Rome - Antonine dynasty (138–193)

The Antonini dynasty continius with: Nerva, Traiano, Adriano, Antonino i Pio, Marco Aurelio, Comodo.

Antonine rule commenced with the reign of Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 A.D.) and included those of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180 A.D.), Lucius Verus (r. 161–169 A.D.), and Commodus (r. 177–192 A.D.). Their dynasty reflects the connections between wealthy provincial and Italian families. They were successors of Trajan (r. 98–117 A.D.) and Hadrian (r. 117–38 A.D.), both from respectable provincial families in Spain; Hadrian had secured the line with the adoption of Antoninus Pius, who in turn adopted Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as Vallum Antonini, was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south, and intended to supersede it, while it was garrisoned it was the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire. It spanned approximately 63 kilometers (39 miles) and was about 3 meters (10 feet) high and 5 meters (16 feet) wide. Lidar scans have been carried out to establish the length of the wall and the Roman distance units used.[2] A deep ditch bolstered security on the northern side. It is thought that there was a wooden barrier on top of the turf. The barrier was the second of two "great walls" created by the Romans in Great Britain in the second century AD. Its ruins are less evident than those of the better-known and longer Hadrian's Wall to the south, primarily because the turf and wood wall has largely weathered away, unlike its stone-built southern predecessor.

Antoninus Pius, who was from southern Gaul, restored the status of the Senate without compromising his imperial power. With succession assured, he quietly furthered the centralization of government. In addition to his own knowledge of the law, he surrounded himself with a coterie of legal experts. One result of their revision of Roman law was the ruling that a man must be considered innocent until proven guilty. Antoninus Pius was the last emperor to reside permanently in Rome; his reign was relatively peaceful and benevolent. Military campaigns, such as the one that led to the construction of the Antonine wall in Scotland in the 140s A.D., were conducted by imperial legates, not by the emperor in person. Temples were erected in honor of Antoninus and his wife Faustina, in Rome and throughout the provinces, and many statues and portraits of the imperial couple were produced.

NERVA 96
The conspirators who killed Domitian elected Nerva who adopted a general, Trajan, who was the 1st non-Italic emperor, under his rule the empire reached its maximum expansion. He resumed the war against the Dacians (101) and subdued the region in a short time. He sent colonists to Romanize the region, which was rich in gold mines, in which the imperal taxman put his hands and this gave the money useful to continue the military campaigns and for public works thanks to which the face of Rome was changed, with the construction of the photo. Trajan had the Trajan column raised in honor of his exploits in war.
He wanted to eliminate the parties and managed to occupy their territory and also the capital. While the emperor was in Mesopotamia, a rebellion broke out among the Jewish peoples, he returned and died (117). He organized the bureaucracy and made laws in favor of the peasants.

HADRIAN 117-138
Trajan adopted Hadrian as heir, a man of culture. With his reign, Roman politics underwent a turnaround and from that moment the borders were consolidated. Hadrian dedicated his reign to reorganizing the state apparatus and economic life.

ANTONINO PIO 138-161
Hadrian was succeeded by adoption by Antoninus Pius, a noble native of Gaul and since then the emperors of this dynasty are known as "Antonini". The precessor's policy of peace continued, the pax romana reigned unchallenged over the entire territory of the empire. When Antoninus Pius was adopted, Hadrian had forced him to adopt as successors the brothers Marco Aurelio and Lucio Vero, who took power on his death. Aurelio was also a man of great culture and left a work that is one of the most important texts called "to himself". Aurelio was a pessimist and was the man called to command the army against the Germans.


MARCO AURELIO 161-180
The empire of Marcus Aurelius marked the end of the period of prosperity and the crisis of the state began and the Romans had to face an emergency situation. The parties invaded Syria and were repulsed by Crassus and Lucius True. Meanwhile the bubonic plague spread among the soldiers, lasted for many years and decimated the population. These were difficult years and the border of the Rhine was forced by the Germanic tribes of the Quadi and the Marcomanni who reached the borders of Italy (166). Eventually (175) he managed to defeat the enemies and extended the borders and created the provinces of Quadia and Marcomannia. In 175 Quadi and Marcomanni promised to send soldiers to Rome, but the agreements with the Germans were ephemeral and rebelled and Aurelius stopped on the borders to face them but in 180 he died of the plague in Vienna.

COMMODO AND THE DYNASTIC SYSTEM 180-192
Marcus Aurelius was succeeded at 19 by his son Commodus and there was the end of the adoptive principality and the dynastic system was resumed. He accentuated popular and autocratic features, loved to perform as a charioteer in the circus and had himself portrayed in the guise of Heracles with club and lion skin, the plebeian and athlete succeeded the intellectual emperor. Commodus's behavior was not appreciated by the senate and military circles. He wasted his fiscal resources on parties and shows and conspiracies were born. In 192 he was the victim of a palace plot.