The Antonine Wall
Emperor Antoninus Pius
A gold coin (an Aureus) showing the head of Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius was the adopted son of the previous Roman Emperor, Hadrian, and he reigned from 138-161 AD. Before becoming Emperor, he had distinguished himself as a proconsul in Asia. He seems to have been an administrator rather than a military man. According to the Greek writer Pausanias, he `never willingly made war'.
Antoninus did not visit Britain himself. He left the organisation of the work on the Antonine Wall to a Governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus. The 4th-century biography of Antoninus Pius says "Through his governor, Lollius Urbicus, he conquered the Britons, and after driving back the barbarians built another wall, of turf".
Photograph of aureus reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland