an equal possibility.
89 Dio LXIX 21, 2: Kal 6p:p-OTEpOUS p?v ?0aTroticaa0at -@
'AvrCvivc,? ?KEvE, TrpoeTiUpflaE U TO V OUTi1pov Si& -rT? -rv
aUyyiv?1av aOcToO Kal St& -r?Av fKi'av, Kal OT6 qp%awv ypvXilS
?ppco,U?vrcaT&-rv 1r5rI iTr?':rracvEv, d()p' o;i Kal
OIP:I'paalpov c)Torv, Yrp6O-ThV TOO 'PCOtIaOkO PpaT-roSgvvoiav
KIopywOwI?VOS, &arw&xt. 90 Syme, op. cit. 794; PIR2H 5. 91
HA, Marcus I, 6.
92 See above cn Verus 2, II ff. 93 Hadrian declared Antoninus as
his heir on 23
January (HA, Hadrian I, 3; 26, 6; cf. PIR2 I, p. 28), a full
month before the actual adoption (Pius 4, 6).
94 Dio LXXII (LxxI) 35, 2/3: TOiS T? yap oUyy1Ev?ct Tr&aci,
1ToMoTS Kai 8UVaTOTS 1r?vOUCiOtS T? OCJoctV, O0TCO -rTI gr waTS
&v tp??V CbaO' Or6 YT&vrcov c?rT65v 6.yarTriG?ivat, Kai
St& -roO-ro iT 6 -roiD 'A8ptavo OrT p&atora s -r6 y6voS
rTotTEiS . . .
95 HA, Marcus 4, I. Cf. ILS 6305: 'honorato equo publ. ab imp.
Antonino Aug. cum ageret aetatis an. V '; also ILS 13 I 6/7.
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HADRIAN AND LUCIUS VERUS 79 Palatinus.6 Such signs of imperial
favour were easy to bestow and need signify nothing about Hadrian's
real intentions. The nickname 'Verissimus' was double-edged.97
Ostensibly it denoted honour: but what could be better as
well-disguised ridicule of the priggish darling of high society who
in his twelfth year assumed the garb of a Cynic philosopher ? 98
Moreover, propaganda may soon have obfuscated the truth about
Hadrian and Marcus. It is related that Marcus was brought up ' in
Hadriani gremio '.99 Now that must be false, since Marcus lived his
early life in Rome 100 at the time when, except for the years I25
to I28, Hadrian was travelling throughout the empire.'0' In
Hadrian's autobiography, and on the arch at Beneventum, the
impression was carefully fostered that the emperor had always been
marked out as Trajan's successor; 102 in the I40's it would have
been politic to create a similar illusion about Marcus.103
To recapitulate, Marcus was not Hadrian's chosen heir. It was a
Ceionius whom Hadrian was determined to install as emperor. With
the passing of the years his intentions were not entirely
frustrated. For twenty-three years Antoninus gave precedence to
Marcus and kept Lucius in a position of unmistakable inferiority.
But he did not murder him, and that was justification enough for
his own adoption by Hadrian. In i6i Marcus alone was saluted
emperor by the army and the Senate. Yet he knew the truth about the
dynastic compact of I38, and his philosophy would not allow him any
longer to delay the fulfilment of Hadrian's wishes.
The Queen's College, Oxford.
96 Marcus 4, 2. The case of Marcus is unique according to R.
Cirilli, Les pr4tres danseurs de Rome (I913), 59 f., followed by
P-W I A, i88z f. But M. Annius Flavius Libo (PIR2A 648) was a
salius Palatinus twenty-six years before his consulship in 204; as
an imperial relative he may have been consul at about thirty-three
(cf. Syme, op. cit. 653 f.; J. Morris, Listy Filologicke 87 (I964),
3I6 ff.). Others too may have been salii in their boyhood: perhaps
C. Bruttius Praesens, salius in I99, if he is indeed the consul of
2I7 (PIR2B I66). There is little enough evidence for the membership
of the collegium-only the fragmentary CIL vi, I978-84.
