The Greatest Roman Emperor You Never Heard Of

The apogee of the Roman Empire was the Era of Good Emperors from 96 ad until 180 ad. This is per Edward Gibbon, author of the fabled ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ published in 1776.

Gibbon said the Era of Good Emperors was the period when “the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous”.

The five good emperors were Nerva (96-98 ad), Trajan (98-117 ad), Hadrian (117-138 ad), Antoninus Pius (138-161 ad), and Marcus Aurelius (161-180 ad).

These emperors were good because they were all competent and honest people who kept the Empire safe and in good economic condition.

But one of these emperors stands out from the rest. Antoninus Pius ruled the longest time, for 23 years

What did Antoninus Pius do for 23 years that was so good?

Almost nothing!

The historical record largely disappears during the time of Antoninus. There were no civil wars, famines, budget deficits, rebellions, indulgent building projects, revolts, invasions, riots, tax hikes, assassinations, woke protests, financial panics, law codes, legal decrees, coups d’etat, tax crackdowns, political witchhunts, etc. No nothing of the basic stuff most historians write about. If there was unrest of any sort, Antoninus sent negotiators, not military troops. This is why you never heard of Antoninus Pius even though he ruled for 23 years.

Antoninus Pius generated money by selling imperial lands back to the people, very low tax rates, and a free market. He ran a frugal administration and never left Italy. His budget surplus was so vast that he periodically gave 800 denarii per citizen back to the people. This is at a time when a normal person lived on only one denarius per day!

When Antoninus Pius died he left a massive surplus of 675 million denarii, one of the largest hoards of money ever known.