Under Roman law, an adoption established a bond legally as strong as that of kinship. As such, the second through sixth Nerva-Antonine emperors are also called Adoptive Emperors. However, this was not a new practice. It was common for patrician families to adopt, and Roman emperors had adopted heirs in the past; Emperor Augustus had adopted Tiberius, and Emperor Claudius had adopted Nero. Moreover, there was a family connection, as Trajan adopted his first cousin once removed and great-nephew by marriage, Hadrian.
An alternative hypothesis posits that adoptive succession is thought to have arisen because of a lack of biological heirs. All but the last of the adoptive emperors had no legitimate biological sons to succeed them. They were thus obliged to pick a successor somewhere else; as soon as the Emperor could look towards a biological son to succeed him, adoptive succession was set aside.
Nonetheless, this period was a time of peace and prosperity. In 96 CE, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy involving members of the Praetorian Guard and several of his freedmen. On the same day, Nerva was declared emperor by the Roman Senate. This occasion marked the first time the Senate elected a Roman Emperor. A revolt by the Praetorian Guard in October 97 essentially forced him to adopt an heir. After some deliberation, Nerva chose Trajan, a young and popular general, as his successor.
After barely fifteen months in office, Nerva died of natural causes in 98, and upon his death, he was succeeded and deified by Trajan. Although much of his life remains obscure, Nerva was considered a wise and moderate emperor by ancient historians. Hadrian had been the adopted son of the Emperor Trajan and now, a homosexual, he himself had no son and needed to adopt a successor.
To clear the way, Hadrian ordered all other potential claimants to commit suicide. He also betrothed Marcus to his own only surviving child, his daughter Faustina. Hadrian died that same year and Antoninus succeeded him as Antoninus Pius. It looks as if Hadrian believed that Marcus would make an excellent emperor, but needed time and experience. That is what eventually happened, though Antoninus lived far longer than Hadrian would reasonably have expected. It would become his major source of inspiration and consolation.
Antoninus Pius had Marcus move to the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill and gradually began to involve him in the fearsome task of running an empire of about 3. Marcus complained of feeling drowned in paperwork.
He shunned pomp and circumstance and disliked living in the imperial palace. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. He shrewdly combined military The son of a great military leader, he escaped family intrigues to take the throne, but his The Roman politician and general Mark Antony 83—30 B.
His romantic and political He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably Julius Caesar was a renowned general, politician and scholar in ancient Rome who conquered the vast region of Gaul and helped initiate the end of the Roman Republic when he became dictator of the Roman Empire.
Despite his brilliant military prowess, his political skills and his Greek philosophy and rhetoric moved fully into Latin for the first time in the speeches, letters and dialogues of Cicero B.
A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the In B. He then marched his massive army across the Pyrenees and Alps into central Italy in what would be remembered as one of the most Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.
By the time the First Punic War broke out, Rome had become the dominant power throughout the Italian Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault.
Early Life His serious and hard-working nature was even noticed by Emperor Hadrian. Entry into Politics In , Marcus Aurelius became consul, or leader of the senate — a post he would hold two more times in his lifetime. Recommended for you.
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