Antoninus Pius, der Krieg und das Militär

Ancient historiography describes the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius above all else as a wise and just ‘Prince of Peace’, and portrays his rule as an unparalleled period of peace and prosperity. He is said never to have attacked peaceful tribes and peoples beyond the empire’s confines out of a desire for glory but to have promoted a state of harmony. Modern historiography concurs. The ancient documentary evidence, however, strongly suggests reconsidering this traditional image of Pius’ reign with respect to his role as Rome’s military leader. Even taking his long reign of 23 years into account, Antoninus Pius fought a significant number of wars on nearly all of the empire’s frontiers (albeit through the agency of his generals). He even extended the territory of several provinces. Clearly, as imperator and commander-in-chief of the Roman army, Pius lived up to traditional expectations. At the same time, however, he appears to have promoted the notion that he brought peace and justice to the Roman empire by, for instance, likening himself to Rome’s legendary king Numa, and by never leaving Italy. Ancient historiography, too, preserves traces of Pius’ role as a military leader, but representing him as a bringer of peace was by far the more successful tradition. This paper discusses the relevant sources and brings to the foreground the latter, hitherto almost entirely neglected tradition that presents Antoninus Pius as a successful imperator.