97 Cf. Hohl, op. cit. (n. 57) 37: 'Da dieser Superlativ im Munde
eines Hadrian ein von Ironie nicht ganz freies Lob dargestellt
haben diirfte, k6nnte man den Necknamen mit " Wahrheits- fanatiker"
zu verdeutschen suchen'. Verissimus appears in all seriousness,
however, on an Ostian inscription of I43 (AI I940, 62) and in the
Apology of Justin.
98 HA, Marcus 2, 6. 99 Marcus, 4, I. 100 Marcus I, 7; I, I0; 2,
I ff.; Marcus, Med.
1, 4. 101 See W. Weber, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des
Kaisers Hadrianus (I 907), I 97 ff. In I2 5 Hadrian had returned to
Rome some time before mid- September (E. Bourguet, De Rebus
Delphicis Im- peratoriae Aetatis (I905), 82 f.) ; in iz8 he was at
Lambaesis on the first day of July (ILS 9I33).
102 HA, Hadrian 3, 3 ; 3, 5 ; 3, IO f.; Weber, op. cit. 20 ff.
F. J. Hassel, Der Trajansbogen in Benevent (I966), contends that
the arch was com- pleted in II I4 (not early in the reign of
Hadrian), but he brings no real argument apart from the date on the
dedicatory inscription which it bears.
103 Marcus was, it is true, designated quaestor on the proposal
of Hadrian (Marcus 5, 6). Again, that need not denote especial
favour: the consulate, though easy to give (cf. Res Gestae I4), was
withheld.
Corrigendum. Frl. H. Temporini of Tiibingen has kindly pointed
out to me that neither Marcus 6, 2 nor Versus 2, 3 (cited in n. 8I,
above) necessarily implies that the betrothal of Lucius to Faustina
was ever a fait accompli. Nevertheless, my thesis (I believe) still
stands unimpaired, since both passages (on any interpretation)
state that it was Lucius, not Marcus, whom Hadrian desired as the
future son-in-law of Antoninus.
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Article Contentsp. [65]p. 66p. 67p. 68p. 69p. 70p. 71p. 72p.
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Issue Table of ContentsThe Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 57,
No. 1/2 (1967), pp. i-xiv+1-312Volume Information [pp.
303-312]Front Matter [pp. i-xi]Harold Idris Bell, 1879-1967 [pp.
xiii-xiv]The Treaty of Apamea (188 B.C.) [pp. 1-8]Emperors at Work
[pp. 9-19]M. Aurelius Atho Marcellus [pp. 20-22]The Dies Imperii of
Tiberius [pp. 23-30]Rutilius Namatianus, St. Augustine, and the
Date of the De Reditu [pp. 31-39]Choma in Lycia [pp. 40-44]The
Religious Position of Livy's History [pp. 45-55]Adultery Trials and
the Survival of the Quaestiones in the Severan Age [pp. 56-60]The
Division of Britain [pp. 61-64]Hadrian and Lucius Verus [pp.
65-79]Housing and Population in Imperial Ostia and Rome [pp.
80-95]The Chronology of Polybius' Histories, Books I and II [pp.
96-108]The Speech of Curtius Montanus: Tacitus, Histories IV, 42
[pp. 109-114]The Authorship of the Historia Augusta [pp.
115-133]Philippus Arabs and Egypt [pp. 134-141]Hastiferi [pp.
142-160]The Development of Roman Mailed Cavalry [pp. 161-173]Roman
Britain in 1966: I. Sites Explored: II. Inscriptions [pp.
174-210]Reviews and DiscussionsReview: untitled [pp.
211-216]Review: untitled [pp. 216-222]Review: untitled [pp.
223-230]Review: untitled [pp. 230-234]Review: untitled [pp.
234-238]Review: untitled [pp. 238-242]
Reviews and Notices of PublicationsReviewsReview: untitled [pp.
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NoticesReview: untitled [p. 284]Review: untitled [pp.
284-285]Review: untitled [p. 285]Review: untitled [p. 285]Review:
untitled [pp. 285-286]
The Following Works Have Also Been Received [pp.
287-293]Correction [p. 293]Proceedings of the Society for the
Promotion of Roman Studies, 1966-67 [p. 294]Society for the
Promotion of Roman Studies: Report of the Council for 1966 [pp.
295-302]Back Matter