Marcus Annius Verus (father of Marcus Aurelius)

Marcus Annius Verus (d. 124 AD) was a distinguished Roman politician who lived in the 2nd century, served as a praetor and was the father of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Marcus Annius Verus from Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

Life

He was the son of Roman senator Marcus Annius Verus and noblewoman Rupilia Faustina. His brother was the consul Marcus Annius Libo and his sister was Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius. He married Domitia Lucilla, the heiress of a wealthy family which owned a tile factory. They had two children, Marcus Aurelius (born in 121, and who was also originally named Marcus Annius Verus), and Annia Cornificia Faustina (born in 123). Annius Verus died young while he held the office of praetor.[1] Both his children were still young. The likeliest year of his death is 124.[2]

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius, who was only about 3 years old when his father died, says of him: "From what I heard of my father and my memory of him, modesty and manliness."[3]

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Q. Marcius Barea Soranus

Q. Marcius Barea Sura

Antonia Furnilla

M. Cocceius Nerva

Sergia Plautilla

P. Aelius Hadrianus

Titus
(r. 79–81)

Marcia Furnilla

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia[lower-roman 1]

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Flavia[lower-roman 2]

Marciana[lower-roman 3]

C. Salonius Matidius[lower-roman 4]

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer[lower-roman 5]

Paulina Major[lower-roman 6]

Lucius Mindius (2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)

Salonia Matidia[lower-roman 7]

L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[lower-roman 8]

Paulina Minor[lower-roman 6]

L. Julius Ursus Servianus[lower-roman 9]

Matidia Minor[lower-roman 7]

Suetonius?[lower-roman 10]

Sabina[lower-roman 3]

Hadrian[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 11][lower-roman 6] (r. 117–138)

Antinous[lower-roman 12]

Julia Balbilla?[lower-roman 13]

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 14]

Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 15][lower-roman 16]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

unknown[lower-roman 18]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 15]

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[lower-roman 19]

Fundania[lower-roman 20]

M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 15]

Faustina[lower-roman 17]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[lower-roman 17]

L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 18]

Avidia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia[lower-roman 15]

Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)[lower-roman 21]

Faustina Minor[lower-roman 21]

C. Avidius Cassius[lower-roman 22]

Aurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)[lower-roman 18] (1)

Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 18]

Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 23]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 24]

M. Petronius Sura

Commodus
(r. 177–192)[lower-roman 21]

Fadilla[lower-roman 24]

M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 21]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)

Lucilla[lower-roman 21]

M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 18]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)

Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 24]

L. Antistius Burrus (1)

Plautius Quintillus

Plautia Servilla

C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus

Antonia Gordiana

Junius Licinius Balbus?

Furia Sabina Tranquillina

Gordian III
(r. 238–244)

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
(3) = 3rd spouse
  Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty
  lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned
  grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants
  bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties
dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
Levick (2014), p. 161.
Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Levick (2014), p. 163.
It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
Levick (2014), p. 162.
Levick (2014), p. 164.
Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

References

Historia Augusta, Marcus Aurelius, 1
"His younger brother Annius Libo was consul in 128 and can hardly have been praetor later than 126. Verus must have been praetor earlier than this and 124 is the likeliest year of his death." Anthony Richard Birley, 2000, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography, page 31.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, i. 2

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